SimplyDicus.com
SimplyDicus.com
JimmyL
John Erdman December 2002

Here is the interview I (JE) recently conducted with JimmyL (JL). I have to say, it was a pleasure. I am really looking forward to seeing how his new experiments turn out in breeding - the white fish crossed with some solids sounds pretty interesting to me! Thanks again Jimmy for the great interview and pics!

JE: Please tell us all a little about yourself, what makes Jimmy tick? Single, married, attached? What do you do for a living? Other hobbies? Any significant non-discus achievements you want to brag about?

JL: Fry attachment makes me tick. It is the most amazing behavior in nature. I grew up in Hong Kong. My parents saw no future for me being a nature lover who played with wild animals, birds and fish. They made the decision to send me away to Canada to stay away from the animals. Im presently working in Cardio-Respiratory and Anesthesia field in a hospital and also studying to be a Respirologist. I will be in-charge of our new Asthma and COPD Rehab. Center next April. I married my high school sweet heart from Hong Kong and we have a lovely daughter named Penny. Thats how I started in a new country with only pennies in my pocket. Christmas is a special time for me. I have Christmas gifts from patients recovered from life and death situation thanking me for saving their lives. Most of them came to the hospital by ambulance either had a Cardiac Arrest or Respiratory failure, unable to breathe and lifeless. I put a tube into the lungs, with a little massage on the heart and brought them back to life. I looked after them in the Intensive Care Unit on the Breathing machine and saw them walking out of the hospital are my significant achievements and Im really proud of myself able to bring happiness to their families.


JE: How did you get into discus? Where was the first discus you saw? How long had you been into fish first?

JL: I hated city life in Hong Kong. I chose to stay with my grandfather who was a Herbalist in a village near the perimeter of the city where we found mountains, rivers, beaches and trees. I caught everything that can move, fry and swim. We had a river running beside the house with all kinds of fish can be found. I caught guppies, green swordtails and gouramis from the river. I started keeping them and sold them to other kids. One day, I found a stray German Shepard and brought him home. It was a guard dog belonging to a British Sargent from the expensive homes up on the mountain. He came and pick up the dog and saw some green swordtails I caught from the river, he gave me 5 brown discus and a tank as a reward. I didnt know what they were. All I knew they were rare and expensive and paid no attention to them. I left them on the balcony on the upper floor. They ate the insects that dropped in the tank at night. The daily afternoon downpour did all the water change. Didnt even know how they had babies in the tank cause the algae made it impossible to see inside the tank. Took them to the fish vendor. They were jumping for joy. Didnt even know why. It was 1965. Thats how I start keeping Discus, They were called 7 color Angels in Hong Kong.


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