My New Heckel Project

[Dan S]

Hello,

At long last and after some set backs like my tank cracking I have got my new Heckels. They are 14 Nhamunda Heckels about 3.5" in length. They came from Paul Lucas at Discus South (who very kindly held them for me for the last 2 months while I got my tank fixed) and he got them from Hudson at Hek.com

They are in my 6' x 2' x 2.5' tank that used to hold my Blues. Its basically the same setup, 2 x Eheim Pro 3 thermos with UV, Arcadia luminaire, Silver sand, Vinewood roots and some floating plants. There are some tank mates which I choose because they are my favourites at the moment, they include, 10 x Corydoras Matae, 4 x L134's and approx 30 Rummy Nose Tetras.

Water params are Ph5.7, Temp 29oC, TDS 45, ammonia and Nitrites are zero and Nitrates are between 5 - 10. I use Ro water with TMC minerals to rebuild the water and use Almond leaves and peat to add tannins and humic acids and to hold the Ph around the 5.7 mark.


Dan

[Dan S]

And a couple more pics.

Dan

[William Palumbo]

Dan those are some SWEET Heckels! They look great in your tank...Bill

[Eddie]

Woohoo! Those are some killer heckels! Their colors are so vibrant. Super nice set-up Dan.

All the best

Eddie

[pan]

That's are really fantastic heckel and your aquarium is very nice.What are you feeding them?Enjoy your tank and your fishes:thumbsup:

[plecocicho]

Now have guts to say heckels are ugly discus! People who say that are crazy. Those are real beauties.

[Eyecandy]

Hi... Congrats... beautiful discus and great tank scape.. I really like it. Good luck with them... Sue:D:D

[Disgirl]

What is the interesting background on your tank? Beautiful tank and fish!!
Barbara

[blue acara]

You finally got them:) And damn they look good...Lot of blue on them already. Dan you need to make this a bi monthy update thread. In a year or two I fully expect them to be breeding:D

[Dan S]

Hello,

Thanks for the kind comments. Considering Ive only had them just over a week, Im very pleased with the way they are colouring up and they way they are adjusting to me doing maintenance like water changes etc on the tank. Lets hope it continues!!

Plecocicho, I agree, for me Heckels are the most beautiful of all Discus!!!

Pan, Im feeding allsorts, granule wise Im using Tetra Prima, Tony Tan Vital Power, I also use earthworm and spirulina sticks. Frozen food Im using a mixture of stuff by TMC http://tmc-ltd.co.uk/aquarium/aquarium-food.asp including FBW, FBS with spirulina, Mysis, chopped Prawn and Mussel and particularly the vegetarian mix which they seem to like alot.
I have also made a seafood mix with lots of fruit and vegetables in.

Disgirl, the background is made by a company called Juwel http://www.juwel-aquarium.de/en/strukturrckwnde56.htm?cat=110

Hello Blue Acara, Yes after 2 months of messing about with the cracked tank, maturing filters again I finally got them. I was beginning to think it would never happen. I will do updates and as for breeding, if I can keep them happy and healthy then I will be very happy.


Heres a couple of Videos, sorry they are not better quality, same goes for the photos, Im finding it difficult with less lighting to get clear shots.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJgXGH8sfZo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8SLXTZJwPc


Dan

[pan]

Amazing videos put more driftwood and i think it will be ideal.:thumbsup:

[Dan S]

Hello Pan,

Thanks for your comments.
The plan is once they have grown abit I will re do the layout in the tank, I have been collecting lots of Oak branches over the winter and they need a few more months of preparation, soaking and cleaning up and later on in the year Im going to try a get a more natural look to the tank.

Dan

[AquatiCreations]

Are you sure its Hek.com? It just took me to a construction website.:confused:

[wgtaylor]

Are you sure its Hek.com? It just took me to a construction website.:confused:

Try http://www.hek.com.br/

Bill

[AquatiCreations]

Try http://www.hek.com.br/

Bill

Ah many thanks!

[lemondiscus]

VERY pretty fish you have there.... I am hoping to go all Heckel here in a little bit myself... IMO they look SO much better than most of the domesticated/bred out strains...

[Condor]

Your fish are stunning, and in that display, WOW! It is very peaceful looking. AWESOME job.

Adrian

[Dan S]

Hello,

Lemondiscus and Condor thanks for your kind comments.

A quick update, things seem to be going well, they are taking allsorts of food and they are very active, they are also growing nicely.

They have got used to water changing remakeable quickly as well as using the algae magent to clean the glass and they are happy when others are in the room to which is great (My blues still get spooked by other people and the algae magnet). How much of this is juvenile curiosity I dont know but I hope it lasts. I would be interested to here others thoughts on this?

One thing I have noticed is that although they are taking allsorts of food, they very quickly become pre occupied with one type so I have to keep mixing it up to stop that. Mainly its the worms, Bloodworms and these http://www.blackworms.com.au/ that they become totally obsessed with.

Heres a video from a few days back at feeding time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hc1Xa6hTLQ

Dan

[erikc]

Lovely looking group indeed :thumbsup:

Okay, so they are only gobbling BW, I know that one :( It's always problematic to get them to eat something else, but you do have try to ween them off them. They do require a more varied diet. Give some spirulina flakes a try ;)

You may want to add a small cleanup crew of corydoras in the tank. The Heckel's won't mind :D

Thanks for the update Dan.

[Dan S]

Hello Erik,

Thanks for the kind comment.

They eat allsorts, thats not a problem at all. The video I did because I find it funny how agressive they get with the bloodworm, all the other foods they graze on for hours and isnt very interesting in a video. But your right, I can only feed it as a treat otherwise they become totally pre occupied with it and refuse everything else.

At the moment Im feeding a mixture of
Tony Tan Vital Power granules
Tetra Prima granules
Earthworm and spirulina sticks
Frozen Brineshrimp with spirulina
Frozen Mysis shrimp
Frozen White mosquito larvea,
Frozen Daphnia,
Frozen TMC Vege diet and Cichlid diet,

Im also experimenting with my seafood mix but that needs more work. At present its a mix of Spinach, Avocado, peas, bananas, spirulina powder, flake, granule and crumb with raw tuna, raw prawns and mussels and cockles.

Hopefully thats varied enough for the time being. Oh and Im also looking into getting my own wormery going so I have a steady supply of earthworms.

As for clean up crew, there are 10 x Corys in the tank and 4 x L134's aswell.

Dan

[Apistomaster]

I found Heckels to really like the earth worm and Spirulina Sticks. They are not only very nutritious but they lend themselves well to the way Heckels like to find food sifting the sand.
I only used Spirulina sticks as my sole source of meeting their vegetarian requirements and they did quite nicely over the 4 years I kept them. I just sold all 10 to a very expert friend and they are thriving under his care. Finding a good home was my greatest worry but it all worked out as well as one could hope.

Nice L134 leopard Frog Pleco. One of my favorites and I raise more than any one I know in the USA. Currently have about 190 from newly released fry, juveniles, subadults and my wild caught breeders. Looking forward to the day of my first spawn from my tank raised fish. I keep a dozen in my 125 gal Nhamunda Blue Discus tank.

[Apistomaster]

Dan,
I forgot to mention that young Heckels seem to be less cautious than the adults so don't be surprised if your Heckels become more shy and as the mature.
They are more prone to panic attacks than the young fish too.

[Dan S]

Hello Larry,

I had read you had sold your Heckels, the new owner is very lucky, they where beauties!!!

Yes I agree about the Spirulina and Earthworm Sticks, funnily enough I wrote about this yesterday on another forum, they spend hours sifting through the sand for them.
Having read many of your posts over the last couple of years both the Spirulina/Earthworm sticks and the L134 plecs you introduced me to so I have to say thanks for that.
I love the L134. Its great that you are having so much success with breeding them.

Dan

[GrillMaster]

Dan!! I have been so busy the last couple months I completely missed this thread...:(

I am glad you rebounded from the tank mishap. The Heckels look amazing as well as your tank! :thumbsup: