Discus of the Caribbean (Large Pic)

[Vince+Carrie]

Cross posted from plantedtank.net

It was time for a change...

http://www3.telus.net/shayah/bigtank010.jpg

I was never really happy with the color and texture of the substrate. It was originally pure flourite, then flourite covered with gray gravel, and now flourite covered with white sand. I'm much happier now I spent a while looking for a suitable product -- this sand is safe for fish and doesn't change the chemistry of the water.

This photo was taken pretty quickly and the tank is much harder to photograph because of light metering. The grass is out of sorts and there are some changes I'm planning on making to help it look better.

Plants: I plan on adding some larger swords to fill in the background a bit (especially behind the large boulder on the left). My LFS carries two types of swords -- a no-name one (used in this scape) and Tropica. The Tropicas seem to grow much taller than the no-names so I'm waiting for their next shipment to arrive. I also want to straighten out the grass. I've thought about removing it but I think the Discus really like the shade it provides.
Fish: We had some Blue Rams that died after about 12 months (they mated like crazy and I think that burnt them out). I really liked Blue Rams though and plan on adding more soon. The other thing I'm pondering is trading off some discus and getting a more cohesive bunch. The Blue Diamond and the Morning Glory *pop* like cRaZy and look so nice. Its hard to photograph but they almost appear electric in the tank in real life.

[pcsb23]

Excellent looking tank. Very nice job indeed.

[AmberC]

That is a beautiful tank! I love it!!

[wolfbane]

So what substrate is it?

[architect1]

beautiful tank love it. I think its sand.

[Darren's Discus]

Nice looking tank and fish,all the best with it !


cheers

[Apistomaster]

It takes rams almost eight months to mature and they don't usually live much longer than 2-1/2 years. They just burn bright but shortly.
It looks like you have used fine white silica sand. What I find problamatic about substrate is they need to be hydrovacuumed regularly to stay fresh so that makes the successful layered substrate method a real handicap to good maintenance. I have my discus display tank set up with a "raised bed garden area" where only the back half has 3 inches of fine gravel retained by a glass planter box I constructed. The front half is bare except there is just a layer of the substrate that is only a few particles thick. The discus are able to find every blackworm as they graze this thin layer. The planter box is hydrovacuumed about three times a year. My tank is very heavily stocked which also makes a big difference in how clean I have to keep it otherwise the substrate would turn nasty very quickly. I am fortunate that I can sieve a naturally occuring fine grave from a local stream that is mineralogically and physically nearly Identical to the black fine grade of Eco-Complete substrate.
It is an iron rich material that has a very slightbuffering capacity again very much like Eco-Complete. My substrate is homogenous so hydovacuuming does not alter the appearance.
I have used primarily Echinodorus species of Sword Plants with just a few Crypts. I found that three species were especially well suited for the main plants; E. parviflora "Tropica" is a small but not dwarf species that grows a very dense rosettes and stays 8 inches or less, E. amazonicus, Narrow leafed Sword is a large but not huge plant staying 12 to 16 inches tall, Then I have a couple E. bleheri, Broad leafed Swords, These get 18-20 inches tall.The primarily sword plant theme has been very successful, The parviflora does not send out runners but the plant become large and bushy enough that they can be easily cut in two to form more plants. It does not take many of them to form a shrub-like groundcover with enough space to see into the tank and allow the discus to navigage the bottom substrate in search of food.
I keep my 10 Heckels in this tank.
I would try to keep an eye and nose on the status of the substrate to watch for black areas that may form and these are areas that have gone anaerobic and create a reducing chemistry in their zone which produces deadly hydrogen sulfide as a byproduct. This is a potent toxin for both plants and fish, This can be a real problem when using fine silica sand which tends to cut water circulation through out the substrate at inadequate levels to prevent formation of anaerobic zones.

[Vince+Carrie]

I would try to keep an eye and nose on the status of the substrate to watch for black areas that may form and these are areas that have gone anaerobic and create a reducing chemistry in their zone which produces deadly hydrogen sulfide as a byproduct

Will do for sure. We also have snails which are supposed to help by borrowing in the sand too. Thanks for the good advice.

[Palue]

Very beautiful tank you have. So calm and peaceful just lovely...:)

[GrillMaster]

You arranged an excellent scape for sure!!

However, it wont take long for the nice white sand to turn green/brown in a hurry if all parameters are not met!!