Cary Strong with Jack Wattley

Great Lakes Discus was founded by Cary Strong in 1994, and became a division of Choice Aquariums, LLC on December 20, 2006. Cary Strong is one of the most knowledgeable aquarists in the discus hobby today, and has been a speaker at numerous aquarium societies, clubs, and associations. He is a past American Cichlid Association Best in Show winner and in subsequent years he has also served as a judge for the event with such hobby stalwarts as Jack Wattley.

Great Lakes Discus Hatchery

The primary focus of Great Lakes Discus is our 1,800-gallon hatchery where Cary has been working with specific bloodlines for over 15 years. He has strategically out crossed our bloodlines to other exceptional strains of the same type to develop what we consider our "Strong" discus. Whenever you see "Strong" discus available, you can take comfort in knowing that 100% of these specimens have been bred by Cary Strong in our hatchery.

Great Lakes Discus at Choice Aquariums

Our "Strong" discus bloodlines are extraordinary in shape, size, color and pattern. We have accomplished a significant amount of the work for you, and "Strong" discus can be inbred up to three generations without losing their excellent genetic traits. All of our "Strong" discus are parent raised, with no artificial methods, no hormones, or color enhancements. We believe parent rearing is an important aspect of "Strong" discus development.

Cary Strong at our hatchery

In addition to our hatchery, Great Lakes Discus also possesses U.S. Fish and Wildlife licensing to direct import "Select" specimens from trusted sources in both Germany and Asia. Through Chicago's O'Hare airport and directly to our 1,300-gallon discus system at Choice Aquariums, we quarantine the new arrivals for weeks. After passing an inspection by Cary Strong, we make "Select" discus available at our Choice Aquariums retail store and on-line here at this Great Lakes Discus website. Cary's objective is providing outstanding specimens to our customers, while selectively adding new varieties to our hatchery.