Follow us around Santarém Discus as we marvel at the highest quality wild caught discus available on the market! We were honored to have an opportunity to meet with Hugo, his family and his team during our stay in Santarém. As seems to be the general theme here in Brazil, they showed us incredible hospitality and welcoming. By the end of our visit we had built a wonderful relationship with hopes of returning soon to do a discus collecting expedition with them!
At first glance this unassuming facility looks clean and obviously well taken care of. We take a closer look at the tanks, their procedures and their operations, and soon realize that Santarém Discus is far from the norm when it comes to quality and care.
Hugo explained to us that every year during peak low water is when the discus are collected. They hand pick them with extreme care in selecting for body shape, placement of markings, eye color and body color. It is a rigorous selection process. No discus is taken from the river without passing all of the tests.
Upon arrival at Santarém Discus the fish are put through a quarantine process in which they are treated for any diseases and parasites and they are trained to eat in the aquarium. Each tank has a “teacher”, which is basically a discus left over from last season. This “teacher” does exactly that, it teaches the new fish to eat the unfamiliar food.
Once the fish are in perfect condition they are photographed, one by one, tank by tank. The photographs are recorded and put together into the present year’s catalog. The catalog is released around Christmas time each year in a Facebook photo album. Clients of Santarém Discus are able to select by photo which discus they want to purchase. Santarem Discus only sells to importers. They do not sell to private buyers. However, the catalog system is able to be shown to the importer’s private buyers, who can select the photos for the importer to purchase for them.
Luckily we were there to witness photos being taken for the catalog. Looking around at the fish room, we couldn’t imagine how tedious the cataloging process is for them. Not only to take the photos, but to record them all and then find those particular fish when they are selected to be purchased. Hugo and his team have a simple but effective system to keep track of their stock. They wouldn’t do it any other way to ensure their buyers get exactly what they want. Still, the work and care it takes to offer their clients this level of service is mind-boggling. We are VERY impressed.
We look forward to sharing more of this visit with you when this episode of Into theAmazon – Brazil 2018 comes out on YouTube!
Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube Channel and click the bell button so you don’t miss any of the series!
To learn more about Santarem Discus visit these links:
Check out Santarém Discus’ YouTube Channel
Visit their website!
Follow Santarém Discus on Facebook!
See this season’s catalog!
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Check out our Facebook page!
Get signed up for our Official Newsletter!
Learn How To Order Fish!
See our Current Stock List!
Check out our Current Stock Gallery!