My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

[Jeffkhng]

Hi everyone

Just like to share my very first batch of wild discus. ;)

Open to all comments good or bad.

Currently in this tank for 2 months under quarantine before shifting.

Fingers crossed that image loads properly!

Jeff

https://i.imgur.com/jZRdiRu.jpg

[Sturiosoma]

Look good heckles are the ultimate challenge in discus what are your plans after qt

Jeanne

[danotaylor]

They look great Jeff!!

[L200GreenPhantom]

Wow, they are beautiful! What are you currently feeding? I just bought some wilds, most of which are not too fond of my dry foods.

[fljones3]

You can try tropical discus wild granules. Both my domestics and wilds love these.

[peewee1]

Mine took to the freeze dried black worms and frozen brine shrimp with out hesitation.

[Jeffkhng]

I'll be transferring them to a 250g sump system in about two weeks? Maybe slowly add in some corys and pleco.
I'll post pictures!

[Jeffkhng]

😊 thanks

[Jeffkhng]

They started eating pretty quick.
They eat frozen blood worms, beef heart mix, frozen brine shrimp and frozen mysis shrimp.

[Jeffkhng]

https://imgur.com/a/9npmbJu

https://imgur.com/a/9npmbJu

Hmmmm...video not showing up

[danotaylor]

I know with YouTube links that when you remove the "s" from https it loads but I tried that and it doesn't work with your imgur links...

[LizStreithorst]

If I had those excellent fish I would be soooo itchin' to breed them.

If you want a pretty natural display tank, get Sterbai Corys, and a few Bristlenose. Consider a small group of German Blue Rams if you want a little more action in the tank.

[BrendanJ23]

Absolutely beautiful! I want wilds now! I need another wall to stick a tank in now and make it a pure wilds, I may end up single after that LOL.

[Jeffkhng]

I'll go try with YouTube after this. But you could still view the videos?

[Jeffkhng]

Nice suggestions! I'll keep your ideas in mind!

[danotaylor]

Yes I could still watch the vids mate :thumbsup:

[Jeffkhng]

http://youtu.be/G3dHcXWoefA

[Jeffkhng]

http://youtu.be/G3dHcXWoefA

[Jeffkhng]

http://youtu.be/JQD3f4JMGPI

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Jeff, your heckels look great and sounds like they are doing well.
Pat

[Jeffkhng]

Hi Pat! Thank you! I've been lucky so far I guess.
Quarantine with metro, oxytetracycline and prazi went well!

[Jeffkhng]

http://youtu.be/cx-zdXgX9VU

Quick feeding clip. Eating beef heart. Wishing they would get more blue soon

[Jeffkhng]

126910

The tank has come! ��

[Jeffkhng]

http://youtu.be/H0ZV3BPIVrM

Finally. The tank is up. Discus are in about a week, still very skittish as you can see in the video.
I'll probably get a school of rummys above them to maybe calm them down faster

[danotaylor]

Tank looks great Jeff! Nicely done sir! :thumbsup:

[Jeffkhng]

Thank you Danny!

[AquaticNerd]

Looks great! I love seeing their schooling behavior :)

[Willie]

Love your hardscape setup. Driftwood, stones and a bit of sand really give the impression of discus in the wild.

I see pictures of heavily planted discus tanks and always wonder what they're suppose to represent?! :evilgrin:

Willie

[danotaylor]

Jeff there are 3 lighter blue discus without the heckel bar, but a bar through the eye...what strain are they mate? They're pretty too!

[Second Hand Pat]

Jeff there are 3 lighter blue discus without the heckel bar, but a bar through the eye...what strain are they mate? They're pretty too!

I was going to ask the same question Jeff. Nice fish and tank BTW. :D
Pat

[peewee1]

Jeff there are 3 lighter blue discus without the heckel bar, but a bar through the eye...what strain are they mate? They're pretty too!

I didn't see those, Dano. They all looked like Heckel to me just that if maybe a wild cross version with lighter center bar.

[danotaylor]

If you count the fish in the previous vid there are 7 heckels. In the most recent vid there is 10 discus, the 7 orig + 3 others that look to be a different strain. Jeff, any clarity? :D

[Jeffkhng]

😂
You have a sharp eye! Remember the breeding thread where I had some turq and blue diamond crosses? It's them. Abt 3-4 inch now.
I put them in to kind of settle the heckels. So at least they don't hide behind the wood. And they will follow the Blues to eat at the open area!

[Jeffkhng]

�� danny's really counting the fish!

[Jeffkhng]

Thank you for the compliments. I guess everyone has their idea of how they like their tank! I'm worried about maintenance if I put in too much plants

[Jeffkhng]

Hi peewee
Sorry! There're actually domestics! ��

[Jeffkhng]

:D

[Jeffkhng]

127263

[Jeffkhng]

http://youtu.be/plseycB4Cr4

this is the filtration if anyone is interested. Thinking of converting the center compartment to algae scrubber once the k1 fluidised media kick in.

[Jeffkhng]

Looks great! I love seeing their schooling behavior :)

Thank you!

[peewee1]

Very nice collection of Heckel, Jeff. I would be interested to see them again in 6 months.

[Jeffkhng]

Very nice collection of Heckel, Jeff. I would be interested to see them again in 6 months.
I'll be sure to update! I'm just a little worried about the smaller guys about 3-4 inches. If they'll get enough food to grow well.

[peewee1]

I'll be sure to update! I'm just a little worried about the smaller guys about 3-4 inches. If they'll get enough food to grow well.

I think it's more about the fish than its size. I have a little Red Heckel in a tank with 5 other fish that twice her size. She is so fast that she gets to the food first and will even scrap with her bigger tanks mates.

[Jeffkhng]

I think it's more about the fish than its size. I have a little Red Heckel in a tank with 5 other fish that twice her size. She is so fast that she gets to the food first and will even scrap with her bigger tanks mates.
agreed. It's the character of the fish. I do have one small one that tends to want to stay near the wood all the time.

[Jeffkhng]

http://youtu.be/hnQrWrwj-tM

Here's a feeding video. See they are still so careful. Rushing back at the slightest notice.

[Pardal]

Heckels, are awesome fish and the ultimate challenge as to get them to breed, They will look beautiful in any water, but if you manage to maintain soft water and low ph , they will look their best. at the same time use caution when dealing with ph.

[Willie]

Back in the day, I kept Heckels in a 55-gallon tank in 100% R/O water. They did fine in the tank. Then I decided to bring the pH down to 5.0 with a drop of acid. The Heckels really thrived in at that lower pH. They swam a lot more and ate more food. Of course, it's hard to maintain that pH. Once the pH crashed and burnt up a school of cories in the tank. The discus were fine. Back then, I just had paper test strips which went down to pH 4.5. So I knew it was at least 4.5, but not whether it was much lower.

This batch is striking for the round shapes. We shouldn't expect wild caught fish to grow to huge sizes. Frankly, these look great to me.

Willie

[Jeffkhng]

Heckels, are awesome fish and the ultimate challenge as to get them to breed, They will look beautiful in any water, but if you manage to maintain soft water and low ph , they will look their best. at the same time use caution when dealing with ph.

Yes! getting the water to low PH is not hard, maintaining it during WC will be tricky or tedious at least.

[Jeffkhng]

Back in the day, I kept Heckels in a 55-gallon tank in 100% R/O water. They did fine in the tank. Then I decided to bring the pH down to 5.0 with a drop of acid. The Heckels really thrived in at that lower pH. They swam a lot more and ate more food. Of course, it's hard to maintain that pH. Once the pH crashed and burnt up a school of cories in the tank. The discus were fine. Back then, I just had paper test strips which went down to pH 4.5. So I knew it was at least 4.5, but not whether it was much lower.

This batch is striking for the round shapes. We shouldn't expect wild caught fish to grow to huge sizes. Frankly, these look great to me.

Willie

Thanks Willie. Will do my best to get the best out of them.

[Jeffkhng]

http://youtu.be/cbuUb99XP0k

[danotaylor]

They seem much more settle with the rummies Jeff!

[Jeffkhng]

They seem much more settle with the rummies Jeff!

Yes they are calmer. But there’s still a Long way to go.

[Jeffkhng]

http://youtu.be/dW7USfpGUpg

[danotaylor]

Funny watching them follow each other around...I love your discus Jeff, all of them!

[Jeffkhng]

Funny watching them follow each other around...I love your discus Jeff, all of them!

Thanks Danny! I guess it shows they are not so secure in the tank yet. But I'm glad I did put in a few of the blue domestics. They really helped to calm the heckels.

[danotaylor]

I think that was a good move and at least they're not thrashing around and injuring themselves... And those domestics compliment the blue hues in the heckels as well

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Jeff, there are a few things you can do to help increase the comfort level of the heckels. First is adding some rooibos tea to the water. It will darken the water with a tannin look. You can also try dimming the tank light.
Pat

[Jeffkhng]

Hi Jeff, there are a few things you can do to help increase the comfort level of the heckels. First is adding some rooibos tea to the water. It will darken the water with a tannin look. You can also try dimming the tank light.
Pat
Hi Pat!
Water is pretty dark already. I have peat and kattappa leaves in the water. The water is the color of light tea now. Maybe the video makes it look otherwise. But thank you!
Any comments are always appreciated. We learn more.

[Jeffkhng]

I think that was a good move and at least they're not thrashing around and injuring themselves... And those domestics compliment the blue hues in the heckels as well

I'm glad I did this. I had actually added 2 6 inch domestics before these small blues. That didn't work out. The big domestics were too aggressive. Not allowing the heckels to get close to food etc. Hence I put these smaller blues instead.

[Jeffkhng]

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