My Wild Heckles

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W

WarrendaFish

Gambusia
MFK Member
Apr 23, 2009
766
2
18
Massachusetts, U.S.A.
You'll never guess where I got these fish....
Free on craigslist.... Honest... A weird story. But I contacted a gentleman via CL and six months later he contacted me back saying he was tired of people saying they knew about discus but then not, so I showed him a few pics of my 125 gal planted discus community and then he met me and gave me the fish... I've had them now about a year maybe a little more

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Beautiful fish! My absolute favorite Discus. Have you ever seen any signs of coutship behavior?
 
Those are really nice Heckels. And they look very healthy, your doing a great job with them.
Miracles happen, so who knows, you might end up being one of the few who've gotten Heckels to spawn.
 
There has only been one instance of Hekles being breed in captivity, that I'm aware of. The ph was dropped to about 5 while TDS is almost zero mixing % of RO and tap being adjusted gradually and the temp was raised to 92F. I think muratic acid was used to lower the ph but buffering it at the level has to be unbeleavably diffacult trying to prevent ph swings. The F1 fish that have beed produced should prove to be an easier proposition. Keep your fingers crossed that the future will hold some domestic bred fish so more people can enjoy these incredable fish. For now I'll just be content being able to keep them. I've found that once aclamated they are a pretty hardy species, I have also noticed they do enjoy some tannins in the water. I wish you continued sucess and great luck with them tanks for posting.
 
Tom,

You're right, Heckels need exacting water parameters as you mention, in order to spawn. Which is why I'm also happy to just enjoy keeping my Heckels happy and healthy. By the way, I think, unless I'm confused (which is possible) that there has been 3 confirmed Heckel spawnings to date.
 
You may be correct about there being 3 spawns by now. I haven't been following it that closly, either way not many......lol.
 
I wouldn't feel comfortable changing their parameters that much even over a long period of time. Although I am relatively experienced with discus and breeding them, I wouldn't want to risk their health.

I do have smaller pieces of driftwood in their tank. Actually every tank (20 in all, about 1200 gal total) has at least one piece of driftwood.
Also, I have well water at my house so I don't have to worry about chlorine and other town water additives.

So far they are thriving!!!
Thank you all for your comments


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What's in a name?? Heckles, Heckels, Hekles, hackles:ROFL:
 
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