Henri Back was born in 1955 in France. He has been involved in the aquarium hobby since the age of 10. He started with cold water fish and was subsequently won over by the tropical aquarium.
In 1975, he acquired his first Discus and since 1983 he achieved his first successful breedings. He has bred many varieties, such as brown, turquoise, red turquoise, and wild Discus. He performed significant crosses between wild Heckel and domestic strains, while he managed to establish a pair of wild Heckels with repeated spawns, although their offspring did not survive.
He has visited Discus catching areas in Brazil and Peru, as well as breeding farms in Asia.
He has participated in international Discus Shows in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands from 1997 to the present.