Who is keeping Heckels 2011

[damian_ireland]

Folks,
Thought it would be interesting to do a thread for people currently keeping Heckels and info about them. I know there is a search option but I think it would be nice to just have a thread about people that have them now.
Please reply with details of your setup and fish and maybe a pic or 2

[damian_ireland]

I have 4 adult Heckels in a tank with 3 blues and Geos and Altums.
Tank is 6x2x2 with a 4 foot sump
My water is ph 4.5 and tds 70 and temp is 30*C I use RO water which is stored in a 200L container to which i add Preis Discus minerals
I feed them Frozen brine shrimp, Frozen Discus Mix both by TMC. I also give them Hikari Sinking Carnivore pellets which they love. I feed flake also but the tend not to bother with it.
I have the heckels about 4 months and the blues about 7 months.
I plan on moving the Geos on and having 6 Heckels and 4 Blues
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo145/fathertedc/IMG_0655.jpg

[rubinsteinnyc]

how do you get your pH to 4.5 and how do you maintain it?

[zchauvin]

Good question :)

[damian_ireland]

I placed peat in a filter bag in my 200l container at the start . that took the ph down to 5 ish. and a mature filter maintains

[Discus Origins]

I have a group of 10 Nhamunda Blue Heckels in a 90g with driftwood, 1 tiger lilly and frog bit for cover. The pictures can be found here:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?87372-Nhamunda-Heckels-New-Group

My current water conditions are Ph 4.8, hardness 15ppm, temp 84F. Water is pure RO/DI with Kent Discus essentials added back for minerals and Kent blackwater expert for tanins. They are fed frozen seafood recipe, beefheart flakes, frozen bloodworms, and live blackworms. Tankmates are 10 Cardinal tetras, 8 Rummynose, and 5 wild Cory 'Orange Neon'

[illumnae]

I have Heckels in my 4x2x2 Rio Negro biotope tank with Festivums, Corydoras duplicareus, Flameback Bleeding Heart Tetras and normal Bleeding Heart Tetras. Wild Leopoldi angels are a new addition not in the thread:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?85666-My-Rio-Negro-biotope-attempt

Water is about pH 5.3, TDS ranges from 40-70 between water changes. I use pure RO water for changes with no additives.