My planted discus tank

[kingborris]

Just thought I'd say hi and post a picture of my planted wild green discus tank. Some of you may recognise this from UKDA or plantedtank.net

Hope you like it!

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f135/kingborris/full_tank3.jpg

[ejbbean]

Yea, I've seen it in plantedtank.net
One of the best planted wild tank I've ever seen.
Thanks for sharing!
Frank

[tacks]

very, very, nice. What size tank and how long has it been up? about what size are the discus? again very nice Ed

[AADiscus]

Nice planted tank. I love all the greenery.

Welcome to Simply! :)

[greyhoundfan]

I don't like it one bit..

I love it!! WOW!!

[fishmama]

Don't just tease!!!

Tell us more, more, more!

Beautiful...just perfect.

Lisa

[jannima]

Awesome tank!! Love those wilds!

[kingborris]

Thanks all :D

The tank itself is a 60x24x30"high, with sump and fluidised sand bed filtration. I use 3x150W halides to illuminate it, and run a pressurised CO2 system to help the plants along.

The discus (13 of them) are between 4 and 6" in size, and share the tank with a host of other fish, including ~70 cardinals, hyphessobrycon sp 'robertsi', cory sterbai, ancistrous, apistos etc

The plants you can see at the top of the tank are terrestrial plants growing hydroponically in troughs i've built into the tank design. they act as both nutrient export and a decorative surround to the top of the tank.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f135/kingborris/Discus_large7.jpg

[Marinemom]

I like it. The wilds are beautiful.

Diane

[GrillMaster]

That is one natural lookin Discus tank for sure!!

Inspirational to say the least. Very well done.:thumbsup:

There is an administrator here that just loves wilds, an I am gonna talk him into settin up at least one of his 75 plus tanks for just such a biotope. ;)

He already has the wood!!:D

[brewmaster15]

Gee Mark,

There is an administrator here that just loves wilds, an I am gonna talk him into settin up at least one of his 75 plus tanks for just such a biotope.
Wonder who that could be?:)


Hi Kingborris!
That is a very beautiful planted tank! Just curious ...how long have the discus been in it?

-al

[senso]

Greetings Kingborris

A good looking tank. Plants look fantastic. Healthy and vibrant.
Could you share some more info on the specific set-up and water parameters of the set-up

Temp
WC - frequency and amount
Substrate
Other liquid ferts added
Filtration
Photoperiod

Great to see another great planted discus tank.

[kingborris]

brewmaster15: The tank was bought in January this year, slowly setup, some old stock added and planted out etc. then finally wilds were added around July / August.

senso: Thanks for the comments. I'll try to expand a little for you.

Temp sits at around 29C. I do have an undergravel heater fitted although i dont have it in use often, as it over heats the substrate for my apistos. they wont use the caves provided if the substrate is too warm.

I do 2x30% WC (around 55 gallons) per week, using a mix for 4 parts RO to 1 part CBR2 filter tap water (i live in a very hard / dirty water area). this gives a TDS of around 120ppm, and a resting pH of 7.2. CO2 addition via a pH controller and aquameic external CO2 reactor on the sump return drives the pH down to a steady 6.6 day and night

Substrate is 1" of flourite topped with 1 1/2" of sand (medium fine aquarium)

I add a PPMD mix (CSM+B + Mg + Iron + P) and K in Potassium sulphate every water change. I also add a tough of KNO3 if nitrates get too low (havent had to do this in a while).

Filtration is by the sump, which contains a 20x6x6" deep layer of foam mechanical media, 20x6x3" layer of floss, then around 25KGs of alfagrog expanded ceramic media in the main section. There is also a fixed loop running within the sump that powers a Rainbow Lifegard fluidised sand bed filter and 25W UV steriliser. This closed loop keeps water flowing through all of the media even if the return to the main tank is turned off for maintenance or WCs

Photo period is as follows:

12pm 2x58W flouros on
1pm 3x150w halides on
1.01pm flouros off
11pm flouros on
11.01 halides off
12am blue cold cathode moonlights come on
12.01 flouros off

this gives a gradual increase and decrease of light around a central 10hr halide period.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f135/kingborris/full_tank1.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f135/kingborris/full_tank4jpg.jpg

[raglanroad]

I haven't seen this great setup before, King. It really is "dialed in",with the graduated lighting, the filtration with fluidized bed and UV, plants growing out, etc..kinda like a concept album..a complete package.

Dave

[pcsb23]

Hi Mat,

Probably said this before but that is one stunning tank. btw do you need any frogbit? :)

Great job.