Breeding Heckels ?

[samir]

From everything I've read so far seems to point to the fact that they are extremely hard to breed. Nobody on the Sg forum has bred them, I think Squid has. Apparently the males will breed with domestic discus but the females are extremely difficult.
I have also read several mentions that wild discus capture and export, are to be severely restricted by the Brazilian authorities in the not so distant future.
From my very limited Heckel experience, it does not seem that breeding them will be hard, judging by the way they are behaving atm. Could anybody with some experience shed some light on breeding these fish (they're pigs actually).

[taksan]

Give Mez a month ....or two and I'm sure she will tell you how its done ;-)

[Merrilyn]

Samir, I don't know anyone who has bred them. I even rang an importer mate of mine, and he doesn't know of anyone in Australia who has bred them.

I do know several breeders who have crossed a heckel male with a turquoise female, but that's about it.

Mate, if you can breed them, it will be BIG news.

[Ben]

Mate, if you can breed them, it will be BIG news.

I agree, but its worth a try just to say 'i have bred heckels'

[ILLUSN]

didn't squid put up a post about this? wasnt here some namless guy in the RAAF in queensland breeding heckels in out door ponds?

[ILLUSN]

found it
http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=47676&highlight=heckel#47676

squids 2 posts 2 from the bottom.

[samir]

thanks for the link Illusn. The heckels should be ready in a couple of months, they seemed to have had a growth spurt in the last week or so and can no longer be called skinny.
They are starting to show a lot of aggression towards each other and are behaving like fish just starting to reach breeding age. The bars have faded so it looks like the fry wont have them in large numbers. I have something in mind to counter that, but they have to breed first :roll: So far it doesn't look like they wont.
Merrilyn, please show us some pictures of your heckels. what size are they ?

[Rastoo]

I did not know heckels were difficult to breed.
My felmale blue heckel and male blue turquiose have receently bred and the fry are 21 days old. I have about 22 babies. This is my first breeding and I am trying read up as much as I can to ensure their survival.

[scott bowler]

i would like to see pic if you have any .
it is possible to x breed them but there is no one that we know of that has been able to breed two wilds here . but would love to see what you have
thanks scott

[Merrilyn]

Love to see some pictures of your fish Rastoo.

Congratulations on your spawn. :P

As Scott mentioned, there have been several cross breedings done. Unless you know for sure the history of your heckel, it may even be a cross bred fish carrying the strong heckel bar.

What we're trying to discover is if anyone has actually bred two wild caught heckels together and been able to raise fry.

[samir]

Thank you very much for the info Rastoo. From what info, I've been able to scrape up, the female is very hard to breed, but the males breed more regularly with domestic strains. So if your female is breeding thats good news, provided its wild.



What we're trying to discover is if anyone has actually bred two wild caught heckels together and been able to raise fry.

The two of us have done it, in the future :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Squid]

getting a good female breeder is the trick. Males will throw a leg over anything. Got that problem right now. Anyway - read the thread I put in ages ago. Big tank/pond - heaps of fish and good water quality. It most certainly can be done with heckels. If they really give you the irrits - then hormone induce them until they cant help themselves and get some other good surrogate parents that will raise the fry. i'm working on that right now!

Squid