70 Gal Planted tank

[Argentum]

Just thought to share pics of my setup, its not complete I am going to change the drift wood with a tree like piece with java moss, it will look much better.

90% of the plants are new, its a low tech planted tank.

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/DSC01958_zpsf523d744.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/DSC01958_zpsf523d744.jpg.html)

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/DSC01962_zps98af084a.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/DSC01962_zps98af084a.jpg.html)

You can see part of his dorsal fin is recovering from the previous columnaris outbreak I had that killed 2 of my Discus
http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/DSC01966_zpsca94f65e.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/DSC01966_zpsca94f65e.jpg.html)

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/DSC01974_zps1433f7c1.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/DSC01974_zps1433f7c1.jpg.html)

Again the same guy/girl
http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/DSC01977_zps4f5af101.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/DSC01977_zps4f5af101.jpg.html)

This juvi looks like it's going to be a melon
http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/DSC01969_zps3b86aeb0.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/DSC01969_zps3b86aeb0.jpg.html)

Electric Blue rams - I love the colors of this fish, just amazing
http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/DSC01967_zpsa3efcdc7.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/DSC01967_zpsa3efcdc7.jpg.html)

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/DSC01968_zps3d4d2e79.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/DSC01968_zps3d4d2e79.jpg.html)

Pleco
http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/DSC01979_zps21c857b6.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/DSC01979_zps21c857b6.jpg.html)

Electric yellow lab fry - I didn't have a place to put these guys in after their aquarium was turned in to a hospital tank so I put them in my display and thought they are going to be a meal for the discus but it seems they are not interested
http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/DSC01975_zps06ee4375.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/DSC01975_zps06ee4375.jpg.html)

[JaydubAiC21]

Very nice, i really like the Electric Blue balloon ram. Is that ;ab going to be a fin nipping problem for the discus? Also, what is that black, carbon looking stuff in the sand? Sorry so curious!


Jay

[Argentum]

Very nice, i really like the Electric Blue balloon ram. Is that ;ab going to be a fin nipping problem for the discus? Also, what is that black, carbon looking stuff in the sand? Sorry so curious!


Jay

Thx Jay :)

I haven't experienced any nipping problems with them till now, and i have them since they were 1 cm ~.

The black stuff is some sort of pellitized dirt substrate, I have it as a lower layer under the sand but sometimes the pleco and/or rams dig them out

My real pain in this setup is the pleco and the ottos, they wipe everything down clean but produce very big amounts of poop which stands out in the sand.
Even after I vacuum the aquarium completely, next day I will have a lot of their poop on the sand.

I would love to substitute them with something else

[jmf3460]

the big plants in the back, what are those??

[Argentum]

the big plants in the back, what are those??

I think it's an Aglaonema Sp.

[jmf3460]

that's what I was thinking, are you planning on keeping them in your tank?? I do not think they are aquatic plants.

lots of stores sell Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema simplex) as an aquatic plant, but they are not. it bothers me too because sometimes I will go into a store and I will see "fully aquatic" on a plant that I know is not aquatic at all. Eventually your Chinese evergreen will melt and die, will then foul the water and end up hurting your fish.

[Argentum]

that's what I was thinking, are you planning on keeping them in your tank?? I do not think they are aquatic plants.

lots of stores sell Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema simplex) as an aquatic plant, but they are not. it bothers me too because sometimes I will go into a store and I will see "fully aquatic" on a plant that I know is not aquatic at all. Eventually your Chinese evergreen will melt and die, will then foul the water and end up hurting your fish.

I was looking into this, and was surprised that all images are for terrestrial plants. I thought it can go both ways!! so will die eventually for sure?

This is really annoying because one of the leaves started to melt and I thought it needed ferts and inserted a couple of fert. tabs

Thank you for letting me know.

[jmf3460]

sorry, lfs fault for sure, this happened to me once or twice and I was angry. It will die for sure and will foul your water, I would take it out sooner than later. you could sub in some big amazon swords for those and it would have the same look, also cryptocoryne undulata would have the same look but it takes them a while to grow big and tall....a couple groupings of jungle val would look cool too and they grow quickly.

[Nick Klimkowski]

I would take the yellow labs and pleco out right away. Once the yellow labs and pleco get a little larger they will mostly rip up and kill the discus. Hth.

[Argentum]

I would take the yellow labs and pleco out right away. Once the yellow labs and pleco get a little larger they will mostly rip up and kill the discus. Hth.

I understand what your saying for the yellow labs, they are there untill I find them a new home along with their parrents.

However, with the pleco he is already somewhat large and they never seem to bother each other. Plus I have seen in many videos of grow out tanks at discus farms witb XXXL plecos in it.

I guess it does the glass cleaning for them. So why would it be a problem 4 me?

[pcsb23]

I understand what your saying for the yellow labs, they are there untill I find them a new home along with their parrents.

However, with the pleco he is already somewhat large and they never seem to bother each other. Plus I have seen in many videos of grow out tanks at discus farms witb XXXL plecos in it.

I guess it does the glass cleaning for them. So why would it be a problem 4 me?
I'd heed Nick's advice. I've visited a number of discus farms in Asia and yes some do have large plecs in the tanks, but they move them between tanks daily. Sometimes you can see marks on the side of the discus where one has attached. In my experience it is not if a plec will attach, it is when they attach to a discus, after that they will hound the fish to death quite literally.

[Argentum]

I'd heed Nick's advice. I've visited a number of discus farms in Asia and yes some do have large plecs in the tanks, but they move them between tanks daily. Sometimes you can see marks on the side of the discus where one has attached. In my experience it is not if a plec will attach, it is when they attach to a discus, after that they will hound the fish to death quite literally.

So are there any alternatives thag will do the cleaning job and are discus compatible?

[andyl9063]

So are there any alternatives thag will do the cleaning job and are discus compatible?

albino nose plecos for glass, sterbai cories for bottom.

[pcsb23]

Personally I'm not a fan of BNs, for clean up crew I use ottos and shrimp (though shrimp may become dinner!).

[jmf3460]

nerite snails are great cleanup crews, as well as adult amano shrimp (must be adult of discus will make a meal of them)
+1 for ottos

[zachawry]

nerite snails are great cleanup crews, as well as adult amano shrimp (must be adult of discus will make a meal of them)
+1 for ottos

Also Siamese Algae Eaters (SAEs).

You can see mine in a heavily-planted tank here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2085NurXh4

[Argentum]

Since this thread was revived, here is how this tank look like now

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/20140509_165957_zpstzn2nvek.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/20140509_165957_zpstzn2nvek.jpg.html)

I moved everything out and siliconed this piece of wood to the bottom.

I moved 6 discus from Forrest along with 3 discus I had before (after Quarantine of course) and I will grow them for a while until they reach around 5.5 to 6" then I will sand and convert it to a fully planted.

http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p634/argentumblade/20140509_170009_zpsr7kjrv1k.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/argentumblade/media/20140509_170009_zpsr7kjrv1k.jpg.html)

In these pictures the fish were just moved and were shy, now they swim around more but still prefer sticking around the tree.

I will post better recent pics today.

[Ayecarl]

They will grow faster in bb and if youre planning a planted tank eventually. You can grow out plants or propagate them for your future tank

[fugu_88]

I like the ram..

[marcje1968]

Nice tank ! only a little fresh :angel: Time will make it nicer