THINKING OF ADDING PLANTS

[Snow]

As some of you may already know.....I'm new to Discus but not freshwater tanks. Although, I must say this is the largest tank I have had (75 gallon). I am doing the fishless cycling right now on it...just added the water to day &hooked up my filters. So, I have a little road to go before I get to fish & ect....

My question is......do I add plants now or wait until the fish are in & doing well? I don't want a really heavily planted tank so I was thing of doing some in pots (thinking may be easier to remove if I need to for any reason). I am doing a light (as in depth) sand substrate on the bottom of the tank. Or should I just try to root the plants in that. I am most thinking a few plants to fill in some spaces and for the fish to have.

Any comment good or bad are all welcome! I am here to learn :)

[Discusdude7]

If this is your first time with discus than it's better to start with a bare bottom tank. You can paint the bottom with textured spray paint to make it look like sand and then put swords or something in pots. Just an idea.

[farebox]

Being new to keeping discus, I recommend going bare bottom at first. Plants are cool, but that's another thing to worried about at first. Once discus get going okay, I would add plants in plant pots from Disgirl.


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[musicmarn1]

+1 I'm so glad I waited until I knew my fish really well. Most of the tanks I added plants to or added adult discus to planted tanks did fine but one had an almost instant infection and I removed all out of that tank, if I had not known the fish as well I would have had no clue how to treat!

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Tammy, plants and discus are two skill sets which should be practiced separately until you have a decent knowledge and understanding of each. Quite often the needs of plants and discus are quite different and the needs of one can harm the other. I would suggest getting a good handle on both so you can mix them in the future with a foundation in both.

[Snow]

I will take care of the Discus first and then worry about plants later! I do have planted tanks in my other aquariums (but not heavily planted just 2 or 3). As far as the sand in the bottom of the tank.....I am well aware of how to clean gravel & pebbles....sand is new to me. But if it becomes an issue I have no problems with sucking it out & going BB! I am willing to do what is needed :)

[RodneyL001]

well waiting is the best advise, when you decide to go with plants, go with what is called a "low tec" planted tank. Simple slow growing hardy plants, the only ferts I use is just throwing in some Excel once a week. If your water from your tap is agreeable to keeping discus, where you are not treating your water for ph and water hardness, the way I look at it,keeping discus is not much different than the community tank you have kept over the years. Except for doing many more water changes, that really is my only difference. If you are hoping to breed your discus, that is a different subject. I think the K.I.S.S method of discus keeping is what has worked for me. Although I've only keeping discus for a couple of years, it appears I am getting into a "grove" on keeping them. And a low tech planted tank has increased my enjoyment of my tank 10 fold. IMHO

[STHH]

If you like plants, there is still the option of adding plants that grow mounted on woods, such as java ferns, bolbitis fern, moss, anubias. You can also consider growing certain plants in pots, and hiding them with rocks and woods.

[Mikemeets]

Ive got amazon swords, pigmy chain sword and micro sord that does well in my setup

[Elliots]

I have a different opinion from most people on this site. If you are going to grow out small Discus I would say wait until they are at least 4-5" until you get plants. If you are going to get 4-5" Discus or larger you can get plants. To start do not get too many as it can be a little harder to clean around the plants if you root them in sand. If you have a bunch of bottom feeders, like Corys or Loaches, they make it easier. In my opinion BB tanks do not look anywhere as nice as planted tanks but it is your tank and your choice. Just remember if you have plants and do Discus size and frequency water changes you will probably have to add fertilizer to the water column along with root fert. tabs. Currently I have only Swords in my tank and they do well, I have to trim them every month or two.

[virtueone11]

BB tanks are best for beginners with potted plants for easy cleaning of all the detritus.Alternatively there are many beautiful floating plants you could use which give shade to discus and are to maintain too

[Mikemeets]

Sword plants are hardy plants hahaha

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[Quintin]

if you want plants and are overwhelmed by the effort go with drift wood and pot plants.you can even put pots in shooter glasses for elegant look and easy to move about during watert change

[Snow]

Just an up date on plants..... Still taking care of & getting to really know my Discus & care for them. I will (much later) check into adding plants.

[kennykien2007]

Lovely

[Snow]

I have now decided to add a couple (4 small bunches of water wisteria) to 1 of my tanks to see how that goes. I also added a nice piece of driftwood to all of my tanks except for the 75 gal. I added 2 smaller pieces in there.

If the plants don't do well I will pull them out.