Meet the Owner: Mathias Scaglia
As a young boy growing up in Italy, I had a close friend whose father was one of the largest tropical fish wholesalers in Europe. Throughout my childhood & teen years, I had many opportunities to visit his huge warehouse. This led to my developing a passion for Discus fish as he imported, for the first time ever, some Wild Royal Blue Discus from the Amazon River. They were huge and it was love at first sight! I knew immediately that one day I would want to acquire discus for myself.
My initial career had nothing to do with aquariums, however it brought me to America. Here, a few years later, in 1993, I learned of Jack Wattley and his success in breeding discus. I started purchasing discus from him and consulting with him. This again sparked my enthusiasm and I began my breeding journey. While working very long hours as an executive pastry chef in New York City, I followed my heart and fed my “addiction” for these fascinating creatures.
In 2001, after a couple of years of successful breeding on my own, with several inevitable failed attempts, Discus Madness was born. With the help of a friend, I realized that if I wanted to build a sustainable business, I needed to find other sources of discus fish which brought me into contact with breeders from the east. I have been fortunate to import some incredible specimens and have developed long time friendships and business relationships with world-renowned breeders located in Malaysia.
Initially, Discus Madness was run from my home but shortly thereafter, we outgrew the space and in 2008 we moved into our current Union New Jersey location.
My passion for tropical fish has branched out to several other aquatic varieties besides discus. This has led to expanding our facility from 2000 sq. ft. to 4000 sq. ft. We have over 250 tanks solely designated for discus, our primary product, along with over 200 other tanks dedicated to a wide variety of fresh water fish including rare Plecostomus, Corydoras, Tetras, Angelfish, Ramirezi, Rainbow Fish, shrimps and snails. We also provide our customers with a wide variety of products including live-plants, materials for aquascaping, fish food and medications to maintain and care for their tropical fish and aquariums.
We welcome discus lovers and fresh water aquarium enthusiasts to visit our showroom. Our dedicated staff and I are here to share our expertise & knowledge and answer any of your questions.
Some of my favorie Discus collected throughout the years.
