Brisbane/Queensland BREEDERS/IMPORTERS?

[Matt15]

Interested to know if anybody who visits these forums reside in QLD, particularly Brisbane and breed/sell discus?

I've seen the LewisDiscus thread but none of his web links/nor google have any positive hits and majority of the classified threads here are from Melbourne/Sydney.

Cheers Matt

[Merrilyn]

Matt, there are some very good breeders up your way. Send a PM to "mistakes r crucial", a member of the forum residing on the Sunshine Coast.

If he doesn't have anything available at the moment, I'm sure he can point you in the right direction.

The other thing to bear in mind, is that most of the sponsors on the forum are happy to air freight fish to Brisbane Airport.

[Matt15]

Yeh i'm not too keen on freighting fish, but i'll certainly PM "mistakes r crucial". Thanks for your info mate ;)

[nicholas76]

matt,

just another way of working a sound connection...


work your way through the photo section and PM those who live in Brisbane that post quality pictures of Discus.

They may direct you to that perfect breeder or importer.

In relation to frieght ive never recieved a Dead on arrival !! its a safe and sound practise so give it a try if all else fails. good luck

[Top_Bhoy]

In relation to frieght ive never recieved a Dead on arrival !! its a safe and sound practise so give it a try if all else fails. good luck

Out of interest, who generally carries the risk for DoAs, the seller or buyer?

[nicholas76]

I should say its a safe practise when you dont deal with the cowboys of the trade!!

Find a seller that will replace with new or at least give you a refund. It should be clarified so simply just ask.


It shouldn't be a painful experience either way.

[Matt15]

Yeh i'm considering the freight option atm but would love a few more answers about temps/fish surviving long periods in transit etc etc.

[ILLUSN]

The longest a fish will be in transit for interstate is 6-8 hours, concidering people regularly import fish from overseas over night, i think the risks are minimal, I've had fish in the car for 4hrs+ as i've gone picking up supplies and I've never lost one to transport.

[goldenpigeon]

If fish are DOA as a result of poor packaging/disease etc the seller should be responsible to replace or refund.

However if the fish die during transit but the packaging arrives in a satisfactory state and everything looks good it is usually result of poor handling by the service and the buyer sometimes incurs the cost (you get good sellers out there who will replace or refund no matter what).

Its important to discuss this before purchasing and come to a firm agreement as these things are very hard to sort out if the worst happens and there was no agreement prior to shipping.

If buying from a commercial entity they will usually have a policy regarding DOA (so READ it) or if buying from private entities research the seller before handing over any money.

HTH

cheers

[stonedavid]

HI Guys, Just a note, if you live in a regional city freighting can take up to 12 hours not 6 - 8, so it is always best to advise the seller to pack the fish for 12 hours. Example: fish from Gold Coast to Cairns, some flights go via sydney then back up the coast to Cairns. Just thought you should know as some of the sellers down check the flights.
All the best,
Pete

[Squid]

Hi Matt. Not too many breeders in Brissy. There's a few within an hour or two though. If you have time, take a drive up north to Townsville. I do it a lot, and have never lost a fish on the return trip. Best discus in Australia are found up north at half the cost of southern prices. I can vouch for this as I travel the nation often to find and purchase good specimens and when I go down south I'm always disappointed. Went to Sydney and Melbourne with $3000 to spend - and over the 2 weeks of searching, I returned to QLD with a packet of whiteworms and thats all.

Go to Townsville and get to Don Booths 'Rossvale Aquarium'. He may be 'A1 Aquariums' by now. Hold your jaw as it will drop. Best I've seen in Australia for sure IMO and well worth the drive.

Anyway back to breeding, I dont have much this year. Will have heaps around Sep next year after I get the fish shed finished. Also, have you got some Turks like the one in your AVATAR. I have a A grade red turk (old strain) female like your avatar specimen and I'm chasing a male.
Squid

[Matt15]

Squid thanks for the advice mate. One of the biggest reasons i joined these forums was to meet other people who share the same passion for discus, but as you have said there doesn't seem to be alot around Brisbane. Hence the reason i started this thread.

I'd certainly be keen to visit in September, so you'll have to let me know how it all progresses.


This fish is one of two which i orginally purchased.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/matt1515/A13.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/matt1515/A11.jpg
I'm not an expert at sexing discus but pretty sure it's a male, and he's the king of my tank...;)

[Squid]

Hi matt - hard to tell with your fish. Sometimes females can be the tank boss. I have a definite female red turk like yours. My first guess just by looking yours is that its a female, but I cant really tell. Need more photos. By looking at her in the tank I could tell for sure I reckon.

I'll definitely let all know how the setup is going - but I wont be doing too much discus other than the wild types. Going big into South Americans again and dwarfs.

Squid

[Squid]

Also mate - here is s picture of my female.

[Matt15]

...

[Mr Discus]

Shes hot! :shock: :wink:

[stonedavid]

I agree with Squid I went to Brisbane 6 months ago on a spending spree to bring back some new strains, but was very disappointed with the quality of the fish. Some of the other capitals have the strains but then you pay high prices, and yes i do understand companies need to charge higher due to higher overheads etc ie rents and utilities. I have been sourcing fish locally for the past 12 months and will continue to do so as it is less stress on them and shorter shipping times etc.

[Matt15]

Sorry Squid i didn't realise my post was just ...

Your female is beautiful mate, shame mine is proberly a female too.
Can i ask what methods you use to sex your discus?
This question has proberly been asked amillion times, but i can't seem to find a sticky/thread about sexing methods.

Yes Brisbane doesn't have any specific discus shops, which is the reason i started this thread. I would much prefer to source from a local breeder than purchase from the LFS. Brisbane also has its seasons when there is no new stock around at all but there's one or two who have a large range and variety of stock.

[Squid]

I dont really know how I sex them - I just sort of look at them and can tell? I guess its just an intuition thing as I've been keeping and breeding them for over 20 years. I think what really gives them away is their 'face' and most of all - their behaviour in the tank. Other things I use is females have a small 'dent' when in good condition (due to their different internal structure / ovipositor). Also body shape - but I reckon females have a girls face, and blokes dont - just like every other animal. Be aware that a lot of females are trouble makers. Anyway - I'm usually about 90% accurate. If you think your little fella is a male then you are quite welcome to come up to Toowoomba and relieve me of some of my surplus guaranteed females. That will tell for sure what sex your little dude is. Hope that helps.

One good thing to do is look at some picture of established pairs - it will be very obvious who is is the cock and the hen. these photos may expand on this. Have a look at the finage and face of these 2 RSGs.

Also - with wild greens, the females are more colourful. Have a look and see if you can pick the female in the green pair.

Squid

[Matt15]

Yeh i often stand in the LFS just watching and observing the breeding pairs for hours trying to tell them apart. I'm slowly building my own intuition for sexing but often get stuck, especially after reading some of the info from other websites. But i'm learning very quickly that no ONE method is 100% accurate.

I'm guessing the smaller fish (top left) is the female.

[Squid]

Yep - the left fish is the female. As you stated - no method is 100% accurate. Here is a female turk that I could swear was a male until she laid some eggs. She is the fish with the redder appearance - the other is a male brilliant (developed by crossing a bluefaced heckel and an older strain blue turk). She sure looks a bit more 'butch'

Squid

[Matt15]

Love the males colouring, its so..... unique.

[Ness]

i have some fish from the first pair, coming along nicely thanks tony.
i'll come up and give you a hand with your tanks one weekend if you want.
my pairs have finished eating thier eggs, now they eat the 3 day old fry and lay another batch. giving me the shits.
i live in caboolture matt. which part of brisvegas do you live.

[Matt15]

I live in Chermside mate.

Any chance u could post a pic of your breeding pair for me?

[Ness]

i'll have to take some photos

[GreenDiscus]

Hi Matt

I am on the West Sde of Brisbane, but currently have had a shake out of my discus adults and babies after some disappointments.

For quite a while I have been trying to improve on what I had by breeding, and I also no longer know where to go in Brisbane to view fine Discus. If you find an outlet please let me know, and I agree its a bit of a lonely hobby living here........

Level 6 has not helped, as with over 1,000 litres of water in use, I got into trouble with the council for using well over the MAX 140 litres per person per day. So I am now down to 2 tanks from 7, and still all that rain passes either side of Brisbane, leaving the city with only 24% full resovoirs as of today !!!

[Matt15]

Hey Green Discus great to hear from you mate.

I totally agree about the quality Discus shortage here in Brisbane. I'm tiard of dealing with LFS and can't wait to deal/meet with a few local breeder/importers who I have meet here on the forums.
I'm also about to start breeding myself, so just being patient here as I believe i have two suitable couples.

The recent rain has been fantastic in helping our water crisis but i haven't had your problem with the water restictions. I have a 5000L rain water tank and the fish absolutely love it. Prior to this thou I had lost my entire tank from a water change using Brisbanes water. Lesson learnt!!!!!!!

[GreenDiscus]

Hi Matt

Thanks for that - yes I need to get a water tank, since I have had water quality issues, and we are soon to get flouride in the water !!!

Just got back from Byron Bay and the amount of water behind the coast was scary compared to the small amount dumped here !!!

I used to have a Discus Retailer/Importer only minutes away but he went off to Perth