Originally Posted by
Paul Sabucchi
Hi, I have 5 planted tanks but my discus one is still BB, will add some wood with epiphytic plants once they are 2 years old.
In my experience with low-tech planted tanks, and a discus planted tank will almost invariably need to be low tech (no injected CO2, no stadium floodlights, no daily ferts), there is no need for fluorite or fertile soil. Plain sand will do just fine as most plants used in discus tanks get their nutrients from the water column, maybe with the exeption of Amazon swords (Echinidorus) that are root feeders - but even for these a tab in the sand by the roots will suffice. If you have layers of different substrate these will eventually mix, either while syphoning or fish rooting about or you have to remove a plant and then the roots will pull everything up.