Look forward to seeing some of those fish for sale soon....maybe the next batch as there are plenty in this chatroom that are as excited as I am for you.
Keep the details coming when you have time,
Joseph
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Look forward to seeing some of those fish for sale soon....maybe the next batch as there are plenty in this chatroom that are as excited as I am for you.
Keep the details coming when you have time,
Joseph
Dear Alberto, and dear Simplydiscus readers and contributors,
my name is Heiko Bleher and I am very happy and want also to congratulate Alberto for the achivement of spawning Symphysodon discus - the Heckel discus - from the Rio Abacaxís.
But besides this I wanted to tell Alberto and you all, a few things about those Heckels, which you might not know or not be aware of (as they are not written/published anywhere else than in my new book).
Heckels from the Abacaxís were orginally discribed as Symphysodon discus willischwartzi Bugess, 1981, but later synonomized, as it is the same species as the S. discus from elsewhere. But these Heckels (and one can see an almost identical specimen as the ones from Alberto, on my page 340, photo on the top) live in a water which is slightly higher in pH (up to 5.7 in nature, but avergage is less) and and also the electric measured conductivity which rised to 10µS/cm microsimens than those from the Rio Negro, Rio Nhamundá, etc.
Besides, the time Alberto got the his Heckels, was shortly before the time they nomally spawn in nature (and discus spawn in nature only when the water rises and only during the first couple of month, or less, and not again for the rest of the year). So the time was just right, and believe me, it is in the gene of the wild fish specially, to spawn when their inner clock tells them (and not only with discus). This experiance Dr. Schmidt-Focke and my self had (realized) during several decades of experiment...
In addition Alberto did something very good (and I am sure it was the additional postive incenitive for them to spawn), to give them the extreme low conductivity value, and 22 µS/cm comes close to the one in nature. And believe me also, I am preaching this for years, the low conductivity is the important factor (probably more than anything), together with the time, healthy and good fish (which I can see Alberto has received/bought, Heckels which were well kept by the exporter and importer) and not to excessive temperature (which some discus breeders like to do, although only tank breed varieties are used to such an excess high temerature...).
Now kept those fishes up well, leave them with the parents, change the water as you did, start slowly to feed them after a few weeks and watch them closely. And I am sure you will have healthy youngs growing up with the same base colour and pattern as those of its parents.
All the best and
always
Heiko
PS. And if you want to know everything you always wanted to know, and much more, about wild discus, than please read my book... this is not an advert, but an advice to continously keep up good work with wilds.
I am so pleased to see this thread. I joined last year but as many of you know I am trying to breed my Heckels or I should say, I'm wating for them to grow up and hope they will spawn in my care.
I just received a copy of your book Mr. Bleher and I must say it is very good.
I began breeding wild discus in 1969 and operated my fish shop then and through the early 70's and looking at your photos was like a walk down memory lane only now I can relate some of the discus I had then to the typical variations' ranges.
I am already looking forward to the publication of Vol. 2.
Larry Waybright
Hola Alberto felicidades, aca en Mexico ya estamos cumpliendo los requisitos para traer peces de ustedes, te mantendre informado
Nuevamente felicidades
Is it me or are the dates of the posts 2 years apart???
The spawn occured in 2005?
Yes, in 2005.
Mat
Raises some questions does it not?
Larry W.
Hi Alberto, just coming in to Simply Discus and saw your post, how are your heckel F1 fairing along?
Another two years gone. Where are we now? F3? :)
Nandi
I wonder what happened?
Would hate to think the worst......
flukes.
Hello ,
This must have been a wonderful achievement ,just to get them to spawn in an aquarium let alone raise the fry to swimming stage,
Just an observation I have had Heckels showing signs of " courting " and the barring becomes really dark,and looking at Podden's thread his male Heckel is showing similar markings.The Heckels in this thread have no such barring.
But I have not ever got Heckels to this stage so cannot judge:)
thats what we aming at :)
( never seet this thread before, very impressive)
Hope everything gone good ( quite a while without update)
The fifth bar ( when going over my fish) could change in a couple of sec.
With fry it seems a little darker , as any other fish will try to make som color to attach fry.
I have fish from rio negro, marimari, nhamunda and I think the display the bar different in community tank.
Alberto seemed to drop off the radar a couple years ago.
His web site was still accessible but I have had no responses from him to any e-mails including my responses a couple years ago when he contacted me on simplydiscus via pm offering to sell me various F1 juveniles from Red Spotted greens and Royal Blues.
A mutual friend told me that Alberto scaled back his operations to home and that is all the more info I was ever to receive.
I often wondered if Alberto remains involved with breeding and importing wild Discus since he used to get such lovely specimens.