Heckel colors vary with background

[Apistomaster]

Here three photos of the same Heckels on dark substrate and light substrate. All are the same ten discus. Photo 1/3 is over basalt substrate which is dark gray to black.
Photo 1/3

Photo 2/3

Photo 3/3

The new substrate is white quartzite sold commercially as "Torpedo Beach Sand."
The other change was the terrace/planter box was faced with ceramic tile.
Main point is that Heckels can take on many different appearances
depending on their setting. Add photo shop editing and they can be made to be Blue Heckels, Red Heckels or even the Pineapple Heckels. My fish can appear to have a yellow base color depending on their mood. So beware of exotically named Heckels being sold for extraordinary prices. A Heckel is pretty much the same over it's clear black water habitat.
That said, Heckels are the most consistently uniform in their appearance of all the wild discus.

[AADiscus]

Those are pretty. I like them better in the light colored sand, they really pop.

[brewmaster15]

Hi Larry,
I agree that the background makes a difference in the appearance of the heckels....no doubt there as your photos clearly show.....

but I have keep alot of heckels and There are populations of Heckels that are definetly "blue", IMO. example...
http://www.aquatechnics.net/wild_discus_brasil.htm

I also can't agree with this..

.A Heckel is pretty much the same over it's clear black water habitat.

take care,
al

[Apistomaster]

Hi ALL,
Thank you for the compliments.
Hi Al,
We both are very knowledgeable about wild discus and we both disagree over many things. Nothing wrong about that. Hardly any of the scientific authorities have reached a consensus over what constitutes a species within genus Symphysodon so it is no surprise we discus keepers and breeders should have differences of opinion over this or color varieties within S. discus.

I guess what I find odd is that in the instance of S. discus the species is remarkably similar over its range and while having said that I admit there are some specimens that are outstanding because of extraordinary amount of blue, red or even yellowish base body color than is typical for this species. A much greater variation is found among the Greens and Blue/Browns by far.

I think what frustrates me is that these are exceptional specimens making up perhaps a few percent or less of all those found let alone sold. It seems to me that many have the wrong impression that these exceptions are much more common than the anomalies that they really are.

Here are a few more photos of my group of Heckels.
Close up of a female.

Close view of some of my collection. Note the golden color of the upper center discus. About half of mine can take on this golden appearance. A trait sometimes associated with Rio Abacaxis fish but in fact these are not from that region. A pineapple discus? No, just shows that they can show this tone with the right diet, lighting and setting.

In this photo there are three males in the foreground and a female left and right in the background.


Maybe the most important thing is that we continue to figure out what it takes to regularly breed Heckels. The rest of it will sort itself out eventually.
I would be pleased to find there are more distinctly different color forms to work with. I am cautious about naming Heckels as distinctly different from one another based on a few photos seen in print. It does not take much whether it is mood, sex, diet, setting or a tweak here and there with photoshop to make a Heckel appear very different. I only encourage folks to be very careful they are getting what they pay for when someone is offering a Heckel that is represented as something very different than what the majority of Heckels look like. All my Heckel photos presented here are "as is" with no editing.

Among this group of ten Heckels three "pairs" have formed that have begun guarding and cleaning possible spawning sites. This is recent behavior beginning now as they have reached a little more than two years of age. I have been here before but have not yet had an actual spawning take place. I think Heckels mature at 30 to 36 months so I would think it will be another 8 months or so before much of what they do will be of any significance. They were only about three inches in diameter when I bought them in May '06. They are all 5 to 5.5 inches in diameter now.

[Apistomaster]

My best friend took a few photos of my Heckels using his new Nikon D80 and slaved side flashes. He captured their delicate colors much better than I have in my own photos. They were nervous around him as to them he is a stranger so we only took a few photos.
1. A dominant Male Heckel

2. Another male. Foreground is an out of focus juvenile Sturisoma.

3. Group shot. Includes the smallest fish with the least blue but the most golden of my group.

4. Overview of group.

[Darren's Discus]

Larry,
you are a very lucky man that is one nice group of heckels you have their !They look great with the lighter substrate.



cheers

[pcsb23]

Excellent set of photo's Larry, my complimenmts to your friend. The heckels look wonderful.

[dawncollette]

Heckels are my favorite and this group looks stunning....they look so happy and healthy!! good job, great pictures!!

[Lotus]

Very beautiful Heckels and they look better with the sand.

[Condor]

I agree. Beautiful fish.

Adrian

[wannafish]

Hello There!

I don't know if we have answered the question here
regarding the background. I read that the Heckels
vary and change nicely with the light sand, but
how do they vary with different backgrounds.
Don't Heckels swim in darker areas of the river?
Would a darker background be more suitable for
the real biotope, while the lighter background is
more for show, to bring out their lighter more
visible colors. What is the preferred background
color for Heckels. My tank is more like a
biotope and I have a dark background, but I
am thinking about changing to a lighter one.
Any preferences?

Thanks,

Jeff

[pan]

Apistomaster your Heckel is fantastic i have a group of 14 young heckels and i wish in the future to be like yours.Nice work

[Genirous]

Larry (Apistomaster) showed how heckels change their colouration according to the substrate. Now you mentioned the backround and what is usually proposed and used by discus keepers with biotope tanks are dark ones, black or even better brown.

[wannafish]

Hello Genirous,

Thank You Sennior,