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by Dhanapala Weerasekera

I started breeding fish as a paying hobby in 1950 and entered the commercial sector in 1953 with the establishment of Lavinia Aquarium, a few months after the biggest registered aquarium, Lumbini, was founded.

Though I was breeding, collecting and exporting fish, my 'hobby interest' never took second place. I first saw a pair of brown Discus with Mr. Rodney Jonkless in the early 1960s and later some Heckles Discus with another friend.

I bought over 50 varieties of Discus from Yong Sim in Bangkok in 1969 and bred several pairs in 1970. All my Discus were fancy types, the best available then, and my first breeding were good blues. The lack of knowledge, other than from books and papers based on experiences in non-tropical countries, was the main obstacle.

I succeeded where many failed because I studied nature and found that, while I lost a lot of fish by disease when extreme care and better conditions were given, hardy strains developed where I allowed the fish to maintain their natural immunities and resistance by keeping the water reasonably clean, never overcrowding and never resorting to excessive cleaning.

(a) I use spacious tanks. The adult pairs are in 30 inch long, 18 inch high and 15 inch broad tanks made of glass. Water is continuously filtered through a home-made device, a shallow all glass base with standard ground filter and foam rubber seal the whole device, so that water is sucked in on the surface and comes out from the top, powered by a simple air stone. The foam rubber piece is washed and accumulated stuff squeezed out about once a fortnight.

(b) The dirt and droppings in the tank are siphoned out once a week. This drops the water level by about one fifth at most which is replaced with fresh water.

(c) The normal water temperature is around 27 to 28 degrees, but falls slightly on a colder night, but I never use a heater except when a fish needs treatment.

(d) I feed my Discus a preparation of ground ox heart, blended with plain gelatin using 50 grams to a kilo of cleaned heart and a vitamin. This is set in the fridge and cut into cubes. This can be prepared once a week and given to the fish after semi-thawing.

(e) Live tubifex are also fed occasionally when available; worms are kept in slow flowing fresh water for 24 hours before feeding. Discus fed on granular fish food or prawn feed after the brine shrimp stage enjoy such prepared food too. My fish are fed three times a day and more often if I have time.

(f) Feeding even five times a day is good, as they eat what is given within a few minutes. Never allow leftover food in the tank for more than an hour and never use food that clouds the water.

(g) If fungus appears on the sides of the discus

i) Siphon about half the tank and add new water, clean the filter;

ii) Add common salt (five tablespoons to a 30 inch tank);

iii) Add methylene blus and raise the temperature to 32 degrees;

iv) Increase aeration.

The Fungus is cured in 24 to 36 hours.

A complete change of water, I believe, is a climatic change type shock and is unnatural. All creatures are born with a natural immunity which we destroy with excessive use of antibiotics and super clean water. The natural faecal remnants in the tank do not pollute the water even if left un-siphoned for a week or more.

Decomposing leftover food and clouding by disintegrating food and the resulting bacteria bloom pollute the water. The bacteria competing with the fish for oxygen and pH changes in the water result in death and stunting of fish. The smaller the tank in proportion to the fish, the greater the problem. Overcrowding increases the problem.

Breeding aquarium fish could be a satisfying and lucrative hobby

I now have 20 pairs producing and bringing up their young. I have 20-30 inch breeding tanks, 40 larger and shallower but wider tanks for stocking and growing and 20-24 inch tanks for smaller pairs; for my Discus. I also breed Albino Angels with golden heads and fronts including spangled and long finned Albinos. I am now working on producing Latino Red Eyed Angels of the above types. My favourites are the Chrystal Gold, Turquoise, Red Turquoise, Pigeon Reds, Powder Blues and a new strain

I have developed from the Pigeon Red.

A single spawn once gave me 380 young which survived. I have never been frustrated with Discus. I plan to get more varieties in the future.

If you are not interested in nature and not a lover of fish, specially Discus, do not get into Discus. Discus are meant for those who care for this king of the aquarium and pay them attention and care.

The writer is Director Environmental Council of Lanka Ltd. and President Horticultural and Flora Conservation Society. He served as a Parliamentarian for 17 years and as Chairman of the Sri Lanka Marine Environmental Authority for five years.

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