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Rio Negro Heckel Project
I decided to start my own tread on this Heckel Project.
As I had previously mentioned, in the Heckel breeding tread, that I wanted to start with a group of small Heckels to grow-up and try to breed, when I saw that snookn21 had some available last month I jumped on the opportunity and ordered 12. I'm a few years late since I wanted to do this 3 years ago, but better late than never.
Right now I have them in a 65 gallons quarantine tank. Although I had originally set up the tanks at a low PH 5.0. I raised it to 6.4 when I noticed the water they came in was at 7.1..., raising is a lot easier than lowering. I just added 2 gallons of age untreated water to the aquarium. I should have checked with John, that's my fault. I will be bringing the PH down to 5.0 for the next 2 weeks and then I'll bring it lower to 4.0-4.5 slowly after.
Right now that tank is filtered by 2 double sponge filter and a small aquaclear. I'm replacing the aquaclear but I'm debating between a wet dry or an eheim 2217. One thing is for sure I'll be hooking up a small UV to the output.
The discus came in pretty good. I have to admit that John did a very nice job packaging them, one of the best I've seen so far.
I received them this morning and they are still very skittish, yet the are constantly picking at the sand. They were looking for food so I decided to try some frozen blood worms. They started picking at them and finally eating the whole cube...
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q...57924283_n.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q...81893745_n.jpg
Here's a lousy phone video of them tonight eating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3y5-CvwzUg
Cheers,
Fred
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
They look great Fred...lucky you early Christmas package.
I am very positive that this group will not let you down. Are they eventually going to be housed in your plywood tank.
Going to be a challenge keeping that low ph stable but know you have this all covered with lots of research under your belt.
...Ralph
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Very cool Fred. I saw John had these on sale and I figured they'd get snatched up quick! Good luck with the project.
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Thanks Ralph... yes they will be moving to one of the plywood tanks in a couple of months. Yes the low ph is going to be interesting, I have several options and I'll be sharing them here.
Indeed Ricardo that group is nice. I was tempted to take the mediums but I've always wanted a group of small Heckel..
With the import laws here mean I need to wait 90 days before bringing another group from the states... just enough time to finish the plywood tanks and their filters :)
Cheers
Fred
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Oh right! Your plywood tank! Any progress pics?
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
They look great Fred. I would suggest to keeping up with water changes on these guys even if you need to bump the ph up a bit. I am very careful to not cross over 7 with the young altums and their ph ATM is 5.65 and they are doing great.
Pat
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3 Attachment(s)
Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by
rickztahone
Very cool Fred. I saw John had these on sale and I figured they'd get snatched up quick! Good luck with the project.
They took a little break. Building those two was a pain without proper work space... So I built the stand for them now I can continue working on them on their stand. This is my biggest stand to date. its 126 inch long by 32 inches wide and 28 inches high... There's 12 legs, made of two 2X4 supporting this guys. between the tanks I have some space to put two 26 inch by 4 inch diameter Siporax towers. You can also see the 40 gallons sumps underneath each plywood tanks
don't mind the mess, just part of trying to do a fish room reorg while some fish are still there
Attachment 91710
Because my basement floor is a joke and so uneven I decided to build adjustable bases out of 1/8 steel, 1/2 bolts and nuts... This is overkill when I compare my 130 gallons stand with six 3/8 adjustable feet, but I'd rather be on the safe side. the nut is welded on the plate, and the plate screws in the bottom of the doubled 2X4. But I love just having to take a wrench and making the adjustments to get my stand level.
Attachment 91711
Attachment 91712
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Second Hand Pat
They look great Fred. I would suggest to keeping up with water changes on these guys even if you need to bump the ph up a bit. I am very careful to not cross over 7 with the young altums and their ph ATM is 5.65 and they are doing great.
Pat
Thanks Pat, I like them alot.
I agree, that PH needs to come down. I just didn't want to try to acclimate them in a couple of hours from 7 to 5. The PH is at 6.4 right now, but the conductivity is at 55us, Tonight I'm doing a 30% water change and going to start bringing it down. I really want to keep them below 5, but go just a little higher for the conductivty.
Cheers,
Fred
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Looking really good Fred. Keep the updates coming ;)
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
very cool, jealous, we only have carnival fish.
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Nice heckels indeed. That plywood tank will be a real monster, cant wait how it will look fully decorated.
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Thanks JackL,
Plecochio, thanks I've been wanting to get a batch of small Heckels for 3 years... Just concentrated on domestic discus instead... my mistake, but I'm correcting this now.
Yhea the plywood tank is going to sweet. it will only be decorated with some nice wood and sand plus a few roots os some pothos at the top. After discussing with NanDiscus, I feel I may need an even bigger tank, but that was the reason to build those two to learn from them. This will only happen when I move wich should be within the next 12 months.
on another note these guys love FDBW, I just soak them a few minutes and release them on the output of the aquaclear, they need the food at the bottom of the tank, anything on the top 2/3 is simply not considered as food. once they started taking the FDBW they started eating some pellets once they went down with the worms...
I did do a 30% water change last night, PH is still at 6.4 and the conductivity at 65us, but tonight they will be getting another 40% but with a lower PH to bring it down in the 6.0-6.1 range...
Cheers,
Fred
I was going to putthe eheim, but I'm going with the wet dry instead.
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Fred, you can acclimate them to eat in the upper reaches of the tank. Allow the cube to roll in the current where the water returns from the Aquaclear. The water flow will roll the cube and discharge the worms in the water column.
Pat
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Second Hand Pat
Fred, you can acclimate them to eat in the upper reaches of the tank. Allow the cube to roll in the current where the water returns from the Aquaclear. The water flow will roll the cube and discharge the worms in the water column.
Pat
Thanks Pat, I'll try that. Right now I think they are still debating if I'm a big Piranha about to eat them or the guy that send the food from the sky, but they're leaning on the Piranha side mostly :D
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Hey Fred, my friend,
looks very good. This will be great. Try to get them to eat food with fruit elements. Think that just Heckel feel great with lots of vitamins. Especially when it's breed times. Impressive aquarium! Wish you the best Patrik :)
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Hey Patrik buddy, nice to see you here :D, thanks. I'm glad you like them. Yes Fruits is in the plan, I have a fish mixture with fruits and Vegetable that I plan to introduce in the next few days. As for pieces of fruits any particular you recommend ?
The Heckels have come to see me as the guy that makes the food fall from the sky, They now come at the top and take the the FDBW. I have introduce some Discus Gran pellets that they are starting to take and some small pieces of flakes also.
PH has been lowered to 5.9... Will continue to lower it slowly and aiming to get it in the low 5 at the end of the week.
Cheers,
Fred
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jawfish
Thanks JackL,
Plecochio, thanks I've been wanting to get a batch of small Heckels for 3 years... Just concentrated on domestic discus instead... my mistake, but I'm correcting this now.
Yhea the plywood tank is going to sweet. it will only be decorated with some nice wood and sand plus a few roots os some pothos at the top. After discussing with NanDiscus, I feel I may need an even bigger tank, but that was the reason to build those two to learn from them. This will only happen when I move wich should be within the next 12 months.
on another note these guys love FDBW, I just soak them a few minutes and release them on the output of the aquaclear, they need the food at the bottom of the tank, anything on the top 2/3 is simply not considered as food. once they started taking the FDBW they started eating some pellets once they went down with the worms...
I did do a 30% water change last night, PH is still at 6.4 and the conductivity at 65us, but tonight they will be getting another 40% but with a lower PH to bring it down in the 6.0-6.1 range...
Cheers,
Fred
I was going to putthe eheim, but I'm going with the wet dry instead.
you probably know this, but i found the FDBW cube adheres nicely to the glass, you could just stick it on the glass low maybe
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jawfish
They took a little break. Building those two was a pain without proper work space... So I built the stand for them now I can continue working on them on their stand. This is my biggest stand to date. its 126 inch long by 32 inches wide and 28 inches high... There's 12 legs, made of two 2X4 supporting this guys. between the tanks I have some space to put two 26 inch by 4 inch diameter Siporax towers. You can also see the 40 gallons sumps underneath each plywood tanks
don't mind the mess, just part of trying to do a fish room reorg while some fish are still there
Attachment 91710
Because my basement floor is a joke and so uneven I decided to build adjustable bases out of 1/8 steel, 1/2 bolts and nuts... This is overkill when I compare my 130 gallons stand with six 3/8 adjustable feet, but I'd rather be on the safe side. the nut is welded on the plate, and the plate screws in the bottom of the doubled 2X4. But I love just having to take a wrench and making the adjustments to get my stand level.
Attachment 91711
Attachment 91712
curious, why are you building tanks out of wood?
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Yes I know jack, but the Heckels don't know yet what the cube is made of... I'm sure in a couple of days they will :-)
Well the way my basement stairs are right now the longest tank I can bring down is 50 inch long... So A 50X30X22 made sense, but it would need to be custom built. I know down the line I want bigger, much bigger and a Plywood tank is one possibility. I figured might as well do a test build with the 50X30X22 and see how it goes. So far I think I will build the monster tank in the same way but with some minor tweeks. definitely will use weaved cloth next time.
Cheers
Fred
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
ah, makes sense. guess you could try acrylic too if you wanted to custom build.
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jawfish
Hey Patrik buddy, nice to see you here :D, thanks. I'm glad you like them. Yes Fruits is in the plan, I have a fish mixture with fruits and Vegetable that I plan to introduce in the next few days. As for pieces of fruits any particular you recommend ?
The Heckels have come to see me as the guy that makes the food fall from the sky, They now come at the top and take the the FDBW. I have introduce some Discus Gran pellets that they are starting to take and some small pieces of flakes also.
PH has been lowered to 5.9... Will continue to lower it slowly and aiming to get it in the low 5 at the end of the week.
Cheers,
Fred
Hello,
Is also here sometimes :) Trying to avoid Facebook , im so tired of facebook.
I have various own food mixes to my Heckel.
In essence, I have always cod, clams and shrimp.
A mix I've just different berries and then I take what I find.
Blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, lingonberries, etc., just drive on.
Then I have a mix, with just different fruits.
Banana, pineapple, pear and so on. Just and test.
Then a third mix mixed with both fruits and berries, as well as spirulina.
I run every third day.
Which I think is very good for the stomach on the discus.
Just like people need to fish a healthy stomach to feel good.
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Hi Patrik, nice to see you here. :D
Fred, you might find this interesting. Post 18 in this thread http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...eens-For-Wilds.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NanDiscus
I did try to feed many different types of plant matter to my discus and I now have a rather long list of what they like and what they don't like.
The Xingús will eat:
watermelon
apricot
mulberries
raspberries
very sweet orange flesh
very ripe plum flesh
and the green algae I srape off of the insides of the tank. I always let them eat as much of it as they like before I vaccum the rest.
The Xingús will not eat:
spinach
bananas
pineapple
strawberries
cherries
and those I can't remember just now.
I don't prepare food mixes any longer so I try to keep my fish on a varied diet which -according to what I've read about wilds in general and what I've experienced in my own tank- I think should include some sort of greenery. I often see them graze on the branch that's closest to the neon tube and is covered with a thin film of beautifully green algae.
I guess this question of feeding or not feeding green stuff to our wilds is purely philosophical as many seem to be keeping them on a low-green diet and the fish are just fine. It is not something to have a debate about, but sharing experiences is definately a good thing to do. Mine are very different from the average I see above but I have no reason to question experiences different to mine.
Nandi
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Thanks Pat & Patrik :)
Yes fruits are getting on the menu thid week as well as my seafood mix with vegetable and fruits.
Cheers
Fred
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5 Attachment(s)
Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Hey Jack it didn't take them long to figure about the cubes on the glass
Attachment 91758
Attachment 91759
Attachment 91760
Now its time to really work on the flakes and pellets... They do eat them but only when they are at the bottom and soft.
Also going to continue to introduce my seafood mix... It wasn't a success last night, but this is a long process :-)
Attachment 91761
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
nice. i made the mistake of cutting some cubes into smaller pieces, when i do that...it doesn't hold to the glass very long
now teach them to breed and ship me some juvies !
and i'll send you some jungle val, its my own strain, giant val laced with about 4 types of algae... its very rare ; )
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Here's a small video update, all are doing well and eating more and more pellets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxE_eCr-zZk
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
They are looking great Fred. :) How are you dropping the ph?
Pat
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Fred,
They are very pretty indeed and looking absolutely lively for wilds being in a new environment only for a week or so.
I quite like their overall appearance, looks like you're lucky with this lot.
My word of advice is to feed them on a very varied diet. Also, calculate the need for water changes, then take the result and double it. ;)
Nandi
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
the what they move up and down is cool! like around 1:30
you could put that to music : )
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Pat I'm using peat, I have a bucket that I pump water into and it goes through a gallon and a half of peat. The bucket rest on the barrel cover and has a bulkhead at the bottom for the water to return to the barrel. I change the peat every two days. I figure might as well encourage the local peat harvesters :)
I'm filtering a mix of RO water and tap water. I'm able to get it at 5.4 without acid...
Yhea Jack they are cool... They are quite tame and curious when someone come to see them.
Nandi... You're right they need plenty of varied source of food... They are eating FDBW, Blood Worms, some white worms and chopped compost worms and pellets. They are not yet going much for my seafood mix. I need to get them to eat some fruits... Gonna go to get some plum and figues to try for them to eat. Plus I got some clams also.
Cheers,
Fred
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Fred, how do you prevent the fine particles of peat from getting mixed up in the water? Do you let it settle or use a filter of some kind to trap the fines?
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
You place a bunch of quilting batting in the bottom of the bucket and put your peat on top of that. I have used a bucket with peat like Fred describes.
Pat
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
I have been putting socks of peat in a dedicated HOB filter rather than circulating it through a barrel. Its the same principle on a smaller scale, with some floss on the downstream side of the peat. I suppose as long as there is a bypass of some sort in the event the floss gets plugged...
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nemonic
I have been putting socks of peat in a dedicated HOB filter rather than circulating it through a barrel. Its the same principle on a smaller scale, with some floss on the downstream side of the peat. I suppose as long as there is a bypass of some sort in the event the floss gets plugged...
I used to to that, when I needed to lower it at about 6.5, I'm building something similar but bigger. I want to add an inline heater to heat the water up more efficiently.
I clean everything every two-three days so I'm not worried, but I do rince the bags for at least 15 minutes to get rid of the dust before putting them in the bucket.
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Question Fred, do you use the peat bucket as part of your water prep and is it running on the tank?
Pat
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jawfish
Pat I'm using peat, I have a bucket that I pump water into and it goes through a gallon and a half of peat. The bucket rest on the barrel cover and has a bulkhead at the bottom for the water to return to the barrel. I change the peat every two days. I figure might as well encourage the local peat harvesters :)
I'm filtering a mix of RO water and tap water. I'm able to get it at 5.4 without acid...
Yhea Jack they are cool... They are quite tame and curious when someone come to see them.
Nandi... You're right they need plenty of varied source of food... They are eating FDBW, Blood Worms, some white worms and chopped compost worms and pellets. They are not yet going much for my seafood mix. I need to get them to eat some fruits... Gonna go to get some plum and figues to try for them to eat. Plus I got some clams also.
Cheers,
Fred
why do you want them to eat fruit?
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jack L
why do you want them to eat fruit?
Part of their natural diet.
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Re: Rio Negro Heckel Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Second Hand Pat
Question Fred, do you use the peat bucket as part of your water prep and is it running on the tank?
Pat
As part of my water prep only. I'm not too crazy of running peat on the main tank.
Fred