Son of Kahuna (56K warining!!!)

[t_j]

I love your new tank it looks awesome. It definitely puts my tanks to shame!!! Sorry to hear about the algae problem in such a great tank. Good luck with every thing!!!

[scolley]

Thanks Angie! That's just the motivation I needed to take some pics when I get home! If, of course, the algae is under control. If not, I'll wait.

I could clean it up and take pics, but that's just not an honest presentation of a tank IMO. If I take pics, it will either because because I've got the GDA under control, or you'll get pics of algae.


t_j, thanks for the compliment. But I'm not discouraged about having GDA. The best people in the field have to fight GDA in immature tanks. If I was doing this right, I'd have aggressively fought it as the tank was establishing itself in the first few weeks. But I had to leave for severl weeks at a a critical time in the start-up of the tank. Not good planninng, but it could not be helped. I'm grateful it's not worse.

GDA's not so bad - goes with the territory. And frankly, if it was easy to have something lovely, I'd find a new hobby. Part of the joy for me is in successfully doing something that is somewhat hard. Otherwise, what's the big deal? So I'm kind of grateful that algae challenges us the way it does. But I DO appreciate your sentiment! Thank you.

Hopefully I can take some new pics over the next few days. Assuming I get a nice, low algae, surprise when I get home!

[scolley]

I've got a few new pics here. I've got tonnes of lotus now. I'm letting them grow to the surface to provide shade for the anubias and moss. They've been there all along, it just took a little while for them to take off.

The GDA algae is not TOO bad now. Seems to be under control. Though I'm not really cleaning it down to the edges of the sand (very often) because of the whole "sand scratching acrylic accidentally while cleaning" thing. My real problem is some BGA that is taking up residence on the sand where the sun hits it. I've upped my KNO3 just in case, and am starting a 5 day Maracyn treatment to kill it fast. I'm scared of that stuff.

But the fish are laying eggs quit a bit, so I assume they are happy. The annubias are rather sad, lots of GSA, and poor growth, so I'm trying to get to the bottom of that. I think it may be due to my ignoring iron. Not a spec has gone into this tank until a couple of days ago. I'm hoping that'll help.

Anyway, I hope you enjot the pics. And BTW - I DID NOT trim, or clean up for these shots. I DID clean a decent amount of GSA off the tank walls a 5 days ago, but that's about it for prep work. This is what the tank is starting to look like, day in and day out.

Thanks for looking! Oh, yeah, they are clickable if you want a look up close at a bigger pic.

















































I don't mind saying, the tank is settling in (I'll get past the small algae probs soon), and it's not taking too much work. And the fish seem happy. So it is REALLY turning into a joy to have. Tomorrow is always another day with planted tanks I know - ESPECIALLY planted discus tanks, but right now... I'm happy. :icon_wink

[wolfbane]

Scolley, that tank is so beautiful, it leaves me breathless! Something to aspire to, I seriously wish I'd gone with a long tank instead of a tall.

[phidelt85]

Steve, that is a beatiful tank, aquascape, and discus. You've got to be really proud. Job well done.

[scolley]

Thanks Debbie! Thanks phidelt85.

Truth be told, while these pictures are gainy (I had to boost the ASA to 200 to avoid using a flash), the colors are not just right.

I would swear the discus are bluer, and possibly redder than in real life. I DID run them through Photoshop Express before posting, but the color correction did nothing I could discern. No, they looked a bit bluer and redder right out of the camera. Not a lot. But some.

So I AM proud, and happy. But DO be aware that the colors are not quite as vibrant in real life. But IMO the tank actually looks better. You lose depth of field in these shots. And I've set the outflows to ripple the surface of the water, so in real life you get a lovely "swimming pool" effect. And the lotus leaves create kind of "Jacob's Ladders" like light effect with the HQI lights bursting between the leaves.

It's lovely visually, but I have to keep the rippling surface to a minimum. The "swimming pool" effect does seem to spook the discus if it is too strong. And we do want to keep the fishies happy.

[tacks]

Hi Steve tank looks great. Do you ever add any phosphate for the GSA? I am not a beliver in it but as you know Tom Barr is. What levels do you try to keep your Kno3 at? I had a heart attack in May and am not going to Ct.this year butI will get there again and then I can see your tank in person. Take care and keep up the good work. Ed

[scolley]

Hi Steve tank looks great. Do you ever add any phosphate for the GSA? I am not a beliver in it but as you know Tom Barr is. What levels do you try to keep your Kno3 at? I had a heart attack in May and am not going to Ct.this year butI will get there again and then I can see your tank in person. Take care and keep up the good work. Ed

Hey Ed! Please don't croak! OK? If you do, I can't show your the tank. So pls recover, and come up and see me! I'd love to show you.

I know all about Tom's dosing recommendations, and common thought about the relationship between GSA and phosphate levels. I keep my phosphates around 0.8. My tap water has a level very close to that, and my plant's uptake rate, balanced against my frequency of auto water changes, keeps it pretty steady at 0.8.

I can't tell you that my GDA would not go away with higher phospate levels. But I do KNOW that MANY algae problems DO begin to manifest themselves when phosphate levels rise.

Now this will get into a major debate... Tom, or proponents of his thinking, may argue that it's not the phosphate level that is causing that problem, but some other limiting nutrient. Fine. That may be true. But I do know this, hold back the phosphates, and all sorts of pain becomes less likely. Maybe if you are the guru that I am not, you can run with high phosphates with no problem. I can't - not in a lightly planted tank anyway.

I've run with 2-3 ppm phosphates in heavily planted tanks in the past - no problem. But this is a lightly planted tank, and I'm not going there. Nuff said.

As for KNO3... I keep Nitrates at around 8 ppm, and Potassium at about 20 ppm. And I'm pretty sure about Potassium as I'm one of those wacky people that actually sprung for a Potassium test.

Because I dose daily - with automatic dosers, and because I do steady automatic water changes every day, day in and day out, with NO large periodic water changes, these levels are what they are. They do not change day to day... they are steady. The only difference is if I chose to measure at the beginning of the day - after dosing and before uptake, or at the end of the day. All my measurements are after the beginning of the day after dosing. Obviously they fall off as uptake happens each day.

Come seem me buddy!

[pcsb23]

Very nice Steve. Not your average planted tank for sure. I really like the apparent "haphazzard" look. Only way I can think of describing it Stunning.

The fish look great too, they look well settled.

[scolley]

Thanks Paul. But it really is haphazard! Well somewhat anyway...

My top priority was to get the fish and plants out of the trash cans and into the tank as quickly as possible. I didn't really have the opportunity to aquascape - per se. That is still something that I intend to do AFTER the tank gets fully established. And since the vals are in pots, and the moss and anubias are on driftwood, and the lotus are only in sand, I've got the opportunity to massively rearrange without a huge substrate mess. But I want the tank to get it's legs first.

About the only three things that are "planned" is:

1) The tank having two primary open areas to draw fish - the far left, which is closest to tank viewer, and the middle. The middle open area is smaller and is a secondary gathering spot for fish. This works well.

2) Shade for the anubias and moss by the lotus. Thougt their position is honest-to-goodness haphazard. I just tossed the bulbs in, all toward the back, but they were literally just tossed... just to see what nature provided. Pruning and/or moving to occur later.

3) And putting most of the plants toward the back, so food in front could fall onto the sand.

Beyond that, it is pretty haphazard.


I'm not experienced enough with discus to know what "settled" looks like. But they have all definitely established territories, and established patterns...

The Leopards (larger) own the right side of the tank. The smaller Cobalts the left, though obviously the Leopards go where ever they want. Not the same for the Cobalts.

Among the Leopards, one spends most of his/her time hiding in the weeds. And when he comes out - except for feeding, he gets bullied back into his hiding spot.

Among the Cobalts, the largest two have staked out a prime spot for breeding, and hang there most of the time even when they aren't watching eggs.

It's all pretty predictable I suppose. Maybe they are settled.

One thing that has my attention though...

In my old 75g, where I had just the cobalts, about the time the tank sprung a leak, the fish were showing their stress bars less than they do now. I'm not sure what that's about.

They don't appear sick. And I see no bad bullying or anything. But some of the smaller Cobalts do show those bars now - more than they did in my 75g. So something's up. I just don't know what.

Maybe 4 new fish that are 2-3 times their size? I dunno.

[pcsb23]

Steve, you will know your fish better than I, and yes I can see the bars, but they are not in full display. Sometimes backgrounds have a marked effect on how the fish look and react. I believe discus use their bars in the wild as camouflage, most certainly to put off water based predators, much like zebras stripes make it difficult for big cats to judge distance. It is still a newish environment for the fish too. They look ok to me from the pics, fins in normal positions etc. Hopefully its just the environment and nothing more.

I've recently moved my wilds into a tank with a white background, they look like completely different fish now.

[scolley]

Thanks Paul. And I'd like to see how they react to a white background... lightening up I would assume.

One thing that surprised me, as a relative newbie in this hobby, is how rapidly discus change colors. The one that I mentioned that gets bullied into his little spot in the weeds is an example. If you were to look into the tank at most any time, you might assume that I've got a sick fish - hiding, and visibly very dark. But just think about picking up that yellow jar of Tetra Color Bits, and you'll see just how fast a discus can go from dark and hiding, to brilliantly colored and dancing in your face to get some food.

Same with the Cobalts. Darker blue most of the time as they repose in the shade of the lotus leaves. But when they move into the bright MH lights, even if for just a few seconds, they turn light blue.

I never realized just how much they use camouflage, nor now incredibly rapidly they can change color. Maybe indeed the bars are just a part of that same process. It will be interesting to see if it abates as they become even more settled.

[Blackwater Aquaria]

You did a very good job on your set up. Mike

[Darren's Discus]

That is one beautiful planted tank you have their Steve,well done alot of work has gone into it to make it look good.It really brings the colour out in your fish well done !



cheers

[fredyk]

the neons look so natural in this tank, the blues are complimentary, and it looks like a school of minnows with the blue discus. very beautiful