TW's Wilds

[TW]

I picked up 3 new wilds last Friday, from the same batch as ivo. 1 wild blue and 2 wild browns. They're not quite as nice as ivo's, as he got there first :ug but I am still happy with them. I can never seem to take clean sharp pictures, but here are some happy snaps anyway.

2 new Wild Browns
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0458_WildBrown1.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0465_Wildbrown2.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0506.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0503.jpg


1 new Wild Blue

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0501.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0481WildBlue.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0484WildBlue.jpg


Wild Royal Blue - Update
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0495080830_wrb2.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0496080830_wrb3.jpg

To my eyes, the only difference between my new wild blue and my older wild royal blue is the intensity of colour. The distribution of pattern/colour seems pretty similar. Does anyone know what the difference between a wild royal blue and a wild blue actually is?


Heckels
Tried, but just couldn't get a nice picture of these guys. Will post another day.

I am thinking of selling my Africans & their tank's rock decore back to LFS and making the 4ft a wild tank. Otherwise, they will all live in the 7ft together with the domestics, once the new ones have finished QT.

Hope you like them :D

[ivo]

Hi TW, they look great and seems to be very healthy too. Your royal blue is looking gorgeous. I guess you have the royal blue for 6 months now so with your good food, etc, i assume thats why it's color is more intense than your new wild blue, in time i am sure it's color will also be just as intense.

It is hard to take picture from QT tank. Water in QT tank is not as crystal clear compare to display tank. I thought my pictures also look pretty dirty water too. Keep up with the wilds they look sensational together.

[TW]

Hi Ivo - they are very healthy. They haven't given me a moments worry. Usually new discus won't eat from the first day, or there is something (shy, etc). But these guys ate straight away and settled straight in.

As to the food for the wild royal blue in display, I don't "colour feed" in that tank cause I worry that it would turn my albino or blue diamond a funny colour. So he only eats home made beef heart (Merilyn's recipe) and spirulina brine shrimp. I keep meaning to ask the experts about whether naturose and it's effects on blue diamond's colour, as I have some of the powder & flakes, but don't use them for my discus.

QT's water is changed daily, so my water should be clean - but the exterior wall of the tank isn't wiped down often & this doesn't help with pics.

Thanks for the nice comments ivo.

[waitaki]

lucky you - they look beautiful
Love the Royal Blue - the blue stands out.
Mind i love the brown as well..

[tc]

tw
they are beautiful wilds. congrats. i wholeheartedly suport your idea of just having a wild tank - you will love it.
tc

[Merrilyn]

Absolutely gorgeous !!!!!!!!

Wild caught browns were the very first discus I ever owned, and I still have a soft spot for them.

From what I can see, your wild blue and wild royal blue are the same strain.

When the blues were first captured and imported, they were a huge hit, as you can imagine. All we had been able to get up till then was a wild brown with just a few stripes of blue on the face and dorsal and anal fin. Then along came a fish with blue on the body as well so it was immediately named the Blue Discus.

Not long after, blue fish with more blue as well as red striations on the body began to appear, and they were given the grand name of Royal Blue.

The difference is really only the amount of blue on the body. :P

[TW]

Thanks everyone for the nice compliments.

Merrilyn - as ever you are a great source of information.

Do you think my other discus is not really a "Wild Royal Blue" after all? Simply a beautiful "Wild Blue" but with much more vibrant colouring than my recent acquisition? There's not much difference in the "amount" of blue & red on the two. The difference is in the vibrancy of the colour.

[taksan]

Thems sum NICE NICE fishy's Ms TW ;-)

[Merrilyn]

I think they're both Wild Royal Blue. :P

[TW]

Thanks taksan & Merrilyn.

That's good news. I will now call them both by that name. I looked especially closely at the WRB I have owned the longest last night and I can see even in the middle of his body the "shadow" or "hint" of the blue & red coming through (on one side of his body only). It is very faint, but it is there. I don't think it was there to begin with, or if it was, I didn't notice it before.

It seems like his colour is spreading - is that possible or did I just not see it before.

[pink66]

They are really nice Robyn, I am extremely jealous :mrgreen: :wink:

It is funny, I am also looking sideways at my africans.. It too would make a very nice discus tank :) (don't know how they would take it though !!)

[TW]

Hi Sharon, thanks for nice comment.

Finally got a half way decent shot of my heckels. They were very small & young when I got them. I had them on their own in bare bottom QT from around Feb 08 till 3 weeks ago. They were fed a minimum of 3 times a day and mostly had a daily water change of between 10 - 20%. This was seldom missed. Vac'd up the waste after every meal - all in the hopes of proper growth & no stunting.

One is smaller than the other & I'm not sure if he is stunted. I'm hoping someone can tell me. Maybe I should ask in the critique section?

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0554.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0553.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/138G_523L_Discus%20Tank/000_0549.jpg

If there is still time for them to do some more growing, when my new wild browns move out of QT, I could move them back in there on their own. Should I do that, or is it too late to feed them up further?

Cheers, Robyn

[ivo]

congratulation your heckels are finally removed from QT. they are looking good and one of them look very healthy and fat. can't wait to see all your other wilds are put into your display tank.

[AHC]

How are your wilds coming along?

[TW]

Hi Aaron

I'm really happy with them. Just have to decide if they'll go in the 7ft or 4ft. It will probably ultimately be the 7ft, but they have moved into the 4ft temporarily.

[AHC]

Well at least you have some great options :lol:. Great stuff

[TW]

Time for an update of my 2 new wild browns & 1 new wild royal blue. They are temporarily in a 4ft, but will move to the 7ft in the near future, where they will join my other wild royal blue & the heckels.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/000_0651.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/000_0652.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/000_0653.jpg

[TW]

just one more
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/000_0637.jpg

[pink66]

Hi Robyn, they are coming along very well indeed. Colours coming along too..

[ivo]

hi robyn, what a great job you have done. they look fantastic and very healthy. they are going to have so much more fun and room in a 7 foot tank. well done!