Many thanks to Mrs. Jill Eileen Frenz for this nice article in the daily newspaper "Die Glocke":
Dazzling swimmers
Exotic-looking discus fish swim in their aquariums in iridescent colors and patterned with elaborate dots or stripes. They are reared at the Stendker breeding farm in Warendorf and sent from there to dealers all over the world – as far away as Australia, South Africa or China.
Founder Heinz Stendker laid the foundation stone 54 years ago with an aquarium in the living room: his discus fish gave birth and he discovered breeding the animals as a hobby. After expanding this passion to several aquariums in the garage, the breeding business was founded, in which the sons Volker and Jörg and his wife Angelika later joined. Today the family business is run by the third generation: Sebastian, the 23-year-old son of Jörg and Angelika Stendker, is the manager.
Around 40 employees work in a total of five production halls in Warendorf. "The employees' areas of application are diverse," says Angelika Stendker (photo). "Many are busy in the office and take care of customs clearance or certificates there," she explains. In addition, there is regular communication with the veterinary office.
Outside the office, other employees take care of the animals, others take care of the shipping. This takes place under high safety standards so that the fish arrive healthy at their destination. There are no direct sales to private individuals, the company supplies retailers in a total of around 45 countries. "We ship our fish with live animal transport companies, but we also have our own drivers," says Stendker. For the safety of the fish, they would be packed in quadruple-secured bags. Four bags of water and oxygen are placed one inside the other. “ Discus fish have a spike on their fin. If a bag breaks as a result, the animal is secured by three more,” explains Stendker. In addition, a so-called heat pack is included with the transport box, which keeps the water temperature warm during transport.
The precautions are having an effect, because it is rare for something to go wrong. "We have a failure rate of less than one percent," says Stendker.
Discus fish are actually at home in the Amazon. So-called discus wild-caught, which can be found there in nature, are difficult to keep and survive only briefly in captivity, says Angelika Stendker. "It is extremely difficult to create the ideal conditions in the aquarium for them that they are used to in the Amazon," says Stendker. The fish from her discus farm in Warendorf, on the other hand, could live up to 15 years. Through breeding, they are robust and adapted to the degree of hardness of German tap water. They are also used to contact with people and are therefore usually even tame.
However, it should be noted that the farmed fish should be kept at a water temperature of 28 to 30 degrees. This warmth can sometimes not be maintained exactly during shipping, "but we train the dealers beforehand how to gradually adjust the fish to the maintenance temperature again," says Stendker.
In the wild, those caught in the wild eat worms and other vertebrates. In the breeding farm they get a special feed that consists of cattle hearts and over 100 other valuable ingredients.
Because of its size and its iridescent colors, the discus fish is considered the "king of aquaristics," reports Angelika Stendker. This title has its price: An adult discus fish, a so-called jumbo, costs an average of 500 euros in stores, she says. Many would be put off by the price and exotic appearance. "Most people therefore believe that it is complicated to keep discus fish, but it is not at all," Stendker clarifies. The breeding animals are very robust. The right water temperature of 28 to 30 degrees and the right food are important. Here Stendker recommends feed from their own breeding farm, which consists of cattle hearts, many valuable ingredients as well as vitamins and minerals. And: “Discus fish should be kept either in pairs or in a group of at least ten members of the same species. "If the group is too small, the fish often become aggressive," reports the specialist.
Her tip: buy discus fish when they are four months old. The animals, which are around eight centimeters in size, can then be purchased for around 40 euros and you can raise them yourself and later move them to a larger aquarium, she says.
Background:
Ideal conditions are required for fish breeding to work. “A buck and a female are placed together in an aquarium with water at the ideal temperature of around 28 degrees,” Jörg Stendker, the owner of the breeding operation (photo), describes the process. It is important that there is a so-called spawning cone in the aquarium. This is used by the female to lay eggs. "From bottom to top, the female then lays up to 500 eggs together like a string of pearls," says Stendker. The buck swims behind and pours his semen over the eggs. After that, it takes about five days for fish to emerge from the eggs that are already swimming freely. "The fish are initially about two millimeters long and half a millimeter wide," reports the owner of the farm. In the first few days, the fish feed on the skin secretions of the parents, from the fifth day they are fed. In order for many fish to get through, the conditions have to be ideal, explains the farm operator. If there is stress, discus fish would eat the offspring.