Rebellious Heckels

[wannafish]

I have done everything for them. And they still rebel. Right now they
don't even go after live worms. Now they only eat when I am not in the
room. Or when it's dark. All they do is sit behind my large pieces of
driftwood. It's kinda like a cave for them. I know if I got rid of them,
then they would have to be out in the open and maybe eat. It seems
like it's more natural for them to hide than eat. I have done a couple
things recently. Just last week I changed the sand to a whiter sand.
I have changed to RO water in the last two months, with discus
essentials added. I thought they would acclimatize to the RO by now.
Maybe not. I don't know what's goin on with these guys.

[Second Hand Pat]

What about your lights. Are they bright?

[wannafish]

Hi Pat,

I have enjoyed your posts. I guess they could be bright. Compact twin 10,000 k daylight. I had them
on my planted tank. The lights have been on this tank all along, and they have settled in with them and
have been in the open before with them on. It could be the lighting. I could try a different setup.

[Second Hand Pat]

Why thank you :) I have an idea for you. If you have a glass top between the lights and the surface of the water get some window screen and place several layers beneath the lights. This will dim the lights and allow you to remove layers as the fish adjust. I find it takes my wilds about 6 months to be comfortable with normal tank lights.

If you have some natural light during the day leave the tank lights off and observe from a distance to see if your heckels are out more. Also when you move around the tank move slow and consistent, no quick moves. Avoid banging the tank with hoses etc when doing water changes.

Over time you will find that your heckels will be out and begging all the time.

[wannafish]

Thanks Pat,

I went out and cut some screen and placed it on aquarium. It dimmed the lights pretty well.
I don't know if I should use the green patio screen, since it may cause algae. I don't know!
I have the screen door screen also. I have a couple of pics to show you before and after.
The pic with the fish out was sometime last year. The lights are the same as now, but I
was using tap water for wc's. Do you think it may be the change to RO. How long might
it take for them to acclimate? Somebody here mentioned that I should get more Heckels.
I only have four, and I want to get some more. Somewhere back behind that driftwood
are the heckels!

Jeff

[Darrell Ward]

You will have to give them time to adjust and settle down. They don't like too much change, and don't really like bright lights either, although they eventually get use to it. Don't get discouraged. I once had a group that took about 6 months to fully settle in, and I thought of getting rid of them before they finally adapted.

[jimg]

I usually keep small potted plants on other sheets of glass on top of the tank under the lights this way they get shaded areas and the plants in the tank can get direct light and you have nice plants growing on top of the tank. all you need to do is hang the light higher.
if you not into plants then the screens work fine. green screen will not give you algae!
i have some white plastic mesh screen I get in arts and craft stores.

[Second Hand Pat]

Jeff, the brighter sand will make the tank brighter and hence more intense for the fish and no, like Jim says the green screen will not give you algae. Totally agree with Darrell that you will have to give them time. I can not comment on the RO/Discus essentials. I still have my guys on my well water. I do hope to move to a RO/tap mix soon. You could add a black water extract to help them adjust. BTW I do not have heckels but Darrell does.

What changed between the second and first pictures beside the sand and the RO switch? Is it possible they are sick or have worms? Just a thought.

[wannafish]

Thanks Pat and Darrell. I have enjoyed your posts also. Quite the owner of some nice wilds, I must say.
I don't think they are sick. In fact I just fed them some live worms and they are attacking it. It took some
coaxing but they got the message. I also changed the screen. I didn't really like the green color. I have
peat running in the tank so I wanted to see the tannin color. I used fiberglass door screen a couple layers
thick. They have come out a few times. Nothing else has changed drastically. I have read that it is harder
for Discus to acclimate to ph when it goes down rather than up. I changed over to RO slowly, but maybe
they are still getting use to the ph swing. I guess I am just going to have to wait it out. Thanks for the
advice on the lighting, I think that may help also.

Jeff

[Second Hand Pat]

Jeff, slow is fast with these guys. Works with horses too. Sort of sounds like you are making a little progress and glad you changed to the darker screen :) I didn't care for the green either. :)
Pat