Heckel discus

[mordrake]

in my old planted tank, the blue faded after a while.
could be that my water parameters were not condusive then. maybe requires much softer and lower pH than my tank was at.

from something like this (new purchase then)



to something like this (diff fish)

[luenny]

Wow, very nice heckels even without the blue cheek.

[mordrake]

thanks.
one of the heckels i got from FH a couple of weeks back is starting to look like the heckel in the second pic.

[illumnae]

A couple of my heckels are starting to show blue heads similar to the one in mordrake's 1st pic.

Just like to share my experience in getting them to eat dried food:

1. no food except pellets
2. kept my temp at 30 degrees to keep metabolism high
3. daily water changes (apparently this makes them hungrier)
4. dithers (cories and tetras) to eat the pellets so the discus will learn it is food

after 3 days, i observed 1 eating pellets...at the next feeding, it's 2 confirmed eating pellets. Today, the 4th day, at least 4 are eating pellets. They've also become more active and are chasing each other around. The constant movement makes it hard for me to see if all 7 are eating, but i confirmed that i saw 4 grazing at the same time.

[raymond]

hi all, some problems with my Heckel after the most recent water change. the 2 heckel is hidding in the corner, and one of it have a few scales that drop off. Anyone can help as in tell me what happened to the fish?

[illumnae]

bad water? it's been raining alot lately so likely PUB increased the amount of chloramine into the water, hence your normal dosage of antichlorine may not be sufficient.

[raymond]

Maybe. by the way if i increase the dosage of anti chlorine and water conditional will there be a case of overdosing?

[illumnae]

what antichlorine are you using? I overdose Bio Stress Guard with no ill effect...Seachem prime also can overdose up to 5x

[raymond]

Like to find out if heckel is really so scare of bright light?? i switch on a 25wt light, the discus go into hiding, but after i switch off the lights , the discus just came out and swim around.

[illumnae]

give them some time to get used to your tank. Mine tend to swim around more when the lights are on...when they are off, they rest/sleep near the back

[root]

give them some time to get used to your tank. Mine tend to swim around more when the lights are on...when they are off, they rest/sleep near the back

are you keeping these with your altums?

[illumnae]

They will be with my altums eventually. Both are now in extended QT. I'm targeting for January to introduce them and the altums into the main tank.

On a side note: the world reknowned Heiko Bleher as made the very uninformed claim that 99% of all Asians do not know what a Heckel discus looks like, and few if any Asians have ever seen a wild discus. Just a little anectodal quote to show that nobody is "perfect"...even the most knowledgeable aquarist can slip up. Here's the exact quote from another forum:

"99% of all Asian do not even know what a Heckel discus looks like and very few, if any have ever seen a wild discus"

[raymond]

hi would like to find out something. My heckel recently got injured by the wood when it rush across the tank. the wood actually created a few scar on its body. Will this scar be heal completely?? or will it leave a permanent marking on its body?

[quix]

hi would like to find out something. My heckel recently got injured by the wood when it rush across the tank. the wood actually created a few scar on its body. Will this scar be heal completely?? or will it leave a permanent marking on its body?

Those usually will heal with no scars. Just be careful not to spook them. Heckels are the most skittish wild discus.

[raymond]

Yes their really timid. Always got spooked by me when i get home from work. I am actually thinking of covering the whole tank. But by doing so , i am unable to view this beautiful fishes. So still comtemplating the decision.

[sonique]

guys, what is the temperature of your tank? Discus don't prefer cool water like 26degC - 28degC, right??
I was thinking of keeping discus in a crypt and moss tank. Since moss prefer cool water, i wonder if the discus would like their water cold too?

[raymond]

Keep at ard 28oC.

[Toshika]

heckel discus take about 1-2months to get use to the tank environment, based on my experience with them.its true they are really shy and go into hiding whenever humans walk pass. to lure them out more, you can feed them live food like brine shrimps, or add in more discus, like local bred type (example: cobalt, red map discus etc).these local discus tend to be more brave and hence the heckel may follow their example and swim out.another advantage of putting in local bred discus is that heckel tend to cross breed with them rather than their own type.

[trident]

I want I want.
I have been waiting for some time now, but the LFS that promised to bring in the wilds didn't materialized. Guess I'll have to try QH or c328.

[illumnae]

If you add larger numbers/dither fish, heckels can get used to the new environment even quicker than 1-2 months Mine started to venture out when i increased their numbers from 5 to 7, and when I added a school of rosy tetras and a few corydoras, they became very brave and swim all over. Once in awhile they still do a mad dash when shocked, but that's normal for even very established heckels that have been in captivity for years.

about a month into keeping them, they are starting to recognize me as their primary food giver. Most of them still do hide when I get too close (no mad dash though), but the bravest 2 come near to the front when they see me.