what do you keep your ph at for wilds

[matt2426]

I have kept domestic discus for years with success in hard water i have a ph around 8 to 8.2. Can you keep wilds in that type of water or would i need to adjust my water. Ive been wanting to try wilds but kinda hesitant to do it with the water i have.would i have to lower the ph to keep these guys. id appreciate any tips and what not with anybody with experience keeping wilds. I guess i can always do 75 percent ro to 25 percent tap. to lower it but was seeing if it would be necessary. thanks alot

[Willie]

Not all wild discus are the same. I've had no problem keeping browns and greens in tap water ~ pH 7.8. Heckels are a different story. They did best at pH 5!

Willie

[peewee1]

Not all wild discus are the same. I've had no problem keeping browns and greens in tap water ~ pH 7.8. Heckels are a different story. They did best at pH 5!

Willie

The PH may affect the growth of the one Red Heckel that I have. He seems not to grow very fast where as his tank makes, also wild, but Alenquer, are twice as large over the same period of time. I have peat moss in the filter system. The tap is 7.8 where as the aquarium is about 7.2.

[matt2426]

Not all wild discus are the same. I've had no problem keeping browns and greens in tap water ~ pH 7.8. Heckels are a different story. They did best at pH 5!

Willie

ok so do you need to test your other levels like kh tds and what not i never have had a reason to test those parameters because ive never breed just always keep them without any issues so i guess i never looked into it

[Second Hand Pat]

The PH may affect the growth of the one Red Heckel that I have. He seems not to grow very fast where as his tank makes, also wild, but Alenquer, are twice as large over the same period of time. I have peat moss in the filter system. The tap is 7.8 where as the aquarium is about 7.2.

Is this red Heckel a wild/domestic cross?
Pat

[peewee1]

Is this red Heckel a wild/domestic cross?
Pat

It is a wild/domestic cross but I do not know cross with what. There is no visible evidence as to what the cross would be. The fish in question looks like a Red Heckel. This would explain the fish's tolerance to higher levels of pH I suspect. I have wondered in the past why the various breeders identify the fish with one species of the pairing but only the other as "cross"?

[Willie]

Unless it's a heckel discus, I treat wild crosses like domestics. These two tank raised Greens (middle) are doing fine in 100% tap water. The most important chemical parameters are always cleanliness and stability.

127538

Heckel X Heckel crosses are extremely rare and no one is going to offer those progeny for sale. Heckel crossed to domestics will show a prominent center bar. If your fish doesn't have that bar, it's likely not a heckel cross.

[matt2426]

Not all wild discus are the same. I've had no problem keeping browns and greens in tap water ~ pH 7.8. Heckels are a different story. They did best at pH 5!

Willie

do you have a good source for wilds im thinking ill probally start with browns

[peewee1]

do you have a good source for wilds im thinking ill probally start with browns

Matt, would you be seeking imported wilds or are you okay with wild cross versions? Kenny usually seems to have several options for wild cross Discuss.

[matt2426]

Matt, would you be seeking imported wilds or are you okay with wild cross versions? Kenny usually seems to have several options for wild cross Discuss.

Ya thats an option that may be easier instead of having to get a RO unit. because i believe my ph is way to high to keep imported wilds. Still thinking what i want to do i just have been liking the look of some wilds ive been seeing. I have a domestic show tank but my next tank i want to do a wild tank or one that looks like it. Really like the look of the wild tanks

[peewee1]

Ya thats an option that may be easier instead of having to get a RO unit. because i believe my ph is way to high to keep imported wilds. Still thinking what i want to do i just have been liking the look of some wilds ive been seeing. I have a domestic show tank but my next tank i want to do a wild tank or one that looks like it. Really like the look of the wild tanks

Visit any of Kenny's monthly listings found here at Simply Discus. You would be looking for any Alenquer cross or Heckel cross offering. During a recent exchange I had with Forrest about wild cross Discus, the guy who supplies Kenny, he told me, " i believe most ppl just name the fishes as what they look like in the end, some even don't use the strain name with "cross", they just use the name as it was..." So if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck...then it must be a duck! All of the fish that I am now raising are various wild crosses. They all appear like the pure wild that I had 30 years ago. Except now these new generation are very tolerant of our various water conditions and food varieties because, although they look like the wild they are more of less pseudo-wild, if you will.

[matt2426]

Visit any of Kenny's monthly listings found here at Simply Discus. You would be looking for any Alenquer cross or Heckel cross offering. During a recent exchange I had with Forrest about wild cross Discus, the guy who supplies Kenny, he told me, " i believe most ppl just name the fishes as what they look like in the end, some even don't use the strain name with "cross", they just use the name as it was..." So if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck...then it must be a duck! All of the fish that I am now raising are various wild crosses. They all appear like the pure wild that I had 30 years ago. Except now these new generation are very tolerant of our various water conditions and food varieties because, although they look like the wild they are more of less pseudo-wild, if you will.

ok thanks ill check it out once kenny gets a new order in. ive ordered from kenny before but just regular domestics. Kenny is the best can't go wrong. but your probally right thats the way to go is to do the crosses. Don't have to adjust my water and still get the look of the wilds