For those who have raised discus in planted tanks......

[Lenin]

yes.. that helps if you have larger older fish.. grow outs.. not so much

Well skip my guys are looking good, and I see spots everywhere now, even the little flachens are almost two inches and very blue

[jimg]

Has anyone considered a RFUG? I've read a lot about them and there are a lot of people discouraging it, but I think I still want to give it a try in my planted tank (definitely with adult discus).

I figured I would run two reverse power heads (maybe 170-200gph) to two UGF plates. I've seen a lot of people have success even with plants in other forums. This will also lift the debris.

The main reason the planted tank folks hate this is because it deprives the plants of mulm and you have to have a very good mechanical filtration system. I'll be running it with two AC110s for mechanical filtration. Also, it's supposedly bad because the roots will get disrupted but several people that did it, said it wasn't a problem because the flow rate was so low.

Why it works for planted tanks -> easy to dose ferts to roots, CO2 diffuse from bottom directly to the roots.

I think the reason everyone else hates it is because UGF has gotten such a bad rap over the last few years. They're hard to remove. If you have fish that dig, it can create uneven water flow. Debris can get caught under rocks and decorations.

I'm spending way too much money right now on fish, but it's something I'm considering. Like the others, I prefer plantd tanks for display and I think they look nice. Although having done it, it is a pain to keep clean.

The other option might be to increase water flow at the bottom of the tank to lift mulm up to the filters.

I had an ugf in a planted tank. the problem was not the gasses being released there is less chance of that due to circulation when working. You actually have less chance at anaerobic pockets. the problem was for plants you need deeper and finer gravel which slows the filter and the roots grow covering the holes so it almost does nothing. Another problem was anytime you touch the gravel the tank was clouded in minutes. Not to mention the current that you get with 4 good power heads.
I like ugf in un-planted tanks with coarse gravel they work great.

[Skip]

Well skip my guys are looking good, and I see spots everywhere now, even the little flachens are almost two inches and very blue

yea.. but do you see BLUE DIAMOND!?? do you want too

[Lenin]

LOL, It's OK those flachen are making up for it, and the PE always around like a peacock

[greengreen84]

Has anyone tried this with a non Co2 planted method (low tech planted tank)?

[gerrard00]

Has anyone tried this with a non Co2 planted method (low tech planted tank)?

My tank is non-CO2. Handling the needs of the juvie discus and plants was hard enough, I can't imagine adding CO2 to the mix.

[Lenin]

I don't use CO2 and in my opinion that's how you should go with discus