Nhamunda Blue Moon & Blue Face Heckels from Hudson

[illumnae]

Hi all, Hudson's 2nd shipment to Singapore has arrived about a month after the first. I couldn't resist when I saw the stocklist for this shipment, and ordered myself a batch of 8 Nhamunda Blue Heckels for my 240 gallon blackwater biotope tank (previously the Rio Orinocco biotope tank that some of you may have seen me post about previously).

In this order, I got 4 Nhamunda blue moon and 4 Nhamunda blue face. Unfortunately, I think the fish were stressed from the flight and are not showing their promised traits of 1/3 body fused blue coverage (for the blue moons) and full blue gill plates (for the blue face). However, I've been assured that they'll colour up more once they settle in...and I'm eagerly looking forward to that!

Heckels don't seem to travel as well as blues, so these guys are in worse shape than my Curuais...much skinnier too! I'm going to try feeding them beefheart and seafood mix when they start eating, hoping to bulk them up to be as thick as the blues.

Here's 2 videos of them being taken 1 day after they were put into the tank. They're out and about swimming and not hiding, so they're doing good! The first video was taken with the room light on, so it looks a little overexposed. The 2nd is a little better as the room lights were off.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVe2Subao5k


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QMv482cL9E

[illumnae]

Some badly taken pictures from my lousy handphone. They're still not fully settled in as of last night:

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueMoon1Day3.jpg

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueMoon2Day3.jpg

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueMoon3Day3.jpg

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueMoon4Day3.jpg

[Silver]

Congrats with ur fish they still look real nice and big.. good luck with them...

[Pardal]

They look really good, I can figure how beautiful they will look once they settle in.

[Second Hand Pat]

Really nice illumnae :)

[illumnae]

Congrats with ur fish they still look real nice and big.. good luck with them...


They look really good, I can figure how beautiful they will look once they settle in.


Really nice illumnae :)

Thanks :)

The blue moons are developing well for sure, but the blue faces not so much yet - blue in the gill plates are not showing much coverage. However, given how much the blue moons have been colouring up, I have high hopes that the blue faces will as well given more time. Hudson has not let me (or anyone else I know) down so far, and I don't expect this to be an exception.

My wife took more pictures on her DSLR last night - I'll post more when I get a chance!

[Discus-n00b]

Nice fish! Nice and blue.

[disc-va-757]

very NICE 3 BARS !!! my Fav

[illumnae]

Some photos taken by my wife with her DSLR.

Blue Moons:

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueMoon1.jpg

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueMoon2.jpg

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueMoon3.jpg

Blue Face:

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueFace1.jpg

Group Shots:

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/Group1.jpg

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/Group2.jpg

The blue face still don't show full gill plates, but the blue's definitely still developing, so I'm gonna sit back and relax and see how they go.

[jimg]

nice collection! good luck with them!

[damba]

Imho the nicest discus of all the strains. Keep us updated.
Tom

Sent from my GT-I5800 using Tapatalk

[illumnae]

Well it's a few hours off 2 weeks since these guys landed in Singapore.

The good news is that as of last night, I managed to observe all 8 discus eating the NLS Thera+A pellets I feed them. They're also swimming around more and not hiding so much despite the relatively bright lights (105W of LED lights over the 240 gallon tank - the old lightset was just 36W of LED lights).

The not so good news is that the blue face heckels still haven't developed their "blue face" fully yet, and 2 of the blue moons are definitely not the promised "1/3 body coverage". However, I've spoken to Hudson and he has personally assured me that the blue *will* show. Hopefully they will colour up soon :)

Now comes a call for some advice. I'm currently feeding the group with NLS Thera+A pellets (1mm). The discus seem to be holding their own against their tankmates (altum angels and large eartheaters), but I'm thinking of introducing beefheart to bulk them up and aid their growth a little. The blue face arrived as ML/L size and the blue moons arrived as L/XLG size. However, I would like to have them grow larger and thicker than they currently are. My worry is that with beefheart being the "crack" that it usually is amongst fish, would I need to do anything special to ensure that the discus do get to eat their fair share of beefheart? Or should I take the pellets as indication of them being able to hold their own and just throw the beefheart in?


P.S. I may replace beefheart with seafood mix

[AmirA]

Give them minimum of 6 months to recover and you will see their true colors

[NanDiscus]

Illumnae,

Lovely fish for a start. It's all been said by others before, but let me add my :thumbsup: too!

It does indeed take quite some time and really good care for wilds to colour up nicely and good food definately plays a major role in it. I would however suggest something else other than beefheart. Not because I personally had really bad experiences with it (although some of my long-time Heckel keeper friends never use it for some reason), I did have the impression that my own fish didn't really appreciate it. The magic food for me was live earthworms or compostworms. They theoretically have a higher nutritional value than the rightfully foed live tubifex worms, but do not carry any pathogens that could harm the fish. Obviously, they have to come from a chemically clean source, but an average back-garden is good enough. Making and maintaining your own indoor culture is also easy, clean, has virtually zero smell and you can carefully control what gets inside the worms and therefore your fish. Just imagine all that great meat filled with brilliant stuff, such as carrots (for the colour of your fish), apples (for the vitamines), spirulina, whatever. What the worms eat is what your fish eat. And they are irresistible. ;)

Sorry about the highjack!

Nandi

[mdlman99]

^ sounds great, i need to know how i can set one of those up!

[Second Hand Pat]

Here are my wormy threads

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?87556-Worm-Wars

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?88726-Red-Wiggler-Worm-Prep

[illumnae]

Thanks Nandi and Pat, I did think of starting a worm farm some time back...unfortunately, the idea was vetoed by my wife...I'm not allowed to keep worms in the house :(

Sourcing for the worms is also another problem. Singapore is a very built up city, and most of the population lives in high rise flats = no backyards. Parks are all government property so we're not allowed to go dig around for forms (assuming we can even find the right type! For my discus I want red wrigglers not nightcrawlers). We're not allowed to import such livestock in either without a permit.

[Wildcaught dutchman]

Very nice fish Illumnae.Heckels are not my favorit kind of wild discusfish but in a group they look good.:o

[NanDiscus]

Illumnae,

You may want to:

-check out this thread here : http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic57866.html&sid=5c7c3da0f327d5dcb832f67ca3205d8d
-start making friends to some members of your house maintenance crew in the basement area.

;)

Nandi

[Mep1127]

I love your blue moon! thats my favorite wild.

[illumnae]

Thanks Nandi, I'll see what I can do (no maintenance guys in the basement...in fact, no basement! Singapore is so small that we just call for the maintenance people and no matter where they are, they reach in an hour tops for emergencies, depending on traffic)

[Jiayong]

Nice Group of heckels.

Will try to pop by your place 1 of these days. Didnt get the chance to see them when they arrive.

[illumnae]

It's been about a month since they first touched down. Here are some updates!

FTS

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/FTS1.jpg

Some group shots

The guy in the middle is imo the nicest blue moon of this batch. The guy at the bottom is a not so good blue moon (definitely not 1/3 body fusing)
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/Group1-1.jpg

The one with the spotted gill plate in the next 2 shots was bought as a blue face, but as you can see he isn't a blue face...yet his lines seem to be fusing more than some of those I bought as blue moons - blue moon in the making?
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/Group2-1.jpg

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/Group4.jpg

Huddle!
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/Group3.jpg

[illumnae]

Some individual shots in this post.

Blue Moons

This one is the nicest blue moon.
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueMoon1-1.jpg

This would be the nicest, if he didn't have a grey cast to him. He usually seems more grey than blue, especially towards the back.
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueMoon2-1.jpg

This guy has a very strong 5th bar. He's usually the first to the food despite being one of the smallest!
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueMoon3-1.jpg

Blue Face

As you can see, 1 month down, none of the blue faces show a full blue gill plate as they should. They're not so much blue face as just simply Nhamunda blue heckels imo.
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueFace1-1.jpg

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueFace2.jpg

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/Nhamunda%20Blue%20Heckels/BlueFace3.jpg

[shoveltrash]

they are a beautiful group, and LOVELY tank!......
it took my domestics over a month to fully acclimate & develop full color potential, maybe you will see more blue with time?

[illumnae]

Thanks :) Hudson promises that they will all colour up to what he promised them to be (blue moons and blue faces instead of just normal heckels) in 6 months, so I guess I just have to wait and see.

[sumit]

Lovely group. I am sure the co our will intensify over time. I myself got 4 mari mari Heckels and 4 Nhamunda blues from hudson's first batch and the difference after 2 months is amazing. I will post some pic shortly.

Do let me know what your water parameter is. Also nice piece of DW in your tank. Where could one get this in Singapore.

Sumit , india

[illumnae]

Hi Sumit, the driftwood is actually an arrangement of 4 separate pieces. I'm trying to emulate a root system which the fish can hide under...hope I did alright :o

I do see a difference now in the fish as compared to when they first arrived. Hopefully more amazing changes will take place over 6 months as promised by Hudson - I know the Curuai xlg I got in the first shipment have just started to "morph" in terms of colour and personality.

In terms of water parameters, I'm currently in the midst of dropping pH. I do find that their colours and personality start to pop more at lower pH. Currently pH is 4.3 and TDS is under 60.

[sumit]

Driftwood looks nice. So does the tank!

Can you run me through the process of lowering ph to 4.3. I've kept mine at 6.5 through peat filtration as of now.

I am also planning to pick up some Curuai xlg from JZX hopefully later this week. I've seen pic of the fishes as someone else will pick the fishes. One of the fish I'm considering the the Royal which you exchanged earlier. I love the color , but a little concerned about the safe.

I would really appreciate your opinion on that one. Thanks

[illumnae]

Hi Sumit, thanks for the compliments!

I use pure RO water for my water changes, and over time the water naturally lowers in pH. No peat or any other additives needed! I had my water stable at 3.7, and all my blackwater fish (altums, Uaru fernandezyepezi, Satanoperca daemon etc) were thriving. I've bumped up the number of water changes I do though from once a week to 3 times a week, and that may have resulted in the slightly higher pH (4.3 instead of 3.7).

The royal which I exchanged is an exceptional piece. The colour on that piece is the best ever to hit our shores bar none. My only regret was that it lost out on the alpha fight with my other royal, and hence it was constantly displaying black bars. You do not need to worry about the health of that piece. Even being the loser of the alpha fight, it still ate at every feeding session and remained thick. If you search out my Curuai thread, you will find other members on SD (and on other forums too) actually advising me to keep that royal despite the black bars, and that change will be noticed in time. I believe that their experience does not come without basis. I was just too impatient.

Also, dynamics within the group of discus are constantly shifting. After I removed this piece and replaced it with another semi-royal, the original alpha royal lost his alpha position and now is number 2 in the group. The new alpha is one of the original semi-royals (not the new one I exchanged) that was actually one of the more timid ones earlier on. Who knows, when this fish is introduced into a group in your tank, it may end up the alpha or one of the dominant ones in your eventual group. Noone can predict how the fish will eventually re-arrange their pecking order - the only important considerations are health and potential.

Hence, if you get a good price on that piece from JZX, I ultimately think that you should go ahead and get it. There's nothing wrong with it healthwise, and its genes are superb if you intend to use it to breed. This piece was specially selected by Hudson for the Singapore market - I think his discretion and taste can be trusted :)

P.S. that little blue moon you may have seen is also exceptional - very worth getting. If you get the conditions right, you may even want to consider getting the other blue moons from that batch. As you can see from my photos above, mine are starting to show good colouration - and they're still improving in the week since I last took pictures.

[sumit]

Hi illuminae, thank you for the very detailed response. I will definitely seek to pick up the Royal after your feedback. I am looking at a group of 4/5 Curuai xlg. I will also pick up the blue moon. How did you find the Unini blue face? Also found a couple of Curuai medium pic very impressive.

I will post a pic on the fishes once they reach and acclamatise.

[sumit]

Illuminae, can you also advice how much water change you are doing every time if you are doing 3 times a week. Thanks

[illumnae]

Hi Sumit, I change about 200-250 litres each time I do a water change. That's my limit as I only have a storage barrel that size for my RO water. The tank is 6' x 2'4" x 2'4" with a 4' x 2' x 2' sump underneath.

The Unini are very interesting heckels! I have never seen heckels so blue, and I always thought the Nhamundas are the most blue of all the heckels. They also arrived some with full blue gill plates, unlike the Nhamunda blue face - none of the Nhamunda blue face arrived with full blue, and none of them now have developed full blue. However, my personal preference is still for Nhamundas as I like the fusing of the blue on the bodies :)

The Curuai medium semi royals were what I was trying to convince my father in law to get. In particular, at least one of them is definitely on its way to developing into a full royal. Unfortunately, my father in law decided to stick with his altums instead and passed on them. His loss is someone else's gain I guess.

Looking forward to your pictures!

[illumnae]

After a long hiatus, this is what the tank looks like now. I've changed the livestock quite a bit:

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x110/illumnae/IMG_20120727_003552.jpg

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Very nice looking wilds. Great color and shape. the tank looks so peaceful. Nice job!

[Second Hand Pat]

Wow illumnae, tank looks great. Could you give more detail on the tank mates.

[laupao]

very nice illumnae, they all look very happy in there

makes me think about getting wilds some day.

[Poco]

Beautiful tank setup and fish. Good job!

[illumnae]

Very nice looking wilds. Great color and shape. the tank looks so peaceful. Nice job!


Beautiful tank setup and fish. Good job!

Thanks! I'm loving it :) I'm really happy I put the background in - it makes the tank so much nicer!


very nice illumnae, they all look very happy in there

makes me think about getting wilds some day.

You should! I started on wilds 4 years back, and there's no turning back for me. Tons more fun than keeping domestics.


Wow illumnae, tank looks great. Could you give more detail on the tank mates.

Thanks Pat! This is a rather overstocked tank. The filtration on this tank is a 4ft sump filled to the brim with quality sintered glass though, so the filtration is more than adequate to handle the bioload. I do 3x 50% water changes each week using RO-tap mix of about 85% RO, 15% tap (because my RO barrel is only so big, so I need to top up tap to get enough volume to do a 50% wc...it would be a 30% wc otherwise)

11x Symphysodon discus "Nhamunda"
11x Pterophyllum scalare "Manacapuru"
4x Mesonauta insignis
15x Mikrogeophagus ramirezi
18x Corydoras duplicareus "Santa Isabel"
2x Corydoras sp. "C121"
3x Dekeyseria sp. "L52"

All wildcaught fishes :)

[plecocicho]

We demand a video,:p