Change of thoughts with Heckels,

[gerbill]

Hello,
Because of moving my tanks around thought I would have a change of approach in the way I keep my Heckels ,previously had all B.B tanks ,I have now added sand done away with my plants, still have some in sumps though.
Added bog wood and oak branches to give the water a Tannin color,and cut out my over tank lighting.
The result seems to work for the Heckels they seem very at ease and content and spend a lot of time grazing across the sand.
Would love to know your thoughts
Regards
Bill

[Discus-n00b]

Its the only way to go IMO! Looks great! Those fish look amazing.

[dpt8]

Bill, From what I have heard, that seems more like their natural biotope.. That's the way to go.. Some of your heckels are reddish and some are bluish. What are their actual colors ??
Do you have two different varieties ?? What is your ph now ?? Around 6.5 with the wood ?? Any other info you can give us ?? Thanks..

[Eddie]

Amazing Bill, that is my ultimate group of heckels and in a great environment. They seem to be right at home. Haven't seen a better group anywhere!


All the best,

Eddie

[hedut]

They look AWESOME:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[blkrob]

They look great! Could you give a little more info on the lighting change you've created also.

Thanks
Robert

[jball1125]

Sweet! Love it when they are all packed together!

Im sure they feel more at home with the changes you have made

Thanks for sharing:D

[Darrell Ward]

I think you have done the proper thing. In my limited experience with Heckels, they do not like strong lighting at all. This is why I think it is a big mistake to keep them in a planted tank. They only seem to be really at ease in a tank that is dimly lit, sand or not. I've found that a 30" single tube fluorescent fixture works well on my 48" Heckel tank. Good luck with yours, they look good.

[DiscusKev]

Oh my days, thats so beautiful. Heckels are indeed beautiful, love the colour, love the shape, love the heckel bar, love the price label too :D

I think there is two types of heckels in that tank, some have solid blue gill plates, blue moon/blue faced heckel and some don't which are mostly the red hue coloured ones. Anywho, they are all beautiful specimens!

All the best,

[Arjunpun]

awesome.can we get the full tank shot?

[erikc]

Good move, a bare bottom tank is not the best for heckels.

Now they truly shine in their tank, beautifulll group there !

[Harriett]

Fantastic looking heckels, just stunning. They look very relaxed, nice environment you have created.
Best regards,
Harriett

[ockyra215]

I think you have a real nice natural setup there.I would say that is one impressive group of Heckles:D

[Apistomaster]

All wild Discus should be kept over fine sand but Heckels even more so. Even one centimeter layer is enough to make them happy. I'm sure by now you have noticed the hundreds of small overlapping craters they have created from their sand sifting behavior.
It takes so little sand to satisfy them and so little sand doesn't make keeping their tanks as clean as bare bottom ones much more work to keep their tank just as clean.
Heckels sift sand like earth eaters and Apistogramma. Once you see that you realize how close a bare bottomed tank is to being a sensory deprived environment for them even if they seem to be physically doing fine in a bare bottom tank.

The stomach content analysis results Heiko Bleher published in his book, Bleher's Discus Vol I, clearly reveals how much Heckels are dependent on benthic organisms for most of their diet. Heckels feed on the bottom in groups and when they have sand to work on there is even less aggression among themselves, what little they have. They are a very sociable species. They spend many hours per day together just sifting and puffing in the sand.
If there are enough of them, some take a turn at standing guard, watching out for any dangers to the larger group. The other two Discus species are not nearly as dependent on as complex social structures and are not found in as large sized aggregations.

It almost like not providing Altum Angelfish with small Cardinal Tetras for their midnight snacks. I'm exaggerating, of course, but not by much.

[Heiko Bleher]

Hi,

well said Larry, thanks.

But gerbill did you notive that among those beautiful Heckel discus are some natural hybrids

These Heckel discus come from the lower Rio Nhamundá and the collector also collected some at the mouth, where hybridization takes place ones in a while. (I have extensively published about this, and specially the lower Nhamundá).

These fishes in front shown on the first photo, where tghe 5th bar is only a fraction and the stripes are brougter and more like Royal Blues, those rae natural hybrids.

Anyhow, they are beautiful. Just wanted to let you know.

best regards from a collector,

always

Heiko Bleher

[Paul Lucas]

Hi Bill

These fish are a real credit to you. I know just how much care you give to your wilds and it's 100% my friend - keep up the brilliant work with them.

Paul @ Discus South UK