Heckel Discus

The Heckel discus takes its name from Johann Jakob Heckel, who described it in 1840. A cichlid with a disc-shaped body almost as tall as it is long, it is recognised by the broad dark vertical bar crossing its flank — the famous fifth bar — far more pronounced than in other discus. The reddish-brown body is traced with fine, winding turquoise lines that intensify in conditioned adults. It reaches around twenty centimetres and lives for a decade or so. Unlike Symphysodon aequifasciatus, the source of most colourful farmed strains, the Heckel discus is still largely imported as wild stock. The species is endemic to the Brazilian Amazon, confined to the lower Rio Negro and a handful of neighbouring tributaries — Abacaxis, Trombetas, Nhamundá. It lives exclusively in blackwater: amber, tannin-stained, extremely mineral-poor and acidic, with pH dropping below 5 and hardness close to zero. Temperatures stay high year-round, between 26 and 32 °C. Discus hold to bank margins cluttered with submerged roots and fallen branches, moving vertically between obstacles rather than out in open water. This is not a beginner's fish. It needs a group of at least five in a tank of 300 litres minimum, at least 45 cm tall to suit its build, filled with very soft, acidic water held around 28-30 °C with faultless stability. Classic companions are Amazonian tetras and corydoras, in a layout of vertical roots and broad-leaved plants. It takes frozen foods, meaty granules and homemade pastes, offered in small frequent portions. Breeding happens in pairs on a vertical surface, and the fry feed on mucus secreted by their parents during their first days. The main pitfall is hard tap water, which blocks hatching and wears the adults down.