want to add substrate and plants

[jds1990]

Hello everyone I'm joel new to the forums. I have a 100 gallon discus tank. I have 9 discus 1 angel 2 Cory cats 2 albino bristle nose pleco and 1 fire eel. They all get along well I just recently added the corys they only had 2 at the lfs. I want to add substrate along with some plants. I need to know what type I should get because I know plants do not grow well in gravel because I have tried. I also have a led strip for light so I have enough light for the plants. I also like having a bare bottom tank because it's easy to clean. With the sand how will I clean the bottom of the tank? Will waste find its way into the sand? I also have a 30 gallon sump for filtration genx pcx 1200gph pump and triple overflow box. Have bio balls ceramic rings a uv sterilizer (large green killing machine) and carbon bags in there and the water quality is amazing. Please let me know your inputs about the sand how I can clean it and some plants other than amazon swords I could keep with the discus. TIA and I'm sure the fire eel will to when it has a place to bury him/herself.

[OC Discus]

Joel,

Welcome to SD. I'm sure you'll get some good advice here about plant choices. You should read the thread "The forum's position on discus in planted tanks" and others like it to learn some of the pitfalls before adding plants.

[jds1990]

Will do thanks. Any advice for uploading a pic? Can't scale it down without mspaint. I'm on my phone right now. Really would like you all to see my discus. I got lucky with some of them the others not so much but I still care for them and love their uniqueness.

[OC Discus]

Best way is to use a smart phone. Download tapatalk and you can upload them from your phone. The other way I've used is photobucket. Create an account, upload pics, then copy the link and paste in SD. Second Hand Pat can help with that.

[jds1990]

Ok I have that on my phone however I cannot find this forum. Is it placed under another name?

[jds1990]

Ok I got it working. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/11/evasy2uz.jpg
I need to clean that overflow box looks like brown algae

[jds1990]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/11/azu8ynan.jpg

[Fish24]

I'm actually fairly new to the planting like you. I'm actually switching from gravel( which my plants did fine in) to eco complete. Just wanted the darker look and it was recommended by quiet a few people. I also have a "different" stock like yours. One most dont like but it works! Right now I have swords, anibias(if I spelled it right) and anacharis. I plan on adding a lot more but my light is not great at the moment. It's the important part from what I'm told. You do t want to go very deep when you use a gravel vac anyways and with sand you don't want to stick the vac in our you may suck it up. You can use a vac. Some people I know just turn off the suction before the sand goes all the way up. With sand your plants will get the nutrients from the water so you will need to use liquid ferts and what not. I'm not sure if the tablets would work in sand but they might be an option as well. I know that eco complete has a fine sand and there are other brands as well if you wanted to change.

I've been told with plants it's hit and miss, learn and go from there lol

Good luck

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Joel and welcome to Simply. Perhaps you might consider placing your plants in pots. We also have a sponsor here who sells small planting trays. This way you can have your plants and your bare bottom.
Pat

[drondy]

I have set up a 55gal tank using Miracle Grow Organic potting soil with a small gravel cap. This has worked well for me and the plants seem to like it. What will you do with the contents of the tank while you are retting the planted tank ready?

[jds1990]

I think I may start like pat Said with some potted plants. I like the bare bottom the only reason I wanted sand or find substrate was for plants and the fire eel. He has a rock he hides in though. After reading the forum recommended I see there is quite the divergence in opinions. Planted takes just look fantastic and provide the fish with a natural habitat but cleaning this bbt is a breeze. Thanks for the replies. I have a 55 gallon tank I could try with first and see if I can get something nice going. I just got two new discus today. I forgot how small they are and how much they grow! They love the tank already and are eating! The other discus don't seem to mind them now but I think when they get bigger they will fall into their pecking order.

[jds1990]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/12/rymagupe.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/12/8ehuhyta.jpg


The two newbies

[RodneyL001]

it will be a challenge raising those little guys with adult fishes because they need to be feed so much more, I love planted tanks too, I keep low tech plants in my tank, swords and the like, and they do pretty well. I had to put a timer on my lights because I was leaving the lights on too long and was having an awful time with algae.

[jds1990]

I try to cut my lights off at the same time intervals 11 pm out 8 am on. I'm not getting the same colored algae as before it's brown. I have actually raised smaller fish with the adults and been ok. I get what you are saying but believe it or not they all seemed to calm down ALOT when I put in the two babies. It blew my mind because in my past experience they will be very territorial regardless of size and out compete them for food. However the larger discus don't bother them one bit. The larger yellow faced melon I raised with those two full grown blue discus and while they would fight sometimes she grew up to be a great size and is stress free by the looks of her color. I have a 55 gallon with a canister filter I can place them in if anything bad happens.

[viper0397]

Reading your post I would say if you want plants I would stick with potted ones like second hand pat said. I would go with the easy plants like anubias, Val, or amazon sword. You are going to have some trouble though with the sump and all the air you are putting into your tank. You are creating way to much oxygen and the plants will not have enough co2 to live off from. IME they will not do well. They require lots of co2 when the lights are on. I think you might be okay though with the plants listed above.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jds1990]

I figured that could be an issue. I got bored the other day messing with the tank and set my air pump back up. They were doing fine without it but that's probably why my plants grew but not as much as they should. Once I had this led strip the plants I had before came to life they stood up and they grew pretty rapidly I think the large pleco was the reason they kept coming out from under the gravel. I'll try out the plants listed above thank you for the replies!

[jds1990]

Found some substrate that promotes plant growth. It was pricey but I figured it would give me a crutch entering into the plant world. Gonna get some plants that are easy to care for. Is liveaquaria a decent site to get plants from?

[Quintin]

If you do go planted only put the adults in it.The juvies will be best kept in bare bottom on thier own.In my experience the juvies will end up stunted if you keep them with adults or in planted tank.

[jds1990]

83325
Just an update of how my tank is doing. The pump is too powerful and creates a beach effect which many of my friends thought was kinda cool. The plants are doing great they are growing well. I plan on getting another fixture like the one I have and only leaving the lights on for 8 hrs at a time. I did lose an angel she had been bloated for months and I tried many antibiotics no white poo or any sign of parasites. She ate entirely too much during feeding time and would hog all the food. I also lost a blue diamond which appeared to be parasites. I vouched I would clean this tank twice a week from now on. I blame myself but I have been very busy with work and school and usually need someone to help me change the water to make sure the tube doesn't pop out of the shower. I had to clean my bathroom floor once for an hr because the tube popped out. Makes it much easier than carrying a 5 gallon bucket back an forth and filling up is easy with an extendable shower head and tube. Also allows me to fill up the tank with water of a very similar temperature so the fish don't get shocked from a temperature change.