Just an update on my biotope

[zchauvin]

Moved around driftwood and I'm still waiting for more. Money takes forever to get to paypal... blah. Anyways my stocklist is neon tetra-7, lemon tetra-6, cories-8, bnp-1, 6 santarem discus and 1 female gbr( picking up male tomorrow)
Tank is 75g with pfs and manzanita. Comments?


66951

[zchauvin]

And sorry for the size. Will get a bigger picture tomorrow.

[Second Hand Pat]

Zach, hard to tell from the picture size but looks promising. You are putting your GBR male in QT first...right? :)

Are your discus staying out of the light. I see them in the upper corner. You might consider dimming the lights and allowing the discus to adjust slowly. Window screen can be placed between the light and the tank for a dimming effect.

[zchauvin]

Zach, hard to tell from the picture size but looks promising. You are putting your GBR male in QT first...right? :)

Are your discus staying out of the light. I see them in the upper corner. You might consider dimming the lights and allowing the discus to adjust slowly. Window screen can be placed between the light and the tank for a dimming effect.

Of course qt first :-) and no pat, for the lights its only 16w white light total. They like it very much just saw me and ran to the spot I feed them at :) I must say though with the dw the way it is now they love it. They normally would only hide behind it but now they swim through it. I've got 7 more pieces from pc1 coming prob next week. Processing through Paypal is taking a while. I will fish dw and add some floating plants and update. I'm also going to put a larger pic tomorrow. I used phone for this one and it came out quite small.

[Second Hand Pat]

With the additional wood your bio-type will be smashing.

[zchauvin]

Ah I sure hope so :) :)

[Darrell Ward]

I hate those lights, but the tank looks fine. It'll look even better when you get your wood. :D

[zchauvin]

Lol yeah they all I have :/

[Darrell Ward]

Lol yeah they all I have :/

Been there myself. LOL!

[zchauvin]

Yep, idk what to get actually. I don't want it to bright but want floating plants and want natural look...

[zchauvin]

Alright guys I got my wood from pc1 and as usual it is amazing. Just finished putting in tank, I've added Duckweed,frogbit, and dwarf water lettuce and the addition of lights that I finally like. I will upload some pics in just a few of the tank, oh I also threw in a 3d background. Hope you guys like it as I am very pleased.

[zchauvin]

http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0514.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0513.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0512.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0511.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0508.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0506.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0505.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0504.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0503.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0502.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0501.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0500.jpg
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0515.jpg

Give me you guys opinions, I'm very pleased with the turnout to say the least and hopefully in the near future these guys will be replaced by heckels or greens.

And a full tank shot for those who dont like browsing -
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0499.jpg

[Darrell Ward]

Big improvement. Looks like a different tank!;)

[zchauvin]

Thanks darrell I have been waiting it to be "up to par" :) I was going to hang lights but it would show wood I used to hold up dw :/ I hope the lights so close to water don't kill floating plants. That is my only worry

[Darrell Ward]

It shouldn't. The thing is with floating plants, is they like some fresh air. Seal them up with tight fitting tops, and humidity does them in. Just have an open air space somewhere so the humidity can escape, like removing those plastic filler strips at the back of the glass top for example, and it'll be fine. Lowering the water level a bit so the leaves are not touching the glass helps too. Another thing I've noticed with my own floating plants, is a discus tank is so clean that new plant leaves grow smaller and smaller over time, probably due to not enough nutrients. I'm thinking of experimenting with Seachem Flourish to see if that helps.

[zchauvin]

I'm adding flourish and have already removed glass so they get 24/7 fresh air :) I have 108 total watts with a 6700 life glow and a 18000k bulb that I forget name of!! Lol

[Darrell Ward]

LOL! I always worry that fish are going to spook at some point and jump out with open tops. I was trying to clean the inside of the glass the other day during a water change, when one of my Heckels that's between 5"and 6" was in the corner and refused to leave. When he saw the cleaning pad coming at him, he jumped straight up several times before leaving the corner. If not for the half empty tank, he would have done a face plant on the floor for sure. You know, they sell those screen making kits at Lowe's for making custom window screens. I'll bet a person could make some great screen tops for a tank with those. Benefits of an open tank without a lot of the risk. You can get the frame pieces, mitered corner pieces, the whole thing.

[zchauvin]

Mmm I will look into it thanks. I just need some heckels or greens that don't cost a arm and a leg lol

[Second Hand Pat]

Wow Zach, very nice. Like Darrell said, a totally new tank :) What did you end up with for lights?

[Darrell Ward]

You'll probably be able to find some juvies in the fall. "Snookin" John Kreatsoulas over in Florida has some really nice adult Heckels now for $100 each. They looked so tempting, I thought about getting a few myself. It's money better used on other things around here though.

[zchauvin]

Thanks pat I ended up with a hagen glo dual 48" t5 Ho strip with a 18000k powerglo bulb and 6700k life glo. I got the bulbs, fixture, and timer all for only 170$ so I couldn't pass it up. All brand new andd at lfs. Darrell I am headed to Florida at the end of the week and staying till the 11th. Is johns place anywheres near Destin or more central Florida? Ehh, Nd about that... I planned on doing 90% wc the day I leave and only feeding twice while I'm gone with eheim auto feeder using tetra color bits. Will this suffice or should I not feed at all?

[Second Hand Pat]

Zach, John is in Ft. Myers FL 33905 United States. Suggest calling/emailing him prior to showing up.

[zchauvin]

Ehh ok how far exactly is that from Destin?? Lol thanks Pat but if its too far I won't be able to go.

[PC1]

Looking so killer!
This whole tank shot is very nice!
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/zchauvin72992/SAM_0499.jpg

[zchauvin]

Thanks pc I really like the way the wood came out. It took me an hour to get it all placed like I wanted, I'm a very specific person when it comes to how I want something to look.

[PC1]

You should go stick this up in my show your pics thread :)
Again great job :)

[zchauvin]

I forget what the thread is under pc1?

[PC1]

Here you go my friend :)
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?88811-Please-share-your-tank-pictures-with-me-)

[zchauvin]

My whole tank is Orange from all the tannins lol, I like the river look but its def to much right now. Also my tank has finally cycled!!! Wc only thirty gallons twice a week now and everything is 0 other than nitrate topping at 5ppm.

[Darrell Ward]

Congats on the tank cycle! Now it'll take you another month to get rid of all the tannins! LOL!

[zchauvin]

Haha yeah, my hard work is paying off. Especially with close to 0 prior fish experience. I'm doing a 60g wc today and Friday before I go to Florida. How should I handle being away for a week?? Don't feed? Feed? Some help would be appreciated :) I just need to get wilds that can deal with higher ph and some plecos

[zchauvin]

Thinking about ditching the tetras and when I put the 6 wilds maybe throwing a pair of festivums in there, don't want overkill though.

[tacks]

Hi I love the look of your tank. My only fear is what happens if you get algae on the wood are you able to remove the wood and then replace it? I see a lot of people going in this direction and that is always been my fear. thanks Ed

[zchauvin]

Algae hasn't been a problem for me so far, a little bit of food bits here and there but nothing that can't be cleaned. I don't take mine out unless I'm re arranging it :)

[Darrell Ward]

Haha yeah, my hard work is paying off. Especially with close to 0 prior fish experience. I'm doing a 60g wc today and Friday before I go to Florida. How should I handle being away for a week?? Don't feed? Feed? Some help would be appreciated :) I just need to get wilds that can deal with higher ph and some plecos

Well, if you don't have anyone to help you out, yeah, just leave em. If they're not eating, then they are not pooping, so it'll help some with water quality until you get back. As long as there are no power outages, you should be OK.

[zchauvin]

Well, if you don't have anyone to help you out, yeah, just leave em. If they're not eating, then they are not pooping, so it'll help some with water quality until you get back. As long as there are no power outages, you should be OK.

My dad said he can come feed them but he's not fooling with the water changes. Tell him to just not feed them?

[Darrell Ward]

A light feeding every other day should be OK. Just no heavy daily feedings.

[zchauvin]

One cube brine shrimp eod?

[Darrell Ward]

Yeah, whatever they have been eating.

[zchauvin]

Alright good deal thanks

[laborelch]

Love the setup! very nice tank!

What kind of background is that?

[zchauvin]

Love the setup! very nice tank!

What kind of background is that?
www.universalrocks.com

It's a 3d background and is only 1/2 inch thick, fits snug against back glass.