# Do heckels really look alike :)



## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)

They aren't ALL heckels, but 9 out of the 19 are. They have finally started to pod and get more aggressive as a group at feeding time so they are growing and growing FAST.

According to YouTube, the video is going to take 198 minutes to upload, so in the meantime............


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

They all look just as alike as my 4 poodles to each other?


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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)

Wait, wait, wait......you're just tooo dang FAST with that fancy iPad of yours  I've got about a million more shots. THEN I'll tell you about the pairs that are forming


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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)

I really like the scroll work on the face and head of this one. It's one of my favorites:








































I love the heart rate monitor spike in the middle of this one


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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)

And then, one day, out of the blue.....a little gem shows up. I have no idea where this first fish came from. I only started to notice it about two days ago. The shape is very nice, the coloring is unique and interesting. No clue where it came from  VERY bad discus mommy 
Here's the deal with heckels. They are TERRIBLE fish. Awesome, terrible, fussy fish. If you buy a small heckel, then I hope you like small heckels. If YOU can get them to grow, good on ya! I sure as heck can't. No matter what. That little ica/heckel cross is the same size as when I bought her three years ago. All runty, stunty eyes and all. And I LOVE her to death. She would be the last to go if I had to pack up. With her splash of yellows and oranges, she is very striking against all the blue heckels. If I get an adult heckel, no problem. If it ever settles, after not eating, turning black, clamping and shedding melted fins and tails because of an ever so slight change in pH, etc. etc. etc., then they are TANKS. Indestructible and VERY tolerant of just about anything. But trying to get them to that point is downright painful. Well, now that I have a good solid group of heckels, they are "taking over", ever so quietly. They are first to eat and have first pick of tank placement. The adults are showing increased size as are the larger juvies. The smaller ones I'm not hoping for too much. I think it's just a little too late for them. But once a heckel finally settles down in your tank and is HAPPY, well, there's nothing like them in my opinion - even the tough little runts. They are STUNNING when everything is right in their world and they seem pretty willing to let you know about it

























The permanent marker smugged way too easy on this one


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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)




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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)

*And then the trios became pairs....*

So about those pairs.....
There have been 3 spawnings in the last week in the wild discus tank. All mystery spawns except for one. The red cover throwback, female, lays bright red eggs. So she laid eggs and was hanging out with the runt and one of the inanus. This same trio has spawned before. Then the exciting pair/trio was my female solomon and the other inanu PLUS the largest blue face heckel. That three is still together. All eggs were gone by the next day. The third spawning is anyone's guess 

The solomon wanted to lay last night - she was pecking at the cone and dancing. I didn't do a 90% w/c until this morning and I scrapped down the entire tank and cleaned everything because I expect there will be more eggs later today. I would LOVE to see the solomon pair up with a blue face heckel. That would be AWESOME


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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)




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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)

*They were cooperating tonight - that does NOT usually happen *


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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)




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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)




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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)




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## FishFreaks (May 15, 2011)

that sucks you cant get them to grow!!! i got a couple very small heckels and they have almost doubled in size in 2 months! i got them both and they were 2-2.5 inches only


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## vicdiscus (Mar 19, 2012)

how many wild caught discus do you have in your big tank ?


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

she needs more wild in her tank.


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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)

I ALWAYS need more wilds  I'm trying to teach myself to be more like my domestic fish buddies who buy fish, keep them for awhile to see what fits in and then let go the ones that don't. I wish I could be more like that, but I get too attached


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