Convince me barebottom can look great

[Jlinzmaier]

Hello everyone.

I know a barebottom tank would be the easiest way to manage waste in a discus tank. Im just struggling with the aesthetics.

The most beautiful discus tank I can envision (solely my opinion of what I think is beautiful) is a large discus tank with vibrant green plants, some driftwood, and some black rock structures on a pristine fine white sand bed. Maybe that vision is absolutely not conducive to the reality of discus keeping, but maybe I can pull it off. What I don't want is for my fish to struggle because I'm possibly trying to push the limits too far.

I would consider a barebottom tank if someone could show me how to make it beautiful opposed to a plain glass box with beautiful fish and perfect water parameters.

I have a tank that's 8ftx3ftx2ft with overflow to a sump. Right now I just have a few community fish while I experiment a bit and slowly work towards conditions ideal for discus. Hoping to have the tank ready for discus next spring so I've got lots of time to work out the details.

Any input is greatly appreciated!!

Jeremy

[Alexxxsv]

I tried the bare bottom and eventually switched over to sand lol but I did enjoy bare bottom and something that really helped me was having clay pots with natural plants and glueing anubias and Java fern to my driftwood center pieces.

[Sandip]

You can have barebotton with driftwood. You can even go further with plants tied to the driftwood and still keep the tank bare bottom.
Search the old threads in our forum there are many such examples:
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...discus-tank%29
Or like this: (not my tanks or pic)
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[brewmaster15]

Hi Jeremy,
What you want to see in the tank and whats best for the care of the discus aren't necessarily the same thing. Unfortunately discus have been portrayed in densely planted tanks alot and thats just not their natural habitat.

Its possible to find happy mediums though. .. Alot of discus keepers use planters in the tank...
Check out .. https://youtu.be/adt7-1quH88
Roland has a nice set of vids on his tank.

Tom has practical experiences here keeping his discus in planted tanks..

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ed-discus-tank. I would suggest reading through his threads.

Personally,
I think a skilled hobbyist can keep adult discus fine in well thought out planted tank provided they take the time to maintain it and their water is good.. I think a thin layer of sand and some driftwood with tied on plants .. maybe a planter or two.and some pothos roots in the water compliments Discus very well.

I prefer my discus in Bare glass boxes though as it keeps me honest in their care.. I cant lie about my maintenance... substrate and plants hide alot...makes it easy to forget to clean it.

One note. .. if buying small discus. Start bare tank, and once adults,add substrate and plants. Juvenile discus are less forgiving and prone to stunting.

Al

[Willie]

A beautiful discus tank needs to have beautiful discus. The way to do that is to start with a bare bottom tank.

[Iminit]

So much out there on how to keep discus! First thing is water changes. You must change water! So much bs about not needing water changes it hard to follow Facebook. Planted tanks just are more demanding! Not just water changing your also gravel vacuuming at every water change. Must keep the gravel clean! Plants contrary to what’s said grow great in clean gravel! Read my thread in the planted section. Thing is even cleaned things can happen. Especially with new fish. A planted tank is almost impossible to medicate. So it’s a must to qt any new fish you plan on adding. This goes for any tank! What I do now with discus is I put my plants in pots.
Next yes discus don’t come from densely planted areas! They come from bare vats in Asia . These fish are so far removed from their natural habitats that they’d die within minutes of landing in the amazon. So lots can be done but you’ve got to be willing to do the extra work!F82CFCBB-F327-4661-B904-46147E124CD0.jpg my 180 next my 125B0CF7FF1-949B-4E52-853A-8028C2C83DB9.jpg

[Charlyc11]

Nobody has to convince you that will be up to you. Easy maintenance plus clean look. This is a new tank so I have two more Discus in QT that are going after they finish with their spawn.

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[Iminit]

Looks great!! But what size are those cubes! They also look great down there!

[Charlyc11]

Looks great!! But what size are those cubes! They also look great down there!

Those are "6" gallon cubes got them at Petco, the two pairs are ready to depart to MA tomorrow.

[farebox]

I really love Iminit's tanks and just think a bare bottom can be better once you get used to the look. Here's the latest video of my tank: https://youtu.be/3RiE5f0fqUw
Then again it's all up to you and what you want in the end, good luck with your choice.

[Jlinzmaier]

Thank you all! I appreciate the input. I'm going to move forward experimenting with all kinds of options and see if I can find a scenario that is great for discus health and see what I can come up with. It's really not hard to remove a sand bed and experiment with different plants that don't require a dense substrate or simply pot the plants. You've all given me lots of ideas and I'm grateful.

[Jlinzmaier]

Any efficient detrivores and sand stirring critters good with discus??

Any sand bed roombas been developed yet?? Lol!

Jeremy

[Spunky424]

Nobody has to convince you that will be up to you. Easy maintenance plus clean look. This is a new tank so I have two more Discus in QT that are going after they finish with their spawn.

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may i ask how big that tank is and how big is the sump? i'm in the middle of trying to figure out what size sump is good for my 90 gallon ADA tank. Thanks! and it all looks great.

[Charlyc11]

This a wet/dry for a 125 gallon tank I think wd-125 you can get them cheap used mine was $80 with a overflow box. The tank is Clear for life 125S. Tom (Iminit) has more knowledge on the wet dy and he got me into them. The one I have would be great for a 90 also no need to spend a small fortune on a sump.

[Adamski77]

I struggled with the same question... not a great fan of bare bottom (personal preference) so when preparing for set-up I was thinking I want kind of what you described. I don't know if I did right or wrong... for now tank has been running for 3 months... getting more and more stable as I learn and tweak some set up elements (temperature, lights, feeding, water change schedule, etc.)... but my discus seem to be very happy for now.
I don't think I'm necessarily super busy with maintenance but if you stay on the top of your schedule it is possible.
This was my choice and obviously arguable with experts (I'm by no means one)... but wanted to chime in and say it's possible and not really over-kill.

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