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johara
02-01-2006, 12:48 AM
Hi all. Great to find this forum as I've recently given in to my urge for discus and converted my 100G community planted tank to a low tech mostly discus planted tank. I tore out the foreground, thinned out the plants to make swimming room and cleared space to better clean for the discus. I hope I've reached some compromise between aesthetics and ability to keep water clean enough to grow out my young discus. I'll post some pictures - let me know what you think.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Johara/Discus/newdiscus001.jpg
Sorry about the glare on the right, it's the only one I have that shows the whole setup complete with philodendron plant rooted in the tank.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Johara/Discus/groupshot.jpg
the hungry hordes

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Johara/Discus/marlboroughred.jpg
red marlborough with red tiger lotus

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Johara/Discus/redpigeon.jpg
red pigeon

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Johara/Discus/newdiscus019.jpg
center driftwood and friends

Thanks for looking!

DiscusStudent
02-01-2006, 12:54 AM
Beautiful tank! How low-tech did you go? Do you have any type of filtration? Or are you going true low-tech and only using a heater?

johara
02-01-2006, 12:56 AM
Nope, not quite that low tech! There's a cannister filter and Aquaclear hang on, two heaters. No CO2 is mostly what I meant by low tech.

DiscusStudent
02-01-2006, 01:01 AM
Nope, not quite that low tech! There's a cannister filter and Aquaclear hang on, two heaters. No CO2 is mostly what I meant by low tech.

That's great, nice tank! :)

johara
02-01-2006, 01:47 AM
Thanks! It's definitely a work in progress as I learn more about discus and planted tanks. My other tank is a reef so there's a lot to learn - very different ecosystems!

Westie
02-01-2006, 10:26 PM
You know its funny, i'm looking at your discus and going,"Damn they look familiar." And then i see your from Alameda! Where do you shop? Very nice "natural looking" tank.

david patterson
02-02-2006, 09:18 AM
Nice job. Nice looking discus too.

pcsb23
02-02-2006, 11:01 AM
Very nice indeed.

Paul.

johara
02-02-2006, 12:41 PM
Thnks everyone - I appreciate your kind comments on my novice attempt. I'm sure I'll make it better as I learn here.

Westie - my original 3 discus, the white butterflies and one blue turq are from Fairy Lake Discus in SF, the rest are from Samson at Universal Discus in Antioch. You might have recognized the white ones from another post where I was trying to figure out what they were.

architect1
02-02-2006, 04:10 PM
Vary beautiful pics. You say low tech I wish Mine looked like that. The only way it did was when i bought all big swords. The valls are groing no problem. So keep up the good work.

CAGE-RATTLER
02-02-2006, 05:13 PM
Nice looking tank .......... what kinda lighting is on that?

johara
02-03-2006, 12:38 AM
The lighting is two 175W metal halide pendants that sit on the glass top. both are 6500K - left over from when I upgraded my 55G reef to a 155G reef and needed new lighting. I have a simple 30W stip lamp along the front mostly to hide the light that leaks out the bottom of the pendant and makes it annoying to look at. I think the amount of light is overkill for what I'm doing plant wise, but hey, you can't beat free stuff hanging out in your garage.

It takes new discus a couple days to get used to the brightness but then they seem to do fine with it.

Dood Lee
02-03-2006, 03:30 AM
Hi-tech/low-tech tanks aren't determined by whether or not you want to use CO2. You need to be mindful of the lights. With over 300 watts of light, you have approximately 3 watts per gallon, which is pretty high considering you aren't supplementing the tank with CO2.

hao910
02-03-2006, 04:23 AM
very nice tank.... and very nice piece of wood... Wish I can find one of those around LA.... :mad:

Dave C
02-03-2006, 09:06 AM
Hi-tech/low-tech tanks aren't determined by whether or not you want to use CO2. You need to be mindful of the lights. With over 300 watts of light, you have approximately 3 watts per gallon, which is pretty high considering you aren't supplementing the tank with CO2.

Agreed. It's a balancing act to have the right amount of light that allows you to skip co2 and fertilizers and not get algae coating everything.

johara
02-03-2006, 10:10 PM
I'm not aware of an official definition of hi or lo tech - probably would have been better to just say what there is and what there isn't. Compared to my reef tank and other planted tanks I've seen on this site, it seemed lo tech to me. I definitely have an above average amount of light, and do use Fluorish Excel for a carbon source (when I remember). I am intimidated by pressurized CO2 cannisters and the accompanying equipment, so guess in my mind that would be the high tech part :).

The wood is grapewood I bought at a reptile store. It was fairly inexpensive and never affected water parameters. It is starting to break down a little bit after about 4 years in the tank, I see bits of wood when I vacuum the sand.

I've been very lucky with algae (or more specifically the lack thereof), probably in part due to a hard working pleco, until he started bothering the discus and I banished him. I have my fingers crossed that I won't get an algae bloom without him! The six little oto's I added look pretty puny compared to an 8" pleco! They are hard workers though!

Dave C
02-03-2006, 10:24 PM
Hi tech/low tech, whatever. I was just saying it can be tricky to mix fertilizers with relatively high wattage and not use co2. I'll be interested to see if you have an issue with algae.

Dood Lee
02-04-2006, 03:21 AM
www.rexgrigg.com

Really informative stuff on keeping planted tanks. I would definitely keep a watch on your lighting period. Most people who keep planted tanks at 2 watts per gallon have CO2 supplementation and still have trouble keeping their tanks algae free. Flourish excel isn't enough to qualify it as a carbon source, especially in a tank as large as yours.

johara
02-04-2006, 03:25 PM
thanks for the nice link - I'd seen it but good to read it again! One of the reasons I have not tried CO2 is that my tap water has a KH of 1 and GH of 0. I have to really keep on top of adding carbonates to keep KH up to avoid major pH shifts - one water change without adding enough or delay in change and the pH will plunge. I've read that using CO2 in that situation could be very dangerous. I'm still experimenting with amounts I need to keep a stable KH of at least 3 with all the water changes the discus require.

This tank has been up with no algae problems (and same lighting) for about 3 years. The new variable is the discus with their higher waste levels and feeding needs and resultant frequent water changes. I have only had the full 10 discus for a week now, so I will be paying close attention and trying to balance discus and plant needs. All of your input is appreciated! Maybe with all the knowledge and support here I'll feel ready to take the plunge to CO2 use and a more beautiful planted tank.