SHY HECKELS

[ganesan]

Do HECKELS or their cross prefer mild lighting or bright top lighting and why do the prominent vertical bar disappear from time to time? What is the best back ground color for a heckel tank and is drift wood and other objects safe in their tank as they get skittled easily and swim fast sometimes and could get injured.

[zchauvin]

Do HECKELS or their cross prefer mild lighting or bright top lighting and why do the prominent vertical bar disappear from time to time? What is the best back ground color for a heckel tank and is drift wood and other objects safe in their tank as they get skittled easily and swim fast sometimes and could get injured.

It's reflective on there mood, and however you want is fine. They come from dark murky tea stained water with lots of driftwood and leaves. I have mine in a highly lit, blue bare bottom tank with nothing but two sponges and they do fine.


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[zchauvin]

Do HECKELS or their cross prefer mild lighting or bright top lighting and why do the prominent vertical bar disappear from time to time? What is the best back ground color for a heckel tank and is drift wood and other objects safe in their tank as they get skittled easily and swim fast sometimes and could get injured.

It's reflective on there mood, and however you want is fine. They come from dark murky tea stained water with lots of driftwood and leaves. I have mine in a highly lit, blue bare bottom tank with nothing but two sponges and they do fine.


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[wannafish]

I had similar questions and concerns when I first got my heckles.
They are shy and very timid. I takes a good 4 months for them to
become comfortable with the tank. Mine were hiding for most of the
time. Driftwood is important, because they feel more secure barricading
behind the wood. Sand is good for sifting for food. Water with tannin
is a good idea. Anything to make them feel like their in amazon river
water is best I think. It's hard to domesticate them.

Jeff

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?86125-My-Heckels-have-settled

[Second Hand Pat]

My experience with heckels is they took a bit longer to settle then my other wilds.

[ganesan]

Where is the ADMIN saying/talking about DOUBLE POSTS...

[zchauvin]

Where is the ADMIN saying/talking about DOUBLE POSTS...

Opening three post on same subject and your phone posting reply twice are two completely different things... And just FYI there is an admin right above you, along with the fact that typing in caps is also bad forum etiquette as it imposes yelling and rude.


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[Second Hand Pat]

Where is the ADMIN saying/talking about DOUBLE POSTS...

I was referring to multiple threads on the same subject.

[ganesan]

i think were are not children

[ganesan]

FYI we are no kids fighting here over trivial matters

[Second Hand Pat]

Perhaps creating multiple threads with the same subject and content is trivial to you but since I help to maintain this site merging and deleting duplicate threads is rather time consuming and is not trivial to me.

[KIAWAHKID]

Interesting observation about shy heckels. My heckels were active mostly in the evening spending most of the daylight near or behind the driftwood. So what did I do? I did just the opposite of common sense and replaced the single 20 watt fixture with a fixture for a reef tank, housing one 65 watt 50/50 lamp over a full glass top. Amazingly they are now out all day foraging for food etc. They have been in the same tank for over a year. I don't have an explanation for the behavioral result but the change is also beautiful with the colors of the fish.

[Dkings]

I keep mine in a brightly lit(LED fixture), heavily planted tank where their mood seems normal. By normal I mean they forage and harrass each other while lights are on. Whenever I go into the tank they stop and huddle together away from me until I'm out of the tank. However they don't panic like they used to when I first got them. I love these guys they really need to trust you.