Bleher’s Discus, Volume 2

Bleher's Discus Volume 2 by Heiko Bleher

Format: Hardcover, 684 pages

Publisher: Aquapress Bleher (2011)

ISBN: 978-8890290466

Language: English

$143.00 (Includes Shipping to Canada or the U.S.)

Bleher’s Discus Volume 2

An unsurpassed and comprehensive study of the genus Symphysodon.

In this volume Heiko Bleher documents the entire history of discus breeding – from its first beginnings to the start of 2011 – in the finest detail, illustrated with over 4000 photos and with a special foreword by Jack Wattley. Chapter 6 features a previously unpublished manuscript by Eduard Schmidt-Focke (1913-1998), to whom the book is dedicated posthumously. “The Doctor” is universally regarded as the father of modern discus breeding, as many – if not the majority – of the cultivated forms that exist today originated from him. His forms are documented in text and pictures, from his early days right through to the end. The same chapter also immortalises other pioneers of discus breeding worldwide, their history and achievements, as well as modern discus breeders all over Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Antipodes. And, of course, in Asia, nowadays the “capital” of discus breeding. All the cultivated forms have been researched in detail, revealing the ancestry of Pigeon Blood and the other multitudinous variants and sports, often with “fantasy names”. More than 700 breeders from 50 countries are included, with details of their set-ups, methods, secrets, and tricks – the vast majority hitherto unpublished anywhere in the world. The chapter concludes with a detailed and easy to understand overview of the optimal breeding methods for both wild-caught discus and cultivated forms, based on the author’s extensive knowledge accumulated over several decades. Chapter 7 presents the discus variants cultivated worldwide, with details of their breeders, in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australia, and includes the latest cultivated forms and new wild-caught variants discovered since the publication of volume 1 in 2006. The book concludes with the latest information on the classification of cultivated forms, plus updates on taxonomy and distribution.