# My friend and his method of keeping discus



## maxpayne_lhp

Hey all...
I know this guy; he's from a Vietnamese fish board. In fact, he's among a few pals that act nice to me over this board. 
His name is Huệ, an engineer living in Bình Dương, not far away from Saigon where I'm living. 
But the point is, I just found him on Thanh Niên News, one of the most popular newspaper in Saigon, describing his 'shocking' method of keeping discus.
May I translate it from the electronic version of Thanh Niên News : 

Engineer Lê Văn Huệ (1974) is working in Bình Dương post office; he's a very odd aquarist. Discus is a very tough kind of ornamental fish, quite sensitive even to the experts. Discus are often treated as 'kings', kept in glass tank with great care and observation over water parameters... and many times many experienced aquarists have to get back to ground zero from a loss. Shockingly, Huệ dared to put 2000 individuals into a... pond (subtrated by nylon) The results are, shocklingly, too, all of his fish thrived quite well and fast from the advantage of large water surface area.

He doesn't want to keep any secret for himself, he admits that the water quality must be observed very well, the inlet water must be better or the same with the one ther aquarists use for their glass tanks. To do this, it surely requres a hard-working man. 








_Huệ, taking care of his 'discus-pond'_
Other than aquatic hobby, he's also a good gardener! This photo shows the plant growing into the word "love"









Back to Max:
Can you recognize that?  It's awsome! He still refuses to sell it with any price... lemme see if I can persuade him ha ha...
_Source_


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## Pareeeee

woa that is really cool...wonder how on earth those discus could live in a pond!


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## flynngriff

Well, a pond is closer to their natural habitat than an aquarium would be...


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## maxpayne_lhp

*Re*

Well.. ya they stated about the water surface area... but how about parameters? How the hell can he keep track with them... and diseases...
+I love that plant "D


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## blor

that's a nice plant


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## (RC)

The bigger the volume of water the easier it is to keep any fish. You could put 6 healthy discus is a 3000G tank and almost ignore them for months becuase of the amount of water. The only problem I see with discus in a pond is it might be harder to pick out a illness problem, but other than that I think it's a great way to keep discus if you have the right tempertures.

RC


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## Pareeeee

i wouldnt enjoy it though cause i'd only be able to see the discus from the top, not one of their more flattering angles lol


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## TheOldSalt

RC beat me to it, but massive water volume and huge surface area make up for a LOT of other things. Stability has always been the main key to fishkeeping, and even if thengs reach extremes, they'll do it slowly enough to let the fish adjust. My guppy & goldfish pools hit 95 degrees sometimes, but the fish do just fine because of the extra surface area. Although illnesses would be harder to spot, they'd also be less likely to spread or even become a real problem. ( not to mention the fact that high temps kill many diseases ) Of course, if you can take steps to avoid such extremes, that would be preferable.
If you've never tried keeping fish in a pond, give it a try. A 950 gallon pool from walmart is only around 40 bucks, and you'd be amazed by how much your fish will grow and color up during a summer outdoors. Newborn guppy fry can be full adult size in two months, and you should see how your cichlids color up under real sunlight.


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## maxpayne_lhp

Well ya all about stability. But it still sounds too risky to me  you can't check out how many fish you have. And this can be a new wya to keep discus! Higher results than in glass tanks!  has anybody tried this?


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## flynngriff

When I finally build a house (or actually pay someone else to), I'm planning on building a pond against the side of it, with a window into the basement fishroom. I plan to pipe the filtration system into the fishroom as well, so I can keep all my maintenence in the same room of the house. That way I get a pond outside in the garden, and a big underwater view of it in my fishroom.

Hey, I can dream, can't I???



-Flynn


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## Pareeeee

THAT IS REALLY COOL flynngriff!!!!!!!!!!!! Now i want one...lol


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## Beerleader

Wow thats awesome! And I don't find it too surprising in some ways. I never have felt like they are as hard as so many say they are...at least not for me. Mine are some hardy suckers! 

Oh and that plant is awesome!!


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## maxpayne_lhp

> Oh and that plant is awesome!!


Agree... he's such a lucky guy  For him say love is no problem hah ha.


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## fish_doc

I want a tree that spells *Floccinaucinihilipilification* it would be a oxymoron seeing how the word means the act or habit of esteeming or describing something as worthless. To have a tree with such a long word describing somthing as worthless. I bet that tree would be priceless. LOL


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## maxpayne_lhp

"*Floccinaucinihilipilification"? Let's see what plant can live and grow that long to make up such word...
*


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## Pareeeee

BAMBOO!


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## maxpayne_lhp

Bamboo grows fast, anyway...


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## Chumpp_308

flynngriff said:


> When I finally build a house (or actually pay someone else to), I'm planning on building a pond against the side of it, with a window into the basement fishroom. I plan to pipe the filtration system into the fishroom as well, so I can keep all my maintenence in the same room of the house. That way I get a pond outside in the garden, and a big underwater view of it in my fishroom.
> 
> Hey, I can dream, can't I???
> 
> 
> 
> -Flynn



the wierdest thing is, i have had a very similar idea for the last couple of months, the only difference was is wasnt going to be directly beside the house, although that is a really cool idea.


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## igorstshirts.com

That is way cool... It would be nice if the side of the pond was glass, just to observe such a huge amount of discus in a more natural habitat. 

How does this guy keep the temp above 80 degrees in such a mass volume of water... Mad heaters?


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## wildtiger

Alot of those places over there never get cold, maybe he's in one of those places.


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## mlefev

I'm in San Diego, and the pool stays at 76+ most the winter. If you live in a warm climate it's easy to do.


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## maxpayne_lhp

In fact it is... it's the largest advantage of ours.
Anyway... the guy in my first thread really got on my nerve... Sight... never have a good Vietnamese fish-friend  In fact not many of my Vietnamese friends are good.


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## maxpayne_lhp

Yeah... I know alot Americans through here


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## mlefev

hehe and see...we're very friendly 

I can't imagine trying to keep a fish setup outdoors like that though, do they do well?


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## maxpayne_lhp

They do very well...


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