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Thread: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

  1. #46
    Registered Member Pardal's Avatar
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    Heckels, are awesome fish and the ultimate challenge as to get them to breed, They will look beautiful in any water, but if you manage to maintain soft water and low ph , they will look their best. at the same time use caution when dealing with ph.
    Breeding , interest and goals Wilds Heckels and Cuipeuas and a few Domestics pairs with occasional fry as well as Angels fancy Plecos , corys and shrimps.

  2. #47
    Silver Member Willie's Avatar
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    Back in the day, I kept Heckels in a 55-gallon tank in 100% R/O water. They did fine in the tank. Then I decided to bring the pH down to 5.0 with a drop of acid. The Heckels really thrived in at that lower pH. They swam a lot more and ate more food. Of course, it's hard to maintain that pH. Once the pH crashed and burnt up a school of cories in the tank. The discus were fine. Back then, I just had paper test strips which went down to pH 4.5. So I knew it was at least 4.5, but not whether it was much lower.

    This batch is striking for the round shapes. We shouldn't expect wild caught fish to grow to huge sizes. Frankly, these look great to me.

    Willie
    At my age, everything is irritating.

  3. #48
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    Quote Originally Posted by Pardal View Post
    Heckels, are awesome fish and the ultimate challenge as to get them to breed, They will look beautiful in any water, but if you manage to maintain soft water and low ph , they will look their best. at the same time use caution when dealing with ph.
    Yes! getting the water to low PH is not hard, maintaining it during WC will be tricky or tedious at least.

  4. #49
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    Quote Originally Posted by Willie View Post
    Back in the day, I kept Heckels in a 55-gallon tank in 100% R/O water. They did fine in the tank. Then I decided to bring the pH down to 5.0 with a drop of acid. The Heckels really thrived in at that lower pH. They swam a lot more and ate more food. Of course, it's hard to maintain that pH. Once the pH crashed and burnt up a school of cories in the tank. The discus were fine. Back then, I just had paper test strips which went down to pH 4.5. So I knew it was at least 4.5, but not whether it was much lower.

    This batch is striking for the round shapes. We shouldn't expect wild caught fish to grow to huge sizes. Frankly, these look great to me.

    Willie
    Thanks Willie. Will do my best to get the best out of them.

  5. #50
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!


  6. #51
    Registered Member + MVP danotaylor's Avatar
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    They seem much more settle with the rummies Jeff!

  7. #52
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    Quote Originally Posted by danotaylor View Post
    They seem much more settle with the rummies Jeff!
    Yes they are calmer. But there’s still a Long way to go.

  8. #53
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!


  9. #54
    Registered Member + MVP danotaylor's Avatar
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    Funny watching them follow each other around...I love your discus Jeff, all of them!

  10. #55
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    Quote Originally Posted by danotaylor View Post
    Funny watching them follow each other around...I love your discus Jeff, all of them!
    Thanks Danny! I guess it shows they are not so secure in the tank yet. But I'm glad I did put in a few of the blue domestics. They really helped to calm the heckels.

  11. #56
    Registered Member + MVP danotaylor's Avatar
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    I think that was a good move and at least they're not thrashing around and injuring themselves... And those domestics compliment the blue hues in the heckels as well

  12. #57
    Administrator and MVP Dec.2015 Second Hand Pat's Avatar
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    Hi Jeff, there are a few things you can do to help increase the comfort level of the heckels. First is adding some rooibos tea to the water. It will darken the water with a tannin look. You can also try dimming the tank light.
    Pat
    Your discus are talking to you....are you listening


  13. #58
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    Quote Originally Posted by Second Hand Pat View Post
    Hi Jeff, there are a few things you can do to help increase the comfort level of the heckels. First is adding some rooibos tea to the water. It will darken the water with a tannin look. You can also try dimming the tank light.
    Pat
    Hi Pat!
    Water is pretty dark already. I have peat and kattappa leaves in the water. The water is the color of light tea now. Maybe the video makes it look otherwise. But thank you!
    Any comments are always appreciated. We learn more.

  14. #59
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!

    Quote Originally Posted by danotaylor View Post
    I think that was a good move and at least they're not thrashing around and injuring themselves... And those domestics compliment the blue hues in the heckels as well
    I'm glad I did this. I had actually added 2 6 inch domestics before these small blues. That didn't work out. The big domestics were too aggressive. Not allowing the heckels to get close to food etc. Hence I put these smaller blues instead.

  15. #60
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    Default Re: My first wild discus, Blue Faced Heckels!


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