Some of my wilds

Dirk

If you're up to it then perhaps the next time you're up here we can make a plan for a lecture, that would be awesome!

Regards
Cam

 

Hi Cameron,

I have to come to Johannesburg to attend a meeting on 28 Jan 2008. That is a Monday, which is most probably not a good day for most, but let us see closer to the time what we can organize.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Call me and I'll take you out for dinner, lets have a few frosties shall we?

Please drop me a line closer to the time and we can make arrangements for whatever you have in mind

Always looking forward to it.

Regards
Cameron

 

Hi
A very interesting thread!
Prof Dirk, is there any chance of you writing your own book on discus?
You obviously can read German and have read a lot of foreign books on discus. Maybe you could use all your knowledge gained over the years and write a book. Most of the English books that I have read are very superficial and are American. Maybe you could write from a South African point of view.

Will you be giving a lecture in Cape Town?


Would love you to describe your central system. I am presently setting up one and any ideas would be appreciated

James

 

Hi guys

Thought I would put up some recent pics...

A few of some greens






I also have some Xingu Browns in that tank

 

Then I have my Curipera Reds



They are in a tank with Alenquers

The photo below shows an Alenquer red with a dominant heckel bar from a crossing in the wild

 

Which brings me to the next tank...the Heckels

 

And lastly is a tank containing my Nhamunda blues, Semi Royals from Nhamunda and Royals also from Nhamunda

 

Oh my word!!!! They look great??It must give you such enjoyment to have them

 

Wow Rowland. That's a very impressive collection.

Were you happy with the shipment you ordered from Europe?

 

Hey Pete
Thanks, yes great enjoyment. Just need to see some breeding behaviour now...

Thanks Ryan
The fish have come from a number of sources:
The first were from Panorama, who got them from Campcon who I understand imports from Turkys Aquarium in Brazil.
Then I got three Alenquers from Nick Hart, not sure where he got them.
A large group of Semi royals, greens and heckels came via afriend...also from Turkys
And then I imported the Royals, Curiperas, Alenquers and Xingus from Discus Holland last year.
To answer your question Ryan, there fish were amazing!

 

Wow, I might not be able to buy any but I would still trade my left testicle for some! Those are some beautiful fish, enjoy man!!

 

Wow Rowland. Those discus look awesome.

Hopefully they would have bred by next year when I am back in SA

 

Rowland, those fish are stunning! I will be in the market soon, if you are selling. Keep us updated on your breeding progress!
Gert

 

I'm GREEN with envy, I absolutely love the wild strains and especially Heckels.

So GREEN!

 

Thanks Tucker

Hopefully one day I can say I've bred Wild's. Then hobbyists can get some too...

I understand the rainy season which triggers breeding, starts in Feb in the Amazon. Going to condition mine so that by then they are more than perfect!

 

Make sure you put a calendar close to the tanks so they know when Feb comes around! ;-)
Seriously the time of year has got nothing to do with breeding them (or any fish) in a tank. It is all about simulating the conditions that accur to trigger spawning. Do a search on the internet and see how many people say "Hey, I did a waterchange because I thought there was a problem and now my fish are spawning!"
Conditioning is of course important....but you gotta get the trigger right.
Cheers,
KarelM

 

Hi Turando

I agree totally with what you are saying. What I perhaps did not explain clearly enough is that as wilds, I believe they may be more accustomed to spawning at that time of the year, triggered by the rainy season in the Amazon. Since I have had very little luck thus far, I am going to condition them up to 120% health, wait for a bit of a low pressure and some rain in feb and hit them with a good water change of slightly cooler, more alkaline water. Hopefully this helps a bit.
I know hybrids and other tank bred cichlids are triggered by water changes....just felt with these guys that Feb would probably be a good opportunity since very little is happening so far.

 

Hi KarelM,

Whilst I agree with you about the conditioning part of what you have stated here, I do not agree at all about your statement "that time of the year has got nothing to do with breeding them". I keep altum angels from the Orinoco drainages and wild-caught discus and time of the year has a massive amount to do with it. My fish have been very active now, but then, with the summer heat, become more and more lethargic.

Rowland, I do not know why you are aiming at February. You should aim at our winter time as this is the period when we have cold fronts and cooler weather which stimulates spawning in discus. Also, this is the time in nature when they spawn, remember that the Amazonian winter is the same as ours. I have been wanting to come and see your fish, and should really make a plan to do so soon so that I can give you some advice.

You will remember that I gave a talk some while back to the guys up north about the South American systems. We never got around to organizing this talk here in the Cape. You and many others may certainly benefit if I could give that talk here again. Should we perhaps organize this matter some time?

Kind regards,

Dirk