Growing out in a planted tank - my 120g project

[Filip]

Thanks for the advices Toni.
Again, i really like your mixed selection of strains and colours and the discus lookin great.
I liked your first setup better and from photos here it also appears much wider.
Maybe its that huge Echinodorus that narrows it a bit.
Lookin forward to track your project/progres.

[strawberryblonde]

Hi Filip,

I liked the first setup better too as far as looks go, but the second one makes it a whole lot easier to keep the tank pristine and healthy for my growing babies.

That huge Sword plant was sent to me for free, so I'm tolerating it in the tank for now. Wish I could get my bigger driftwood back in there, but can't so it's sword plants all the way. LOL

[Jack L]

they are crazy bursting with color! nice pics

glad to see i'm not the only crazy one that grew in planted tank.

i have a question though, once the tank is established, and as long as you do NOT add new fish...how would have a virus problem?

[Jack L]

Now that I've documented the 2 groups with pics, here's the basic feeding and water change schedule I've been using on this tank.

Feedings: 1 large flake feeding in the morning, 4 FDBW feedings (3 cubes each time) during the day, 2 frozen beefheart cubes and 1 variety Prime Reef cube at dinner.

Water Changes: 1 90% water change 1 hour after the beefheart feeding. Each night I vacuum the sand and shake the plants to loosen any food stuck in the them. Once a week on Sunday I do a deep clean, including a rinse of filter media in one of my filters.

I've had one fish who failed to thrive, the Raffie, so she was culled. I also had one incident where one of the Eruption Leopards got badly beaten up by the Red Cover and Golden Sunshine(the 8" male) because he got too curious while they were laying eggs. He had to be removed from the tank to heal up for a few days.

Other than that there haven't been any illnesses or problems with the grow out. They're all voracious eaters, though some are picky about what they like. The Eruption Leopards love flakes, hate beefheart. The Red Snakeskins hate flakes, tolerate worms and LOVE beefheart. LOL

how do you vacuum you sand?

[strawberryblonde]

they are crazy bursting with color! nice pics

glad to see i'm not the only crazy one that grew in planted tank.

i have a question though, once the tank is established, and as long as you do NOT add new fish...how would have a virus problem?

My tank is never truly static, and my hands are never totally free of pathogens when I put them in the tank, so if I can add the rooibos tea extract and maintain a nice level of algicide, anti-fungal and anti-viral compounds in it, I'm happy.

You asked about vacuuming the sand, right? It's pretty easy. I use a python siphon, so I just sweep it gently over the top of the sand and it picks up all the detritus. Since my plants aren't totally dependent on mulm in the sand for nutrients, it works out well for me.

I've been watching your journal for pics of the growth of your discus. You have a gorgeous tank! How's the lighting working out for you? Mine is still doing well and even the vals seem to like it.

[Jack L]

My tank is never truly static, and my hands are never totally free of pathogens when I put them in the tank, so if I can add the rooibos tea extract and maintain a nice level of algicide, anti-fungal and anti-viral compounds in it, I'm happy.

You asked about vacuuming the sand, right? It's pretty easy. I use a python siphon, so I just sweep it gently over the top of the sand and it picks up all the detritus. Since my plants aren't totally dependent on mulm in the sand for nutrients, it works out well for me.

I've been watching your journal for pics of the growth of your discus. You have a gorgeous tank! How's the lighting working out for you? Mine is still doing well and even the vals seem to like it.

germs: i'm careful when i got between q tank and display tank. i didn't used to be, but after so much ich i've gotten a LOT more conscientious. i didn't think about bringing germs in from non aquarium sources though.


thanks for complement on tank!

sand, okay...well i can't use the phyton end because i can't maneuver it around the the wood/rock/plant.
i'm testing out some aqua media as a sand replacement. the plants should be doing better then they are, i think the sand is the reason.
the aquatic media claims it doesn't affect water, however not the case, its lowers the pH and adds a smidge of ammonia, but i think the plants will benefit from that

light is working fine. i've been contemplating buying another one to get more light in front and back of tank, but i don't want an algea problem.

[pastry]

how do you vacuum you sand?

Her secret is that while vacuuming her boobs are in the tank. Pat does the same. Really sucks for us guys unless we have man-boobs. She'll laugh but that's the secret. Makes you wonder why they get so big... And it's not the potatoes.... I tried

[strawberryblonde]

germs: i'm careful when i got between q tank and display tank. i didn't used to be, but after so much ich i've gotten a LOT more conscientious. i didn't think about bringing germs in from non aquarium sources though.


thanks for complement on tank!

sand, okay...well i can't use the phyton end because i can't maneuver it around the the wood/rock/plant.
i'm testing out some aqua media as a sand replacement. the plants should be doing better then they are, i think the sand is the reason.
the aquatic media claims it doesn't affect water, however not the case, its lowers the pH and adds a smidge of ammonia, but i think the plants will benefit from that

light is working fine. i've been contemplating buying another one to get more light in front and back of tank, but i don't want an algea problem.

Yep, I'm as careful as I can be about not cross contaminating when I have fish in QT, so I hear you on that one.

For getting around the rocks, driftwood and plants, I just arranged them carefully and left just enough space between them so that I can maneuver the python. It's really tight at the left end now that I have that huge sword in there. The heater is hiding behind it and tends to trap bits of crud. I'm thinking about moving the heater to the other side just to make it easier on myself. I guess that's the thing when you have plants, driftwood, rocks AND discus. You have to sacrifice a bit of the natural beauty in order to make it simpler to clean.

[Jack L]

Yep, I'm as careful as I can be about not cross contaminating when I have fish in QT, so I hear you on that one.

For getting around the rocks, driftwood and plants, I just arranged them carefully and left just enough space between them so that I can maneuver the python. It's really tight at the left end now that I have that huge sword in there. The heater is hiding behind it and tends to trap bits of crud. I'm thinking about moving the heater to the other side just to make it easier on myself. I guess that's the thing when you have plants, driftwood, rocks AND discus. You have to sacrifice a bit of the natural beauty in order to make it simpler to clean.

yeah well i removed about 5 pieces of wood and 5 stones a while back for same reason. i just use the hose, zip tied to a dowel rod, the hose works, but if i get it to the sand, it pulls the sand straight out, no chance to churn in the python tube

[strawberryblonde]

Ok, I had originally planned to update the progress of my growing little buggers about just once a month, but today when I went to feed them I realized that the red snakeskins have gotten huge and I just had to snap some quick pics of them swimming around with my 8" golden sunshine.

So these red guys were 3" in July. And the Lollipop in the pics was about 2.75" if I crossed my eyes and pulled on his tail a bit. (He was the smallest of the entire group) Ok ok, he was closer to 2.5" than 2.75".

Now the older group of grow outs is officially 6" and 2 are 6.5". They still have another year of growing to do, so they hopefully will make it to at least 7". Only one of the older group wanted to pose for pics today. The female RC, one of the leopards and the yellow checkerboard were all foraging in the sword plant for leftover blackworms.

Excuse the mess in the tank. I pulled EVERYTHING yesterday in order to do my weekly huge scrub down and I was too tired to be bothered with arranging things nicely when I plopped the plants and driftwood back in. Oh and I usually hide the airline tubing, or at least straighten it out and move it to the corners so that it doesn't show. Uh huh, might get the tank looking pretty again before scrub down day next Sunday. LOL

The discus. I'm thinking the red snakeskins must be pushing 7", which means that they grew an inch in under a month! You can measure them by comparing to the 6" leopard in the pics. And the Lollipop is definitely well over 6" now.

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I'm pretty excited to see the sudden growth spurt! These guys are still SO young and have a lot more growing to do.

[pastry]

Toni, where's the RC? All are looking great by the way!

[strawberryblonde]

LOL, she's IN the sword plant Elliot! She and one of the leopards, plus the yellow checkerboard all head in there to find leftover blackworms after every feeding. And that thing is so big and dense that I have a hard time spotting them at all!

[Jack L]

Ok, I had originally planned to update the progress of my growing little buggers about just once a month, but today when I went to feed them I realized that the red snakeskins have gotten huge and I just had to snap some quick pics of them swimming around with my 8" golden sunshine.

So these red guys were 3" in July. And the Lollipop in the pics was about 2.75" if I crossed my eyes and pulled on his tail a bit. (He was the smallest of the entire group) Ok ok, he was closer to 2.5" than 2.75".

Now the older group of grow outs is officially 6" and 2 are 6.5". They still have another year of growing to do, so they hopefully will make it to at least 7". Only one of the older group wanted to pose for pics today. The female RC, one of the leopards and the yellow checkerboard were all foraging in the sword plant for leftover blackworms.

Excuse the mess in the tank. I pulled EVERYTHING yesterday in order to do my weekly huge scrub down and I was too tired to be bothered with arranging things nicely when I plopped the plants and driftwood back in. Oh and I usually hide the airline tubing, or at least straighten it out and move it to the corners so that it doesn't show. Uh huh, might get the tank looking pretty again before scrub down day next Sunday. LOL

The discus. I'm thinking the red snakeskins must be pushing 7", which means that they grew an inch in under a month! You can measure them by comparing to the 6" leopard in the pics. And the Lollipop is definitely well over 6" now.

2015-10-26-03.jpg

2015-10-26-04.jpg

2015-10-26-05.jpg

2015-10-26-06.jpg

2015-10-26-07.jpg

I'm pretty excited to see the sudden growth spurt! These guys are still SO young and have a lot more growing to do.

the white ones face looks different than other Ds....is that something with that strain?

[strawberryblonde]

I'm not sure what you mean by different. Maybe because it's much fatter? He's an older discus - nearly 6 years old now. The others are all less than a year old and basically still sub-adults. They'll get fat heads like him in another year or so. (he's so fat that his eyes actually stick out a bit on the sides of his head...hehehe)

If you look at the bottom pic you can see just how fat his entire body is. He's a pretty normal mature male I think. At least, all of my other males that age look like that.

[Jack L]

I'm not sure what you mean by different. Maybe because it's much fatter? He's an older discus - nearly 6 years old now. The others are all less than a year old and basically still sub-adults. They'll get fat heads like him in another year or so. (he's so fat that his eyes actually stick out a bit on the sides of his head...hehehe)

If you look at the bottom pic you can see just how fat his entire body is. He's a pretty normal mature male I think. At least, all of my other males that age look like that.

yeah, the orange bulge....so that comes w/ age...thanks.