Going to planted from bb

[dusty]

Hi all. I have a 90 gallon tank with 10 discus which has been up and running since April this year. The discus are around 4 1/2" long (nose to tail base) and are around 8-9 months old. Raised in bare bottom, water changes daily.

temp is 86
ammonia and nitrite - zero
nitrate 5 ppm
PH - 7.6 which does not fluctuate from tap to tank
add Prime when doing daily water changes
3 hydro sponges in tank and Penguin hang on back with sponges inside
pre-filter on Penguin
two 55 watt power compacts (can put in four, if needed, but worry about too much light for the discus?)

I would like to go planted with gravel. No Co2. Easy care plants.

Would like to do less water changes and getting a little eco-system going in my tank would help. Plus everyone here is tired of looking at a glass bottom so time for a change.

I know to vacuum gravel at least weekly and wipe down walls, cords, etc... as I have other tanks which house a community of fish (platies, cories, shrimp, snails, pleco, etc...)

Any help or comments, whether they are pros or cons, would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Dusty

[Alight]

While a heavily planted tank does need water changes less often, it's much harder to keep clean, overall. My planted tank is much more work than my bare bottom tanks. It's great if you happen to like being a gardener. There's always some trimming, grooming, etc. to be done. Balancing macro and micro nutients in a low tech tank always keeps you guessing, so if you like a puzzle, that's great, too.

I set my tank up with very little gravel in the front, to make water changes easier, and for feeding--it's very easy to gravel vac this way, too.

Is it worth it? Aesthetically, yes--at least so far, although there are weeks when I wish it would go away.

[dusty]

Honestly, I want to be able to do two water changes a week plus have the tank planted. I feed 2 meals of bloodworms and 2 meals of flake or tetra bits.

Alight, you have deeper gravel towards the back and a thinner layer in the front of your tank?

[Alight]

Yes, I have almost 4 inches of gravel in the back, and only enough gravel to cover the glass in the front. I have a rock wall separating the two areas (keeps it high in the back and low in the front). The back and sides are very heavily planted, while the front middle has only a few, low growing plants.
http://www.tropicalfishgallery.com/photo-gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastupby&cat=0&pos=4

Here's a view of it from last April, when the Discus were still young and the plants were much smaller, and less thick!!

[Mughal]

Keeping the vacuuming easy is a snap.

Intead of having gravel all over the place use slate to cover the larger portions of your tank (slate is almost like BB to clean and still aesthetically pleasing) There will be gaps in your slate and those your can fill in. I use sand because $hit doesn't fall through the cracks as easily. Planting around the slate will give you nice even contours and lines that will keep you plants in place long enough for them to take root.

You can even make slate fit to siz just get a chisel/screwdriver and a hammer and chisel out the shape you want the slate to be, rinse it, and drop it in the tank. If you don't like the idea that slate usually contains all types of carbons (slate's closest neighbor is hardened coal) then use granite tiles instead. They are a little more expensive and harder to cut but they look wonderful!

[Mughal]

Here's a picture from my 120 (125?) that I will put Alight's Babies in after I grow them up first in a barebottom 80 (90?) gallon.

125 Gallon (72lx18wx23h)
4x 39w T5s
4x 55w PCs
50/50 mix of Flourite and natural sand, slate tiles under this to give depth, but not add layers of substrate.
Wet/dry filtration (originaly set up for large predators (piranhas), not best filtration for a planted tank) Now I'll use this tank for adult discus.

[Mughal]

Here's the right side

What do you think Alight? The whole tank shot is too big for the site so I had to split it up into 2 parts.

[Dood Lee]

www.rexgrigg.com

Pretty much has all the information you will ever need. Also, visit the www.plantedtank.net forums. They should be able to help you out. Important thing is to not rush things through. It took me about 3-4 months researching stuff before I could set up my tank. It's much easier when you know the type of setup you want and buy the equipment accordingly.

[dusty]

How many discus are your tanks? Would I be walking into a problem with having 10 in my 90 gallon down the road? Am I also going to run into trouble with having low light, no Co2, and water changes twice a week? I hope to hear all your comments whether good or bad. Better to ask about problems now BEFORE I add gravel to the tank.

dusty

[candyl70]

Dusty,
How big are your discus? If they are still small and you feed alot to promote growth, you might not want to add gravel. From what i have found in these forums its best to have juviniles in a bare bottom because of how much they need to eat, and adults in the planted tank.

Also i think you would be fine with 10 in a 90 gallon. Someone with more experience will be along to correct me if im wrong. Good luck and have fun!!


Candy:)

[candyl70]

Oh, about the low light and no CO2, you should be fine depending on what type of plants you want. In general, dark leaves require lower lighting, and light leaves need more. I never used CO2, but if you want a more heavily planted tank, you will probably need CO2. If you are feeding 4x a day, i wouldn't recommend gravel with only 2 water changes, you'll have all that extra food fouling your water. I just took my gravel out because of the up keep. But if you do a thinner layer of gravel you might be able to get away with it.

Hope it helps you some.



Candy