Heckel history

[gimaal]

Does anyone know when Heckels were first imported? I was looking through some of my old magazines and books and cannot find a photograph of one prior to 1960, around the time of Schultz's revision of Symphysodon.

[Fons_van_der_Hart]

In 1933 William T. Innes (yes from the Neon Tetra) wrote in the magazine "The Aquarium":

Although not new to science at the time, Symphysodon discus (pronounced sim-fy'so-don disk'us) was first introduced to aquarists in 1933 by Carl Griem, who carefully brought them from Brazil, each in his own container.

There's a lot of doubt whether these fish were real Heckels. Most of them were brown and none of the descriptions or pictures from those days show differently. Assumed is that the real Heckel did arrived around 1960 in the USA.

[gimaal]

Yes, I'm aware of the Innes reference but assumed those were browns/blues and not Heckels since never in his many years and numerous references to discus did he ever mention those with a prominent fifth bar. That detail would not have escaped him. He photographed the second and third wave of imports, later in the '30s, and none of them were Heckels.

[Apistomaster]

I have been something of an aquarium history buff and I agree that up until sometime in the early 1960's Heckel Discus were not being imported. The vast majority before then were mainly rather plain Brown S. haraldi from Belem area as far as mass importations but by the latter 1960's i was able to acquire average looking Greens, Browns to Royal Blues and Heckels on the same list were often offered as both Red Heckels and Blue Heckels.
"Red" Heckels were the common Heckel. I never bothered to order "Blue Heckels as I believed at that time it was merely a marketing ploy. Normal Heckels may be considered red or blue much like a glass is half full or half empty and there was only a couple dollars difference in price. As a shop owner, I was buying from Fred Cochu's Paramount Aquarium with whom a young Heiko Bleher was supplying many of his fish and I also ordered from Aquarium Imports in Pelham, NY, if memory serves. Both of these now defunct companies often had many rarer fish I couldn't find elsewhere. Aquarium Imports imported all their African fish from the late Pierre Brichard and they were a source of many wild and often then unidentified Aphyosemion species of killiefish. I still am looking for some Aphyosemion labarrei like those I received from New York. They are around but it isn't easy to find them even for a long time member of the American killifish Assoc(since 1967) like myself.
Really fine Red Spotted Greens did not show up where I looked until the latter 1970's and no one who had so-called Blue Heckels had fish with as much blue as those now being marketed as "blue moon" Heckels. I could easily obtain Heckels in 1967. Fairly ordinary to low grade Greens ran $8.00 to $10.00 each depending on their size.
Large Heckels wholesaled from $15 each. Large Royal and semi-Royal Blues sold at $15 and up to $25 each. Prices FOB Miami, Los Angeles and New York. Same grades some sell for $200+ today. Of course Cardinal Tetras in box lots of 300+ could be had for as little as $0.10 each. Neons were half that. Most Corydoras were no more than $0.25 each in 100 lots. Assorted Apistogramma, mostly A. bitaeniata and A.agassizi were as little as $0.18 in 100 lots. $0.25 in 25 lots.

Most mind blowing were the prices listed by the then major exporters in Manaus, Brazil and Singapore. I used to receive Willie Schwartz's monthly stock list. Cardinals were about $0.04 in box lots. Most large Discus were about $5.00. The more expensive fish have lower mark ups as a general rule, Corydoras were $0.10 in box lots. Baby Arowanas were only about $2.50 each. Rasbora heteromorpha, as they used to be known were only about $0.05 each. Baby TR Brown Discus from Singapore were only about $1.00 each but sometimes less as i was able to buy them for $1.50 to $1.75 each from Los Angeles wholesalers.
I had to buy what sold but I also sought out rarer species of Apistogramma, Killiefish and the better colored Discus I wanted to use in my breeding projects.