New Planted Discus tank.

[yashaswibs]

Hi guys,
I am trying to set up a planted discus tank.
This is my set up so far- heavily planted tank with co2 injection with 4T5HO lights. Filtration is with Eheim 2180+Fluval Fx5. Size is 90 gallon.

The kicker is I have a continuous water change system with 6-7gallon per hour input. The fertilization was EI dosing but I am unable to dial in a good fert regimen now.

My question is what happens to the inches per gallon rule- Can I stock it willy nilly? How many discus can I comfortably house here.

I will give any more info if you want.

Thank you for your comments.

[chachi]

While stocking my 75, I read that the minimum I should have is 5. you need to have a good number so the aggression is spread around the tank and not to just the weakest fish.

I went with 6 and i would imagine you would be ok with 6-8. others please chime in!

chachi

[Yassmeena]

While stocking my 75, I read that the minimum I should have is 5. you need to have a good number so the aggression is spread around the tank and not to just the weakest fish.

I went with 6 and i would imagine you would be ok with 6-8. others please chime in!

chachi

Sounds about right. Considering it's heavily planted, I wouldn't have more than that.

In aquascaping, you may have heard of the importance of "negative space"? Which means basically that when you design your layout, not only do you plan the plant-occupied spaces but you also plan a design that maximizes the effect of your empty space.

This always reminds me of discus becuase their true beauty is best shown off in a planted tank that makes good use of negative space. In turn, they accent the planted tank and enhance it's beauty.

So don't overcrowd your tank with either discus or plants, is what I'm basically saying! Seems like you know what you're doing though... ;)

HTH

Yasmin

[Sharkbait]

Does EI work with a continuous water change? I wouldn't think so.

You can still do EI with planted discus in a 90. 50% weekly is fine. Make sure you have adults.

I'd stock 6 adults, at least 4 inches each. How heavily planted? Do you have other species in there as well?

....PICTURES :)

[alan j t]

Does EI work with a continuous water change? I wouldn't think so.



You can still do EI with planted discus in a 90. 50% weekly is fine. Make sure you have adults.

I'd stock 6 adults, at least 4 inches each. How heavily planted? Do you have other species in there as well?

....PICTURES :)

i agree.

[daboo]

Look at my signature and you can see what is feasible. Some might call this overcrowding but plants allow you to cheat since they take up much of the animal waste. My water never gets above 5 ppm nitrates. Phosphates can rise but I started a regimen of keeping 100 gm phosban every two months in my Fluval filter, otherwise the algae blooms will come. I maintain the pH around 6.4-6.8 using alkaline buffer as needed. Of course it takes months to build up to this as you need a good stock of bacterial (and algae) colonization to make things stable. I do 5% water changes every other day vacuuming different areas of gravel where I have no plants.

I'm toying with the idea of getting a 7th discus or even an 8th since at least one or maybe even 2 are stunted.

[yashaswibs]

Tomorrow morning I will have Hans deliver 4 Flachen*SS 3+inch along with 4 Alenquer 3 inch. I now have a Snake skin 4+inch and a Blue turq 4+ inch. I also have 2 small discus- not sure of the breed.

Will post pics tomorrow and likely a detailed account of how things are going.

I am not complete novice but am by no means very adept either. I am much better at plant keeping than at discus keeping. I just figured out that they need fresh water and hence am dumping in about 150 gallons per day and hopefully that will allow me to stock the tank well. I wanted to buy bigger discus and smaller number but greed got to me eventually.

The negative space is fabulous if I can create a good carpet and I have failed at that- the E.tennellus is too tall, the riccia is very painful to maintain, HC just failed miserably in my hands and now I have crypt Parva which is too new to comment. I do have some space but for the sake of aquascaping I put in Manzanita wood and now I have a scape but not enough space. Something will have to go- likely some plants.

EI dosing with discus is very tricky- they do not like the addition of ferts. They end up hiding far away from the spot of addition of ferts and for a long time. Although it is said that nitrates are not too bad for fishes my fishes do not seem to have read the research and dont like what is being added.

I have learnt a lot in the last year that I have tried to keep plants and discus.

I throughly appreciate the input. Please keep it coming.

[Sharkbait]

EI dosing with discus is very tricky- they do not like the addition of ferts. They end up hiding far away from the spot of addition of ferts and for a long time. Although it is said that nitrates are not too bad for fishes my fishes do not seem to have read the research and dont like what is being added.


Dose near the output of your filters to spread the ferts out faster. This should lessen the reaction from the discus.

[Sharkbait]

Look at my signature and you can see what is feasible. Some might call this overcrowding but plants allow you to cheat since they take up much of the animal waste. .

How big are the BGK and Bichir?

[yikesjason]

If you want more suggestions for a carpet, try marsilea quadrifolia. I have a thick carpet growing well in my tank and I am quite pleased with it.

[daboo]

How big are the BGK and Bichir?

BGK is about 8-9 inches. The Bichir is around 10 inches and still growing.

[Sharkbait]

BGK is about 8-9 inches. The Bichir is around 10 inches and still growing.

Crazy. I'm surprised they all get along.

[JL15219]

Daboo you got a pic of your tank I am curious what it looks like......:)

[yashaswibs]

How do I upload the photos- it says the photos are 950kb and max allowed is 85. Any idea how to shrink the photos?
Help appreciated.

The Flachen*SS along with Alenquers arrived today from Hans in very good condition. Hans called to make sure the shipment arrived and was in good condition. They are not eating the blood worms . Will wait for another day before feeding them again.

I am waiting for Black worms and will likely get it tomorrow. Will update later.

Will look through the forum if anyone else had difficulty with posting photos.

[yashaswibs]

http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/Flachen%20and%20alenquer%20from%20Hans/DSCN0516.jpg

http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/Flachen%20and%20alenquer%20from%20Hans/DSCN0515.jpg

http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/Flachen%20and%20alenquer%20from%20Hans/DSCN0511.jpg

http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/Flachen%20and%20alenquer%20from%20Hans/DSCN0510.jpg

Hopefully this will work/

[mareshow]

http://s1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/Flachen%20and%20alenquer%20from%20Hans/DSCN0507.jpg
http://s1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/Flachen%20and%20alenquer%20from%20Hans/DSCN0510.jpg
http://s1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/Flachen%20and%20alenquer%20from%20Hans/DSCN0511.jpg
http://s1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/Flachen%20and%20alenquer%20from%20Hans/DSCN0515.jpg
http://s1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/Flachen%20and%20alenquer%20from%20Hans/DSCN0516.jpg

love the tank btw looks amazing :)

[prolude006]

looks good, I would personally remove or cut back some of the plants on the right and towards the back to give more swimming room.

[yashaswibs]

Thanks Mareshow for putting up the photos and for your reply.

Prolude, I wanted to make changes to give them more swimming space- just was not sure what to do without worsening the look too much. I think yours is a good idea.

[prolude006]

Thanks, and some scaping opions or ideas for you, just my ideas or opions of course.
I like all the wood except the light colored one on the left, doesnt look like it belongs in there. I would take it out and try to attach some anubias or get some moss growing on some of the other branches. I like the way the wood looks on the right but I would swing the branch in the back to the left side of the tank after you take out the whiter looking twisty brach I mentioned before. The branch from the right could be set pointing towards the back on the left to give a little more depth. I would also trim down all your stem plants so they come in bushier. Leave the slow growing plants alone, keeps it looking wild.

[yashaswibs]

Thanks for the replies.
I did prune back the plants quite a lot, left a lot of swimming space but the discus are just not showing off the colours, instead they seem to be hiding behind the plants all the time. They come out when I am not around and I get a glimse when I come into the room but close examination is almost impossible.
I am not sure if they are eating at all. They seem not to like the Black worms which I bought here, they pick at SF bay blood worms. I prepared the discus food that Hans uses but I am not even sure if they are eating it. I drop a small piece in the morning and it is kinda gone by the evening when I get back home.

Not a very relaxing hobby is it?!!

Input much appreciated.

[darkknight87]

Alas, I wish I could give you some input, but Ive never had any luck with the planted tank, so I/m not sure if the live plants/co2 ect. have anything to do with it.
But I would be alittle concerned..Every discus Ive ever seen turn into pigs at the sight of black worms or blood worms, so I don't know why they wouldnt be eating..how long have you had them?

[yashaswibs]

After having them for about 12 days they are eating OK. The beef heart recipe from hans is working OK. They are also eating blood worms but they still hide a lot. I would love to see what I bought.

[prolude006]

Give them some time they will come out eventually. Try feeding them by hand, thats how I got mine to come to me. I can pick mine up in the tank and play games by pushing them around, they love it.

Post up an updated pic!! Try to get some of the fish so we can see if they are look sick or not. Plenty of people here that can help just by seeing.

[TankWatcher]

I have not found EI ferts to be a problem with discus. My adult discus are in a 138G CO2 injected tank. They get 50% wc weekly & I dose following the EI fert schedule. My very first discus I ever bought in 2006 is still in that tank - the rest were bought not long after that.

IMO, adults are better suited for a planted tank & juveniles are best grown up in BB, before adding to your planted tank ..... but some experienced keepers here have managed to grow juvies up quite nicely in a planted tank - I'm just not one of them :( check out the discus challenge section, Chad's are doing well in his planted tank. Reading his logs might help out, maybe.

I can't see photobucket pics at work, so I'll check out your tank at home, later on.

[yashaswibs]

Thank you for turning me to Chads work on keeping planted discus tank. Awesome effort. He does have a Ozone and I don't. Not sure how critical that is to the success of a tank. I read a lot on his posts. I have ended up with a lot of algae likely from lack of co2. I will drop my ph again and wait for it to go away. I am not sure I want to post the pics with a lot of flaming algae.

The fishes eat quite a bit but only when I am not around. I have put the beef+shrimp mix into ice cube holders and they eat 1 cube amount a day. A bit much I would think- either that or it is getting blown around and sucked down into my filtration system.

The mix stinks- need a strong stomach to do the Hans Mix. Works well though.

[vera]

Tank looks good yashaswibs!
looking forward for plants to fill up
GL:)

[yashaswibs]

Sorry for long hiatus but this tank took a little bit of work to get it right.
I removed all of drift wood, pruned the plants a lot, moved everything around and got a product that is more in line with what I was thinking.

I wonder if the adage of giving discus plenty of hiding place is misplaced. One of my fishes ran into a piece of wood and died. The others were all hiding. Now everyone is out in the open and they don't look so stressed. Unless of course I have completely missed "how to recognize stress in your fish" part.

[prolude006]

Put up a new picture!
I hadnt read the previous posts about having a continuous water input, so I wonder why you would add ferts at all? The water coming in should have plenty of what the plants need unless its ro or distilled water. At that rate I would not bother with co2 either. I would do what you did now by starting the scape over, its good for a fresh start with new fish.

[yashaswibs]

http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/DSCN0583.jpg
http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/DSCN0616.jpg

[yashaswibs]

http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/DSCN0619.jpg
http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/yashaswibs/DSCN0615.jpg

[yashaswibs]

Hopefully that will work.