My Planted Tank Experience

[dkeef]

I'm also setting up a planted tank. Its in my office and a BB is not really appealing in my eyes for a formal living area. After reading all these pages of information my conclusion is that a planted tank is fine for adults but don't by juv's and expect them to grow in a planted tank? Did I interrupt that correctly? Jerry.

U r correct sir. Bb is best for healthy growing discus. But like u, i absolutley hate it.
Its like keeping 5 carat fine diamond in a trashcan.
Diamonds deserve a proper jewelry case.

[teamhuckem]

Wanted to post some pics of the fish I'm growing out. These will go into my 150 planted once they are grown. About 4.5 inches now. Thanks Discus Hans for the beautiful fish!

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[Redmelons]

I am very new to discus i have been keeping fish for 30 years though. I have kept some very large fish and heavily stocked tanks . I have recently been bitten by the bug i have 6 discus juveniles about 3-4" i have them in a community tank with plants the tank is what i would call low level of stock . i have an fx6 with every tray full of bio media . I am changing 30% of the water twice a week. the tank is 550 liters about 150 gallons . the planting is about 1/2- 1/3the amount that is normally in a professional looking planted tank. I feed the discus 3-5 times a day they are eating and growing like pigs .

so in summary
lightly planted .
lightly stocked some tetras and 6 baby angels, 10 neon tetras and a clown pleco and 10 corydoras.
large bio capacity filter
6 discus
150 gallons
2x 30% water change a week .
all plants are low light some anubis swords and some water lettuce.
I use rainwater which seems to slow the plant growth except the water lettuce which thrives, no fertiliser or co2 .
Am i heading towards stunted fish or worse a slow death of all of my fish ? should i start sucking out my sub-straight and removing plants and tank mates?

[dirtyplants]

Some people like placing their discus on display, the only focal attraction, some like to try to simulate biotypes, and still some like complicated eco systems with working communities and environments and still a few are talented artistically and can create a living eco system of art that thrives. The question to you is where do you fit into as far as preferences?
Another words, which category do you prefer: display, bio type, complicated eco scape, or a living eco scape of art that thrives. Once you have decided on which type of tank you enjoy most and want to duplicate, then you can ask the appropriate questions of how best to prevent stunting in your tank's environment. You may find that this forum is very divided on the aspects of growing discus and planted environments verses bb tanks, so define your goal, and ask your questions carefully, and avoid positions of it can or can not be done.

[wolfel]

This is my first post on the forum. I have to say after read this post and discussion yesterday I was so scared that I immediately moved my two juvies from a 55 gal community planted tank into a 20 gal BB tank... They had stayed in the planted tank for around 2 weeks and hopefully that period wouldn't really stunt their growth.

This two discus were bought from LFS for experimental purposes.. I have just 1 year experience of keeping a planted tank where I fed 6 angelfish, tetras, rasboras, and red-tail shark. The tank have lush amazon sword, java moss, water wisteria and some other smaller plants. When I bought the discus, I was trying to see if I can keep discus well because they simply look farbulous (when they grow well).

One thing I observe from the them when they were in planted tank, is that they were constantly bullied by my 4 adult angelfish.... Furthermore one strong discus bullied the weak one.... so that the weak one almost always hid behind the filter. Now in the BB tank the bullying is a lot less and they two looks a lot more peaceful now. And the more important, water change is a lot easier: previously I have to diligently vacuum the gravel, rearrange the disturbed plants, and carry over 5-7 buckets of water from the bathroom due to the size of the tank, but now just 2-3 buckets and effortless cleaning! I have to say I am happier with this ending.

[BuffaloTodd]

My tank I just setup is beautiful with driftwood, rocks and gravel. Im hoping I can be a success story. If not and I fail, I will come back to this thread and cry.

[Mas84]

Well this thread doesn't fill me with confidence.................oh well challenge accepted