acclimating young heckels....

[cddf2b]

hey everybody, im getting a group of young heckels in the mail today (3"). any opinions about how i should go about acclimating them? they are coming from a ph around 6.5, and mine is closer to 7.5. any help would be great, thanks!

[jim_shedden]

I would personally put them in a quarateeen tank for 6 weeks. I would also try to match their current conditions as best as possible and then gradually change them over to your current Ph.
QUARANTEEN QUARATEEN QUARANTEEN :whip: :whip: :whip:
I feel it is more important to quaranteen them properly than worry about the PH. I have not had any problems with introducing wilds / heckles to "my" system but if you do not have them quaranteen first you could be in for a world of hurt...........unless you have no other discus to worry about

[cddf2b]

im at school right now, and this is the only tank i have here, and the only discus, so no need to worry about quarantining, i was mainly talking about whether i should try to match their water conditions of just adjust them to mine from the start, it seems from what ive read here most people keep wilds in higher ph without problems as long as the water is clean and warm. but then i have seen other posts where people claim their wilds are fine in higher ph, but do even better in lower, so i was just curious. thanks!
chris

[Tad]

cddf2b,
I dont have the pleasure of owning Heckels as of yet ;D, but from I read they require a lower PH then most wilds especially for breeding. However since you are recieving new stock and concerned about going from a PH of 6.5 to 7.5 PH you can take two approaches....First of all you can use the drip approach by using an airline hose to slowly introduce the higher PH water to a holding bucket with your new fish (and the water they came in) and this will slowly introduce them to the higher PH. This can also be done by adding small amounts of your current water using a cup but I prefer a steady flow from an airline. ....Secondly (my preferred method) since your going from a lower PH to a higher PH...I would just open the bags and hand remove and dump in the tank. Discus have a much easier time going from a lower PH to a higher PH...but not visa versa. I have predominately done this approach with all of my wilds and have had great success. I recieved 6 wild RSG's from Alberto 6 weeks ago and went from a PH of 6.5 to 7.5 PH with the dump method with no significant ramifications..

JMO,
Tad

[cddf2b]

tad,
thanks for the advice, just the kind of info i was looking for! these are my first wild discus, as well as my first discus ordered through the mail, so im just trying to see what you more experienced people have done. another question, it is extremely cold here right now, so what if the water in the bag is a little cool when the fish show up, should i still just throw them right in the tank set at 88 degrees?

chris

[Tad]

Chris,
Your incoming fish are 3" and you may consider option 1 due to the fact of 1. PH differential and 2. Temp differential. They may acclimate much easier with a drip approach....Couple of observations...1. Your source of purchase should have given you advice on proper acclimation. I always judge the seller on what information they give me to help me along...especially since your fairly new to the discus keeping hobby with what I consider a more challenging type being the heckel. I do hope your source has been helpful in this manner...2. Since your fish are being shipped there is a high possiblity of ammonia buildup which will peak once you open your sealed bags...ammonia will cause burns to the fish thus putting them in a more compromised situation. This is something to definately consider...that is why I prefer the hand and dump approach.

HTH,
Tad

[cddf2b]

so if the temperature isnt too far off, do you think the best bet would be to just put them in, to avoid ammonia burns? my original plan was to dump all the fish and water out of the bags into a bucket with an airstone, and use an airline to drip water into the bucket, but now im reconsidering. and what would you consider as not too far off, as far as temp.

[cddf2b]

well, they just showed up, and i just grabbed them and put them in, the water was about 70 in the bags, kinda cool, but they seem ok, they are kinda quietly swimming around, i have to go to class now, i will update later!

[cddf2b]

hello,
I just got back from class, and the same deal with the fish. I'm seeing normal coloration(not dark) from what I can see with the lights off, normal breathing, and everything looks ok. They are kind of hanging in the back right now though, is this normal for newly arrived wild fish? Again, these are my first wild discus AND the first discus I have had shipped. Let me know what you think.
-Chris

[Tad]

Chris,
Sounds normal to me....good to hear that coloration is good ..and quite normal for them to be hiding...they have just made a journey and probably were drugged somewhat for the journey. Keeping the lights off for 24 hours is standard and feed lightly tomorrow. Keep us informed how its going and sounds like the "Plop" method worked well for you..

Good luck in your new endeavor,
Tad


PS: Check with test kit for ammonia each day and have water ready for WCs if needed.

[cddf2b]

Tad,
Thanks for the info. All the lights in my room have been off for a few hours now, and I just came back in, and by the glow of the computer monitor I found the fish are spread throughout the tank, swimming with fins fully erect, this looks like a very good sign to me, im VERY excited!

[Tad]

Chris,
Keep the glow of your computer monitor on going ;D read all you can on Simply..this will give you the best chance for success...

regards,
Tad

[fishfarm]

Hi Chris, Glad they made it in good shape. It was so cold your way so I was worried. Chris has been a good customer, asked many questions and we exchanged many e-mails before he made the purchase. Bad weather delayed shipping, snow and ice where he was and bad ice storm my way. Below is the last exchange we had before I shipped. I'd have been a little slower in the accilmation process, with the temp that far apart, but these are some tough little fish. I've been feeding them live blackworms and frozen bloodworms so give them a few in the morning and see how they feed. Keep up those water changes and good luck! Ken

Hi, The adults I got in the same shipment are what some folks call pineapple heckels, lots of yellow with blue striation. Nice fish with tall bodies, Overall the nicest group of heckels I've gotten in. I keep them in pH 6.5 and 88 degrees. Unless you have very hard alkaline water Id suggest you just keep them in your regular tap water. It'll make it easier when you do water changes. The pH decreases on the market just add chemicals to the water that discus do not like and INCREASE the hardness of the water. It's going to be 60 here on Wednesday so I'll ship for Thursday delivery. Ken

-----Original Message-----
From: Dieckmann, Christopher David (UMC-Student)
[mailto:cddf2b@mizzou.edu]
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 2:07 PM
To: Ken and Ruth Davis
Subject: RE: shipping 65201


ya, i was acutally just about to contact you about that, its really bad here, i had quite a time getting to class this morning, and it looks like more is coming tonight. what luck! im dying to get these fish!!!! anyway, there is no sense in shipping them in this kind of weather, so whenever you think would be the best...... wednesday sounds fine to me. p.s. just out of curiosity, what type of heckels are these, do you know?? i take it being only 3 inches, they are younger and not fully colored probably, but maybe you can tell by where they came from? also, just so i know how much time to spend acclimating them, what kind of water are they in now?(ph temp) thanks again

[cddf2b]

Thanks Ken!

The fish are looking pretty good! I was EXTREMELY worried when I felt how cold it was here last night and this morning, but the fish seem to be fine! They are settling in nicely, and they are beautiful fish!

I was really stuck about how to go about acclimating them! I was hearing people having sucess with different things, and after weighing the pros and cons, decided to go with the plop right in method.

Ken was extremely helpful, and honest, this is the first time I have bought discus through the mail, and he knew that and took care of me extremely well. thanks again!

-Chris

[fishfarm]

:thumbsup:

[Fishin dude]

I put 2 of my runt fish with the young Heckels...they have been together for 10 days...no probs. :spank:

[cddf2b]

Hey all
Fed a few frozen bloodworms this morning, all 5 ate! they didnt hesitate to come right out to the middle of the tank for food, but so far they are still a little shy, and are staying to the back. One of them is slightly darker than the other 4, and I cant decide if he might be sick, or if this is just his color. He did eat with the others, and isnt acting any differently really, so Im not sure.

Chris

[fishfarm]

Hey Chris, Shipping is stressful, He should be fine. Have not had any problems with them at all. Lee got his a couple weeks ago when they just came in and they have been doing good for him also. Ken

[Paulio]

Gotta love those little Heckels ;D at that size they have this sort of "Hey look at me, I am a little tough guy" look to them.
Fun fun stuff!

[cddf2b]

hello

It is now Sunday afternoon, and Ive had the heckels since Thursday afternoon. For the most part, they still like to kind of hide out in the back of the tank when there is any kind of light in the room. They occasionally wander around, but for the most part they have a spot behind a sponge filter in the back they stick to. However, when it is dark in the room, they swim throughout the tank. They all seem to be of normal color, and they are all eating, although some more than others. The only thing they will eat so far is frozen bloodworms. I tried mixing some flake in with the bloodworms, and put it in together, but they just picked around the flake. How long should I expect them to hide like this until i can suspect something might be wrong with them? There is no light on the tank, the only light is indirect sun from the window. any thoughts? thanks

Chris

[GoodMike]

well, i havent had any expierence with wilds, but when i got my first 2 discus, they hid out for about a month...i was really worried that i was never gonna see them. But now they are out ALL the time. Give them time, they will come around. When you feed them, try standing there with your face right up to the glass when they eat. Thats pretty much what i did, then they finally got the picture that people=food. just a thought.

[fishfarm]

Good suggestion Mike! Wild fish think people will eat them so you have to get them use to seeing your face. These little guys were in a dark bottom tank and are not used to movement or people. Wilds come around with time and good food and will be eating out of your hands in a few weeks. Turn the lights on and treat them like any other fish. They don't know what flakes are , but keep adding a little. They will figure out it food. Ken

[Tad]

Chris,
With my wilds I have experienced the same type of behavior...since they are colored well and feeding well I would think at this point it nothing but being in a new enviorment and adapting to their new home..One of the things that I have done is put some fake plants that are weighted in my barebottom tanks and this will provide them with some cover...after about a week or two, I remove some of the decoration until they are all gone and from my experience they have acclimated well.

HTH,
Tad