55 Gallon

[aXio]

First of all hello, I have lurked this site for quite some time but only recently signed up. I'm take my first short at discus and I've decided to go all out and go planted. I've kept planted tanks for about 5 years now, so we will see how this goes...

This is my 55 Gallon planted grow out tank. Later on the discus will be moved into a much larger tank, which is still in the process of being setup. The tank has been running for close to a year now. It's very well established and had many more plants before I converted it into a discus tank. As you will see it's very lightly planted now and trimmed up. Two months before I got the discus I took out the extra plants and started doing regular water changes to get the plants used to the water changes.

Equipment:

- Fluval 304 Canister
- Hydor 3 Sponge
- Coralife Lighting Fixture w/ two x 65w 6,700k
- Powerhead
- Ehiem Jager 250watt Heater

Plants:

- Amazon Swords
- Red Rubin Sword
- Melon Sword
- Ozelot Sword
- Anbuias
- Tiger Lotus (Might take this one out, going to see how it does.)

Stock:

- 3 Fire Red Discus
- 3 Red Scribble Discus
- 1 Albino Bristlenose

All the swords have roots tabs. The Anubias are all one one piece of driftwood which I can move easily to gravel vac. The placing of all the plants is to make water changes and gravel vacuuming easier. Like I mentioned above I might take the tiger lotus out depending on how it does. It's been in there for 2 week and is actually doing quite well. The discus have been in the tank for almost a week now. So far they seem to love it. Here are the pics, sorry I don't really have any of the red scribbles they are too hard to take a good picture of.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/lapinski/Aquarium%20Pictures/2010-09-24195635.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/lapinski/Aquarium%20Pictures/2010-09-24200259.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/lapinski/Aquarium%20Pictures/2010-09-242014032.jpg



I have some questions...

- I have a spare 304 filter. Should I run two filters?
- Recommendations on water change schedule?
- Any other suggestions? Please critique!

[aXio]

I wanted to edit the post above but I don't think it's letting me anymore... here are a couple of more pictures. The peppering is not from my tank as I just got the Discus, but I hope the dark substrate doesn't make it much worse.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/lapinski/Aquarium%20Pictures/2010-09-24200706.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/lapinski/Aquarium%20Pictures/2010-09-24200916.jpg

[zamboniMan]

The dark substrate will certainly not help and will most likely make it worse.

[aXio]

The dark substrate will certainly not help and will most likely make it worse.

Yeah I thought maybe with the yellow background and the bright plants it would be one, but I might switch to sand.

[aXio]

Would you guys recommend using 2 filters? I have a 2nd 304 I can run

[lpiasente]

I have white sand a blue background and some green swords as you do and it brings out the colour in those melons beautifully, the oranges just pop and it may help to reduce the peppering

[wannafish]

Hello,

Yes I would use the extra 304. It won't hurt!
I have two 404's in my 60 gal. I found that the
water was filtering more clear and thus helping
the gh and kh factors. I hope that's right you
guys. Water changes help of course also.
The extra circulation helps with plants also.
I had eco-complete substrate with my discus
and then tried sand. I liked the contrast of the
white sand with the fish. Pool sand it's cheap.
Swords and anubias will do well. If your black
sand is just gravel, then change. But if you spent
some money on it then keep it. A black background
will help.

[aXio]

Hello,

Yes I would use the extra 304. It won't hurt!
I have two 404's in my 60 gal. I found that the
water was filtering more clear and thus helping
the gh and kh factors. I hope that's right you
guys. Water changes help of course also.
The extra circulation helps with plants also.
I had eco-complete substrate with my discus
and then tried sand. I liked the contrast of the
white sand with the fish. Pool sand it's cheap.
Swords and anubias will do well. If your black
sand is just gravel, then change. But if you spent
some money on it then keep it. A black background
will help.

Thanks for the info. I'll get the 304 running this week once the new impeller for it comes in. The substrate is Fluorite so it wasn't too cheap, I'm using it to help with the plants. I'm not sure if I would want a black background as it would probably cause even more peppering on my Fire Reds.


I have white sand a blue background and some green swords as you do and it brings out the colour in those melons beautifully, the oranges just pop and it may help to reduce the peppering

I have been thinking about possibly thinning out some of the Fourite and covering it will pool sand. Or do you guys think this would be get too messy/mixed in the future?

[kingfisherfleshy]

Lots of people have a nutrient enriched substrate beneath a decorative one. You just need to be careful. Obviously over time it will mix together some, but...just dont go messing around in your substrate too much, and you should be okay.

[aXio]

Update!

I've had the discus for a about a month and a half now. So far everything is going great! I've taken out the power head and sponge filter. Instead added more filtration with a Fluval 205. The extra filter is making a huge difference, esp since I'm only doing 3 water changes a week. Also my Discus have finally started eating beef heart. They were addicted to Larry's worms...:p

Equipment:

- Fluval 304 Canister
- Fluval 205 Canister
- Coralife Lighting Fixture w/ 2 x 65w Bulbs @ 6,700k each
- Ehiem Jager 250watt Heater
- Seachem Liquid Fertilizers

Flora:

- Amazon Swords
- Red Rubin Sword
- Melon Sword
- Ozelot Sword
- Anbuias Nana

Fauna:

- 3 Fire Red Stendker Discus
- 3 Red Scribble Stendker Discus
- 1 Albino Bristlenose
- MTS/Assassin Snails

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/lapinski/Aquarium%20Pictures/2010-10-18205132.jpg

[BMueller777]

lookin good man.. what about a school of some kind of tetras? maybe like 15-20... Rummys would look sick imo

[scottishbloke]

Yes, I have to say I do like this tank. It has a simplicity of design that is pleasing to the eye- many more plants would clutter it up and ruin the effect. The orange fire reds also contrast nicely with the green plants, as would other orange/red strains such as red golden diamonds, super flamingos etc. I agree with the others also, you could use a layer of white sand on top to help minimize peppering on the fish, and I would avoid a black background IMHO.

Overall, love it- nicely done! I await pix of your next creation.

Scottishbloke

[cyberhog05]

The best schooling tetra I have found is bloodfins...BAR NONE! I have had schools of all kinds of tetras. The rummynose just didnt do it at all. I have had from 5-75 of them all together(rummynose). The bloodfins are just sooooo active I think they are one of the best. I have a 180 gal and they would just spread out all over the tank. Now the bloodfins cruise around in a nice tight pack and it looks amazing.