90 gallon planted tank

[mario]

Hey, I have been reading around on this site for a while in preparation to convert my 90 gallon community to a Discus community. The plan is to have a number of adult discus, a large school of rummy nose tetras, a few corydoras on the bottom and maybe a small school of pencil fish.

I have been reading that it is definitely not recommended to grow out young fish in planted tanks because of the large amount of waste that is produced by appropriately feeding young fish. So I am looking into getting adult fish. Most commonly I see larger fish offered at around 4'' or 5''-6''.

What do you think is the best way to go. Get a group of 4'' (which I guess are nearly adults) or get a group of 5''-6'' fish. I would like to end up with 5 or 6 discus. Would the fully grown adults be more prone to fighting? Would getting the sub-adults reduce this fighting and increase the chances of a more peaceful community? Would 4'' fish reach their full potential size in a planted tank? Is a 90 gallon tank large enough to support a breeding pair and a group of non-breeding fish (I have a 29 gallon tank that I can use as emergency housing for potential breeding pairs)?

Finally, as far as strains are concerned I really do like the wild forms, like Peruvian Greens, Red Spotted Greens, Columbian Browns, ... Is there a disadvantage to purchase wild strains? Are people breeding pure wild strains, so I can buy pure, home-breed wild looking strains?

I know these are a lot of questions at once and I am thankful for any advice given... mario

[dred]

Well, I'm a newbie, but I have a teensy bit of experience with the juvies and plants thing. In my case my ~4" discus are doing much better since the plants were removed. It is very likely that this is just coincidental, but I am able to monitor their environment more closely. The did spend a lot of time in the plants and gave every indication that they enjoyed having them around, but once plants and substrate were removed they quickly became healthy and have not wavered since. BTW, I was vacuuming up food and fish waste at least twice daily, so ...

But, you are correct to worry about introducing a group of unaquainted adults. It would be best to purchase a group that are already living together. It is either purchase together or quarantine all seperately and break up the existing social strata every time a fish completes quarantine.

Wild caught fish require careful quarantining with attention to parasite removal, etc. But, several sources provide this for all the fish they sell, and any fish (domestic or wild) should be quarantined for observation at your home anyway.

And, yes, domestically born/raised wild stock is available..

milton

[Carol_Roberts]

Since like wilds you should look down at the bottom of the page. You will find banners For Belowwater (Oliver Lucanus) and Aquatechnics. Or you could contact David Webber he lives in New York. Many of the wilds are fully grown. You will find that prices vary with the more common varieties costing less.

[ChloroPhil]

Mario,

It's entirely possible, but not really recommended to grow out juveniles in a planted tank unless you're not shooting for the largest or fattest fish. I know many people who have done it successfully, but their objective was to have pretty fish as a part of the whole planted aquarium ecosystem. They weren't out to grow the biggest fish or breed them. Even so, if you're interested in wild fish you can usually get teenagers/adults quite cheaply from wholesalers and won't have to worry too much about the extra mess of many daily feedings.

Personally, and I think I'm the greatest proponent of Planted Aquaria here at Simply, I wouldn't grow juvies out in an aquarium with gravel. That's not to say I wouldn't have wood covered in Java Ferns all over the grow out tank though...:) I've seen the difference that daily or every other day water changes has on fish growth and really think it's the only way to grow out fish.

I highly recommend painting the bottom and back panes of your aquarium black. While discus do well in a bare tank they can be skittish in a bright and completely open tank. Blocking the view out of a pane will help them feel more secure. The net effect is that every blackened out pane reduces the directions the fish think a predator can come from. A black back pane also looks darn good against a tank full of plants. :)