Introducing Bastalker's new Wild Greens!!

[brewmaster15]

Hi JKE,

Are these fish actually greens or blues/browns (S. haraldi)? I do not distinguish any red spots from that picture...

Good looking fish anyway.

They are wild Greens...The majority of Greens on the market do not have spots...or very many of them... and the amount of spotting is very variable, IME....The ones that do have lots of spots are sold at a premium as as "Red spotted Greens..."

Hope that helps,
al

[JKE]

Really? Bleher (2006) describes the spots as typical character for this species. Also in every picture of the greens in his book, there are visible red dots atleast in the anal fin.

[brewmaster15]

HI,

Really? Bleher (2006) describes the spots as typical character for this species. Also in every picture of the greens in his book, there are visible red dots atleast in the anal fin.

I don't have Heikos book and so can't comment on his description of wild greens there but not all wild greens have spotting on the body thats visible......however the note of the spotting on the anal fin is also a trait that I associate with Greens....but that spotting is not always distinct...it can sometimes occur as part of the thin red striations that go thru the anal fin....

Of the fish in this thread...at least one has decent spotting coming out the others do not....but you can't clearly see the anal fins..... alls I can do is tell you that these are greens to the best of my knowledge and experience.


If you do a search on the internet for wild green discus....you will see a range of fish that have many spots to little or no spots.

hth,
al

[Heiko Bleher]

Hi Mark and Al,

firs of all AL: it is a shame you do not have my book...as administrator of wild discus...???

Mark, the discus you have are beautiful and they are green discus (S. aequifasciatus), and from the picture what I can see they are from the Putumayo region (page 189 and 496 in my book). Green discus can have, as I wrote in detail on page 138-139 (details of the character Green Discus - S. aequifasciatus, but also in the revision of the genus Symphysodon Heckel, 1840 (Teleostei: perciformes:Cichlidae) based on molecular and morphological characters Bleher, Stoelting, Salzburger & Meyer, 2007): "...in rare cases include short red doted lines" which your fishes have.

I only think you must (should) change the substrate, as it is NOT what they are used to, no were they live in nature, they have it. Wild Discus need fine substrate, fine white or beige sand. They need to be able blow into it, take it into their mouth and sort out the microorganisms (just like earth eaters, Uaru's, etc. which they live with in communities very often).

The plants are optional, although they do not have those in nature, but just in the back is ok, I only suggest also to place some floating plants on top, as they like some shady areas to go under.

Now, all the best to you nice greens (and as said before, they do not need to have red spots over their flanks, but they might still get some, after a few month of acclimatizing them well).

From one who collets them,

always

Heiko

[brewmaster15]

LOl... Thank You Heiko..

firs of all AL: it is a shame you do not have my book...as administrator of wild discus...???

Please feel free to send me a signed copy! Seriously.... I will try to get a copy soon..... but again.. only if you sign it.

In my defense...I'm really not an administrator of wild discus here.....but I am a fan of them and they are a very important part of my hobby.


My thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to post here.

Sincere regards,
al

[poconogal]

Hi Mark. Like I told you on bidka, the fish and tank look spectacular! They are perfect together. I actually started with Discus with 3 RTs and 2, 6" wild greens (back in '93 that was all I could find). I thought then and now that wilds are beautiful.

[GrillMaster]

Hello there Heiko! Thanks for taking a look at my Wild Green tank its an honor to have ya stop by!

I agree 100% that the substrate in the tank is not natural! In the future it will be I can assure you. Al an I have talked about it with this one and for a 125 he is thinking of setting up.

The tank full of wild greens that you see in this tank happened by pure chance actually. I had angels, congo tetras, and rummy noses in it originally. This substrate is perfect for planted tanks! My intentions were to put the 6 turks I had in this tank, but they didn't look right with the scheme of the tank. Al recommended the WG's he just got in. Of course I didn't have to even think about that suggestion.

Trust me when I say that the next opportunity I get will render a comepletly different tank with a biotope of whatever strain I will be introducing into it!

I have 2 in the tank presently showing very strong intentions of pairing up!! So for the moment I will leave things as they are.

Again Thank You for your comments! They are very much appreciated.

BTW...I would love a signed copy of your book as well!!

Hi Mark. Like I told you on bidka, the fish and tank look spectacular! They are perfect together. I actually started with Discus with 3 RTs and 2, 6" wild greens (back in '93 that was all I could find). I thought then and now that wilds are beautiful.

Yes you did Connie! Thank you very much! I have to admit, I dont see myself putting any other Discus than wilds in any future planted tank I might get!

I hope to have many domestic varieties in BB's in the near future though.

tc
Mark

[scolley]

Hey Mark - the fish look great! I'm so pleased for you.

The look excellent, healthy, and comfortable in their surroundings. Good choice of fish! You are lucky to have someone like Al that can (will) help with such things!

Great tank pal! Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

[GrillMaster]

Hey Mark - the fish look great! I'm so pleased for you.

The look excellent, healthy, and comfortable in their surroundings. Good choice of fish! You are lucky to have someone like Al that can (will) help with such things!

Great tank pal! Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Thank you very much my friend!

The moss you sent me looks great on the manzanita branches! You were right on about how fast it grows...I dont use ferts or c02 either. I cant imagine the rate at which yours grows!

Al has been a great friend to me along the way and hopefully I will be returning the same generosity he has given me in the near future!!

tc
Mark

[tonymaccs]

Wild Discus need fine substrate, fine white or beige sand. They need to be able blow into it, take it into their mouth and sort out the microorganisms (just like earth eaters, Uaru's, etc. which they live with in communities very often).
Heiko

Thats the first time I've seen the connection with eartheaters and reflects what I discovered by accident. (maybe I need to read more- even get a copy of your book too, Heiko)
I've noticed how skilled my domestic discus are at blowing first to sift and select what they take in. I recently raised some discus with much smaller (at first) S. Leucosticta and thought they complemented each other well. I'm about to set the Leucosticta up with a fine white sand substrate and might re-introduce some discus as well.

Tony

[JKE]

Thank you for clarification Heiko, my bad.