My Heckels have settled

[wannafish]

Hello !

Wannafish here! I have been attending this forum for a couple of years and
have read a lot on here. I attribute my success in keeping discus healthy and
happy from listening to everyone here. Especially the experts. Below are my
Heckels in their 60 gal tank with two fluval 404's. I use peat, but I am working
on getting my ph down. Right now it is about 7.3. I am sure they will much
more lively and happy when I can do that.

[Melissa]

Re: My Heckels have settled

Looks like a captive heckels heaven!!! It looks just like home!!!

Wonderfully done! Very impressive

[Disgirl]

Re: My Heckels have settled

Looks really good! Seems like you have been on this forum way more than a couple years! 2004
Barb

[wgtaylor]

Re: My Heckels have settled

Great looking setup wannafish.
Those heckels do look settled and happy. Nice job.
Bill

[Second Hand Pat]

Re: My Heckels have settled

I like your tank too. Very natural looking and your heckels look wonderful.

[plecocicho]

Re: My Heckels have settled

Nice tank! What are your wc regime, tanka measurments, feeding, water measurments?

[wannafish]

Re: My Heckels have settled

Thanks for the comments. Accolades. It is good to hear from your peers.
I have learned a lot by reading a lot here. I learned about caring for Discus
with some domestics at first and then wanted some wilds. A slice of the
Amazon here at home. I have a 60 gallon tank, 48 by 15 by 18. I do water
changes once a week, but I think the fish would prefer that I do two.
I age my water in a barrel with a powerhead and a heater.

- Ph, 7.4
- Ammonia, 0
- Nitrite, 0
- Nitrate, .5
- Gh, 130 by 17 = 7.11
- Kh, 100 by 17 = 5.15

Is the math correct? I got my Discus from Snookin a little
over a year ago. I feed them frozen blood worms twice
a day, and live worms after a wc. They just love that. I use
peat. But to lower the Ph, I want to gradually add RO water.
It just doesn't seem right to have them in 7 + ph.

[wgtaylor]

Re: My Heckels have settled

wannafish
You are doing great, they look good and colors are coming along.
ro will make a big difference, hope you have a tds and ph meter, it will sure help you.
A good homemade mix can do them well also.
Lookin good..
Bill

[sfdiscus]

Re: My Heckels have settled

Hi -

1) what is your TDS?
2) You mentioned you got these a year ago. How long did it take before you thought they really settled down? (I have new wilds recently ...)

[wannafish]

Re: My Heckels have settled

Bill
I have a couple pellet foods that I got online and I feed them color bits.
I have read a couple recipes here on simply. I would like to add something
else to their diet. Could you give me your recipe?

sfdiscus
I have a new meter, but I haven't tested my water. I am sure it is high.
I have municipal water and live 22 miles from LA. I haven't added RO water yet.
It took about 4-5 months for the Heckels to settle down and come out. When I
first got them they were really spooked, and never came out or swam around.
I put the tank in a quiet room with very little light. I have my desk right next
to the tank and the fish see me sitting there. Once they got use to my working
there they started to come out. Of course I had driftwood so they could hide
and feel protected. If the tank was bare they would have to swim to run away
and hide in the corner all the time. I don't think wilds like captivity very well.

[bonghapster]

Re: My Heckels have settled

Good job and nice looking setup.

[wannafish]

Re: My Heckels have settled

Hello

It's been a few months since I was here. But wanted to come back to this thread to
give an update. For about 3 or 4 months my Heckels were in the dark. Literally.
They just wouldn't come out from hiding. Asked a few questions about it here and there
and tried some things, but to no avail. I really thought something was wrong with them.
I've had a couple for about a year and a half, so they should be settled. Anyway I decided
to change the background color to make the water appear tan like the amazon. With the
black background they remained dark in color. As soon as I made the change the Heckels
came to life, and were coming up to me at the front. They would pace also until they got
fed. Now they are in my face all the time. They are happy and swimming. A lot different
than before. I changed my driftwood to make it a larger scape. I was trying to raise the
branches up at the water surface and fall down in the water, but they are a little large for
that. And it would have been hard to vacuum.

[DiscusBR]

Re: My Heckels have settled

Thank you for the update. Nice to hear about your good results. Will you post some pics of the new setup?

[TURQ64]

Re: My Heckels have settled

I think it looks great..?(can't tell much from those little pic's)...Heckel's look colored up nicely.

[DiscusBR]

Re: My Heckels have settled

Thanks for adding the photos. The new background color and the fishes look great! Good job.