Heckel VS Non Heckel

[FishDog]

Can heckels thrive in the same conditions as regular non heckles or are they more sensitive. I am looking into the possibility of owning Discus. I have a 200 gallon tank with an 80 gallon sump and a drip system. Water stays an almost constant 7.2 pH never seen it move from there and water is 120 ppm or around 7 dh of hardness. I like heckels but think I heard someone say they require lower pH which I am not about to adjust.

Also tank has 3 red bay snook around 7". The discus are wild caught and will be a minimum of 6" and fully QT'd before going in.

Thoughts?

 

[taelee]

It's very possible. Breeders do it all the time.

 

[3dees]

have to disagree with taelee. heckels are the hardest of the wilds to keep, and nearly impossible to breed in high ph. I decided to go with greens because my ph is 7.6 and I really don't want to get into the ro thing. can you keep them? absolutly. your starting off right by getting adults. they may lay eggs, but they will probably never hatch. some people will say that you must keep heckels in a ph under 6.0. then again, I was told by some that my wilds would die within 3 days in my ph. that was 9 months ago. personally, I find the greens, blues, and browns are more colorful than heckels, and usually much cheaper, but thats just my opinion. the striations going accross thier body sets them apart and I've seen some of the blues that snookn has for sale and they are stunning. being a first time discus keeper, I did'nt want to push it so I went with the greens. best of luck and don't forget the pics.

 

[Just Prince]

Call or shoot Discus Hans and email. He spoke at one of my clubs meetings last year. He's cool guy very funny. He maybe able to give you some answers for your questions.

 

[ryansmith83]

Heckels will live fine in your water. Clean them up (as you should with all wild-caught fish) and keep their conditions constant. They'll be fine.

Pure tank-bred heckels are basically impossible to track down. Much like altum angels, the chances of spawning a wild heckel male to a wild heckel female is nearly impossible. Wild-caught males will spawn with domestic non-heckel females, so there are quite a few crosses in the hobby. But even with ideal water conditions, chances are slim that you'd spawn heckel x heckel anyway. If your goal is to breed discus, try some domestics or a non-heckel wild. If you just want to keep some nice looking fish, go for it.

 

[FishDog]

Thanks guys, my brother is a discus fanatic, he has around 20 of them all about 6 inch. His are all domestic though. I sold some IT dats and want a group of about 6. I do not care if they breed just like the looks of them. My water stays constant and the tank has been running for 3 years now. I will let you know what I decide.