Updated to planted

[woopaul5]

After long sleepless nights and planning. I've decided to update to a planted tank. Total newbie to plants but I have done quite a bit of research and have a LFS giving quite a bit of assistance. PM me if you'd like to know which LFS. All critiques welcomed, good, bad, and all pointers/advice will be greatly appreciated.

Before

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/IMG_4257.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/IMG_4257.jpg.html)

After

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/4B493265-E090-4387-BED3-9D1349EFC721.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/4B493265-E090-4387-BED3-9D1349EFC721.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/E6020FA3-F5E5-4991-85A7-2A9852DA20A3.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/E6020FA3-F5E5-4991-85A7-2A9852DA20A3.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/E824E1B1-E344-4FFA-A357-ABB30634BDB0.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/E824E1B1-E344-4FFA-A357-ABB30634BDB0.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/0D1910F6-6AA9-451A-BDCE-AFB0EA1B3C04.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/0D1910F6-6AA9-451A-BDCE-AFB0EA1B3C04.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/96AFC8EB-46CD-4995-B53F-6C0B92BF872E.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/96AFC8EB-46CD-4995-B53F-6C0B92BF872E.jpg.html)

Light fixture is a 72" Odyssea T5 Quad bulb (80W)
2 Ea 10,000K, 2 Ea 6,500K, LED moonlight for no reason

I'll try my best to update this as much as possible.

Thanks for looking


v/r

Paul

[Surfnturf]

Looks good. How long have you had your discus?

[woopaul5]

I've had them for a little over 2 months.

[rickztahone]

are those anubias you have buried in the sand?

[woopaul5]

are those anubias you have buried in the sand?

That is correct

[woopaul5]

Close ups of the fish

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/752D5C3D-E8B9-4BDD-AAE4-3F8823ADCD15.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/752D5C3D-E8B9-4BDD-AAE4-3F8823ADCD15.jpg.html)

Brine Shrimp

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/B6BBED60-BB8C-4C7C-ADE6-059224C626D9.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/B6BBED60-BB8C-4C7C-ADE6-059224C626D9.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/ECE0DB4B-11D7-4A76-B968-5DC388C4C798.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/ECE0DB4B-11D7-4A76-B968-5DC388C4C798.jpg.html)

Started cycling a 40 Gallon today... Gonna get rid of a few in the 125 and add a few from LFS and possibly Kenny's in the future.

[cellingson]

love the colors. White sand has nice effect and background looks good. Fish look happy. The anubias will be happier out of the sand and tied to wood or rocks. And I have found in my experience that the rocks and wood look more natural if slightly buried.

[woopaul5]

love the colors. White sand has nice effect and background looks good. Fish look happy. The anubias will be happier out of the sand and tied to wood or rocks. And I have found in my experience that the rocks and wood look more natural if slightly buried.

That makes a lot of sense with the Anubias. Will tie them off to drift wood and bury the driftwood a bit. Thanks for the advice!!!

[Surfnturf]

The rhizomes need to be exposed if you plant them in substrate.

[rickztahone]

The rhizomes need to be exposed if you plant them in substrate.

correct, or they will rott.

[jmf3460]

OP beautiful tank. I am a planted tank enthusiast turned discus enthusiast. My first passion is plants. Do you have any substrate besides the sand? Is the sand capping anything or just sand? You will need to invest in root tabs if there is nothing under the sand. And likely will need to invest in root tabs anyway due to the lack of nutrients that will be in the water column due to the large waterchanges that the discus require. Osmocote+ is a good option for you. And API root tabs are mainly iron/potassium so the swords will love it. also, the big piece of rock on the left? did you test it for hardness before adding it to the tank? I fear it could be releasing a lot of minerals which will raise your PH to an undesirable level....

[woopaul5]

Anubias tied off onto driftwood. It actually cleans things up and makes a more natural look.



OP beautiful tank. I am a planted tank enthusiast turned discus enthusiast. My first passion is plants. Do you have any substrate besides the sand? Is the sand capping anything or just sand? You will need to invest in root tabs if there is nothing under the sand. And likely will need to invest in root tabs anyway due to the lack of nutrients that will be in the water column due to the large waterchanges that the discus require. Osmocote+ is a good option for you. And API root tabs are mainly iron/potassium so the swords will love it. also, the big piece of rock on the left? did you test it for hardness before adding it to the tank? I fear it could be releasing a lot of minerals which will raise your PH to an undesirable level....

I have flourite under several portions where the plants are. I was using API root tabs prior to flourite but have not went back to it. I'm trying not to add to much extra chemicals to the tank. I was doing large daily water changes 60-90% but recently cut back to 30-50 every other day. All parameters have been solid since tank cycled and addition of fish. (15 at one point, had 1 die due to not eating/white poop. It was removed to QT tank) My Ammonia is constant 0 ppm, Nitrate 0ppm, Nitrate 5-10 ppm, pH 7.5, phosphate 0-5 ppm (API test kit on all but nitrate, I use Salifert sooo much easier to read between 5-20 ppm) The only dosing of anything is prime after water change, flourish, and potassium. Everything seems to be going well so far.

On the rock to the left... I did the vinegar test. Is that what you mean by the hardness test? pH has been stable for at least 2-3 weeks. I will remove if it is recommended. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Again thanks for the advice!!!!!

For the future I plan on doing aged water from my DI unit. (CR spotless wash systems) I'm a car guy also.... Figure try to make best of both worlds

[rickztahone]

If you did the vinegar test and it didn't fizz you will be fine.

[jmf3460]

If you did the vinegar test and it didn't fizz you will be fine.

+1 but sometimes the vinegar test isn't enough, try using your nitrate #1 bottle (or #2 I can never remember) more than likely the vinegar test is sufficient but I have found from experience that sometimes vinegar doesn't work.

[rickztahone]

+1 but sometimes the vinegar test isn't enough, try using your nitrate #1 bottle (or #2 I can never remember) more than likely the vinegar test is sufficient but I have found from experience that sometimes vinegar doesn't work.

good to know. I actually didn't realize that.

[RichardL]

All critiques welcomed, good, bad, and all pointers/advice will be greatly appreciated.

I like the "before" layout better. The "after" composition has broken the "Rules of Thirds" ;)

[woopaul5]

Updated pictures.

Moved a few things around, pulled the Anubias out, and removed the rock to the left.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/7F239B58-5549-470D-92F7-D7E62FDE03D7.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/7F239B58-5549-470D-92F7-D7E62FDE03D7.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/9BF4BA28-B8A7-46B2-A7A7-A63E32912DD4.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/9BF4BA28-B8A7-46B2-A7A7-A63E32912DD4.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/3BB6373A-5A2E-46DD-BA2B-FEA8672E795B.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/3BB6373A-5A2E-46DD-BA2B-FEA8672E795B.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/E9FCFA8E-074F-41F6-BC75-1EDFA5D42D4B.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/E9FCFA8E-074F-41F6-BC75-1EDFA5D42D4B.jpg.html)

[jmf3460]

looks good. what is your w/c regimen now?

[woopaul5]

To be honest... It's never the same. Still at least every other day. No less than 20% but up to 90%. Recently had to do an emergency water change due to bad advice with flourish.

[cellingson]

Looks great

[woopaul5]

Discus have been doing great!!! In the process of removing all the driftwood. Unfortunatly the stuff I got was cheap and started rotting and falling apart making the tank look like crap. Added about 30lbs of OHKO stone. I'm really enjoying this set up. Made a lot of changes and added a few additions to the house....

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/DCA21506-20E2-454D-A545-71B388299009.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/DCA21506-20E2-454D-A545-71B388299009.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/11B2BE60-0BF8-431B-B17D-1DE615C3CEA4.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/11B2BE60-0BF8-431B-B17D-1DE615C3CEA4.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/ACDEEB2F-C760-4645-A4CA-2EE67C67C406.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/ACDEEB2F-C760-4645-A4CA-2EE67C67C406.jpg.html)

40G breeder that's awaiting new Discus (Kenny's). It's a temporary home. Going to get another 90-150G in the future

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/222C8ABD-8FEC-48C8-93E7-47492AF2894E.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/222C8ABD-8FEC-48C8-93E7-47492AF2894E.jpg.html)

And just random additions that prob don't really belong in here. (will delete upon Mod's request)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/7FFF3468-83FA-4A8F-9B65-9DB7335A44E3.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/7FFF3468-83FA-4A8F-9B65-9DB7335A44E3.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/73EA2139-B910-416B-BE0B-66F6899ADB63.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/73EA2139-B910-416B-BE0B-66F6899ADB63.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/BB919058-931B-4AA8-B0FB-F3F765CD64C8.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/BB919058-931B-4AA8-B0FB-F3F765CD64C8.jpg.html)

Thanks for looking!!! as always any input (good or bad) is appreciated

[navarro1950]

Although I just saw your tanks I loved them all. I'm working on a 125 planted at the moment so until I get the plants straight I won't add my discus for the completion. Again beautiful tanks and of course the discus.

[woopaul5]

Just another update

Replaced a handful of plants and added CO2

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/60E95567-8A5E-456D-B724-C019733403CE.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/60E95567-8A5E-456D-B724-C019733403CE.jpg.html)

Added a few discus that I got from Kenny

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/CEA4CAAA-1A19-4765-A29B-758A2BC26100.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/CEA4CAAA-1A19-4765-A29B-758A2BC26100.jpg.html)

The Big One. Snakeskin Carnation 5.5"

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/FB7A9EF0-5745-4BC2-B67E-9041233701C5.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/FB7A9EF0-5745-4BC2-B67E-9041233701C5.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/7421D256-60F5-4805-804B-13ACD2CCA05B.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/7421D256-60F5-4805-804B-13ACD2CCA05B.jpg.html)

The last day in QT

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/B1151093-BDDA-4D07-AB81-7C87B09A2B5F.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/B1151093-BDDA-4D07-AB81-7C87B09A2B5F.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/9F65C032-4F81-47F5-BBB6-23366641FC32.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/9F65C032-4F81-47F5-BBB6-23366641FC32.jpg.html)

All in all doing fairly well. Downsized to 12 in the 125...size is roughly 3"-5.5". Unfortunately I had to bring my leopard back to the 40. He was picked on quite a bit in QT an looked pretty rough(Stressed/cloudy eye/fins ragged). Hopefully a bunch of WC will bring it back to good health.

On the main tank doing 50-90% WC every other day. Might bump it up to everyday since I added new stock. For ferts I use Seachem potassium, Aquavitro propel (Iron).

[jmf3460]

Looking good Paul, your plants are going to look really good once they fill the water column as they grow tall. Good job, you are taking on a challenging adventure trying to raise discus in a planted tank, but from the looks of it you have gotten the hang of it and your fish look good to me.

[woopaul5]

Thank you!!! A lot of research was put into this. Never in my life have I tried a planted tank. I've been fortunate and have had minimal error so far. Much thanks to Ben at the LFS here in Tucson, definitely has been guiding me in the right direction.

[rickztahone]

That co2 will make a big difference. Just remember, discus do not like too much bpm

[woopaul5]

I'm at 3 bubbles per second. They seem to be doing fine. Only had a issue once but that was when I forgot to unplug the solenoid when the light was off. I run a sponge filter when lights are off

[rickztahone]

I'm at 3 bubbles per second. They seem to be doing fine. Only had a issue once but that was when I forgot to unplug the solenoid when the light was off. I run a sponge filter when lights are off
Place the solenoid on a timer.

[jmf3460]

OP get on of these...http://www.petco.com/product/102877/Zilla-Analog-Timer-Power-Center.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch...you can plug all your things into it and it has a timer. I have one and its awesome. I have nothing plugged in to the blue ones as there is nothing I only want on during the night but if I had a bubbler I would turn it on at night.

[cellingson]

looking good.

[woopaul5]

Update!!!!

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/IMG_5312.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/IMG_5312.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/IMG_5314.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/IMG_5314.jpg.html)

Still doing well for the most part... aggression is a little high during/after feeding. Fiamma Rossa owns the tank. I did have a few with what I believe to be Hex(removed to QT). Metro and several water changes (daily 75%+) on MT for precautionary reasons. I still have the two questionable ones in QT cause they're not interested in eating...swim to the food but spit it out.

[jmf3460]

holy cow those swords are growing like weeds. I cant wait until they grow tall and fill the water column. what is the grass looking plant that is just as tall as the swords?? looking great the added co2 is def helping a lot.

[woopaul5]

holy cow those swords are growing like weeds. I cant wait until they grow tall and fill the water column. what is the grass looking plant that is just as tall as the swords?? looking great the added co2 is def helping a lot.

Thank you for commenting!!!

Blyxa aubertii. Pretty much like japonica but grows up to 16" and has white stems that flowers

[jmf3460]

Blyxa aubertii, wow I want some of that. going to have to find me some.

[woopaul5]

I'll be making major changes to this tank... Swapping out the sand with eco complete. Ran into a issue with what I believe to be spirogyra. Gonna strip and hand clean all the plants and ohko stone. Hopefully the eco complete lives up to all the reviews....

[woopaul5]

Added the eco complete a while ago... had nothing but problems from the get go. Lost my favorite due to my stupidity on initial start up and almost killed the entire stock. Having a bunch of issues with the plants since and lost a blue discus yesterday. Removing all the eco complete today and going back to PFS. Sand looks a lot better and hopefully the fish wont be soo dark anymore. Personally love the look of the aquarium by itself but the fish are not looking up to potential and all the crap that gets stuck in the substrate is not worth it.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/96292CA2-301A-4B9D-9F89-2F2756B0606B.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/96292CA2-301A-4B9D-9F89-2F2756B0606B.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/F3233411-8788-47F2-87BF-D168BF576D10.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/F3233411-8788-47F2-87BF-D168BF576D10.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/DE84D80E-6A32-4A11-9E69-D5DA6B2B1C87.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/DE84D80E-6A32-4A11-9E69-D5DA6B2B1C87.jpg.html)

Nighttime huddle

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/2DDABEA9-3EE0-4129-B9CA-88375437354B.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/2DDABEA9-3EE0-4129-B9CA-88375437354B.jpg.html)

[woopaul5]

Took a half a day but removed roughly 200lbs of Eco complete and added 150 lbs of sand. Fish are doing great and seem really happy. Got rid of a lot of plants. Sticking with red rubins and blyxa.... Maybe some other stuff tomorrow. Going to see what the lfs has in store

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/75BB79BB-A34B-40ED-A23F-9A265ABA0EDA.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/75BB79BB-A34B-40ED-A23F-9A265ABA0EDA.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/D0E27024-C3AB-43FC-9C90-85B29FA73F24.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/D0E27024-C3AB-43FC-9C90-85B29FA73F24.jpg.html)

Even the clean up crew is out of hiding

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/E615D342-AC05-4D88-95C4-DB34261AE249.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/E615D342-AC05-4D88-95C4-DB34261AE249.jpg.html)

[jmf3460]

I think you should stop messing with this and let it be, things need to stabilize and even out. the plants will grow give them some root tabs and let them do their thing. before you know it you will have full grown beautiful discus and some big plants. stop fiddling, sometimes when you over involve, you make things worse.

[woopaul5]

Done fiddling!!! Sand and planted is going to be it.

[jmf3460]

Done fiddling!!! Sand and planted is going to be it.

I know its hard, I do the same thing with my planted community tank but I have found out that it looks the best after months of doing nothing to it. Looks great OP cant wait to see this one full jungle style soon.

[gordo33]

Read thru your thread hope the new set up works for you . Thought your fish and first set up looked great. I am considering changing to sand. Currently have fluorite for substrate. When you removed your substrate did you remove the fish from the tank? If the fish were still in the tank how did you remove the substrate? If fish were in tank how did you add sand? Finally what type of sand did you use? Thanks for your input

[cellingson]

Read thru your thread hope the new set up works for you . Thought your fish and first set up looked great. I am considering changing to sand. Currently have fluorite for substrate. When you removed your substrate did you remove the fish from the tank? If the fish were still in the tank how did you remove the substrate? If fish were in tank how did you add sand? Finally what type of sand did you use? Thanks for your input

Not to hijack your thread woopaul5, but following along and thought I would share from my experience. Remove the fish. Suck out sand and water together with 3/4" to 1" vinyl tubing. Remove rest of sand by hand if any. Good time to clean and wipe down tank if you need to. Add new sand, then rock, then rest of sand. Then add plants. Slowly add water. Add fish.

[pastry]

I think you should stop messing with this and let it be, things need to stabilize and even out. the plants will grow give them some root tabs and let them do their thing. before you know it you will have full grown beautiful discus and some big plants. stop fiddling, sometimes when you over involve, you make things worse.

Great advice. I've learned the hard way several times on this.

[woopaul5]

Read thru your thread hope the new set up works for you . Thought your fish and first set up looked great. I am considering changing to sand. Currently have fluorite for substrate. When you removed your substrate did you remove the fish from the tank? If the fish were still in the tank how did you remove the substrate? If fish were in tank how did you add sand? Finally what type of sand did you use? Thanks for your input


Not to hijack your thread woopaul5, but following along and thought I would share from my experience. Remove the fish. Suck out sand and water together with 3/4" to 1" vinyl tubing. Remove rest of sand by hand if any. Good time to clean and wipe down tank if you need to. Add new sand, then rock, then rest of sand. Then add plants. Slowly add water. Add fish.

Exactly what cellingson said. Sorry for the late reply been out of town for my Grandmas funeral and had to play catch up at work. I'll add a few things... I used a shop vac to get the sand out the first go and the second go also with the eco complete. Additionally I pre-washed almost 200 lbs of sand and stored them in 5 gallon buckets so the water wouldn't be as cloudy. I stored all fish in a spare 10 gallon tank with a cycled sponge filter. Remember to use extra dechlorinator (Prime, Safe, ETC) to be safe. I chlorine poisoned my fish the first time I did a substrate change. If you have a larger QT tank I'd just keep them there for a few days.

[woopaul5]

UPDATES!!!!

This has been the healthiest looking and active the fish have been since I got all of them. There was two starting to pair up but the one I assume is a male got a little too aggressive I think. They were hanging out by the intake tube doing a little fin shimmering moves. Started to clean it a little but the big red one started to attack the tiger carnation. After a week or so the aggression died down. The tank is nowhere near any parameters for mating. PH is high and water is hard.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/3F4ABBBF-A657-442D-83A4-AEBF78C243CC.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/3F4ABBBF-A657-442D-83A4-AEBF78C243CC.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/45A67E66-CEAC-46E1-9A0F-288BDB318ECB.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/45A67E66-CEAC-46E1-9A0F-288BDB318ECB.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/1FA9313E-4E3A-4056-B9B5-9CAED3B018F6.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/1FA9313E-4E3A-4056-B9B5-9CAED3B018F6.jpg.html)

Doing 80% water changes every 3 days. I wish I read up on growing out discus. There's a few slow growers but that's my fault for putting juvies in a 125.

[jmf3460]

of all your fish in this tank paul, the main one in the first pic (virgin red maybe) is the best looking fish IMO. you've got a couple of stunts in there but no big deal they all look happy and healthy. tank looks good got an updated FTS??

[woopaul5]

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/DSCN0844.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/DSCN0844.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/DSCN0857.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/DSCN0857.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/DSCN0851.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/DSCN0851.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/DSCN0841.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/DSCN0841.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/DSCN0839_1.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/DSCN0839_1.jpg.html)

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Full tanks shots

THe red one when I got it was described as a Maroon Red. I believe others may call it a red cover?

[jmf3460]

red cover it is then. paul this tank is coming a long very nicely. the plants look very healthy

[woopaul5]

It's been awhile since I updated this but all is well for the most part. I had to cull one discus due to several issues. It never really grew to potential. Odd shaped face, misshaped fins, and the tail never grew. Additionally it was the 3rd time this guy got sick and was always hiding. Other than that all others are eating well and very very interactive with each other.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/DF4C0738-CA62-424D-93C9-1D9465847C89.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/DF4C0738-CA62-424D-93C9-1D9465847C89.jpg.html)

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/8014EE00-1123-4452-82BB-E572304740F6.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/8014EE00-1123-4452-82BB-E572304740F6.jpg.html)

Unfortunately I may be getting rid of all of this. I don't remember if I stated this or not but I'm a E6 in the USAF (aircraft mx). I just recently found out that I got orders to McGuire afb. (Jersey) not exactly thrilled due to having a elderly father that I will have to help out. Banking on a humanitarian to Nevada or back to home (California) or stay in AZ. We shall see what the future has in store but it'll be extremely difficult to ship 2 125g (wild discus/planted discus), 1 40g (wild QT), 29g (CRS planted), and a 20g (Japanese fire bellied newt planted) from AZ to jersey... I plan on keeping the wild discus due to expense, what I endured with them, and simply because I'm crazy about wild discus and keep the newts because I loved having them as a kid.

Thanks for reading!!!

[ericNH]

Man you've done a much better job of it than I did. Don't know how you managed to keep the tank so clean with all those plants in there! No algae on any leaves that I can see, no algae or cyano-bacter on the sand either. It's beautiful. Really well done!

[farebox]

Hope you get that that humanitarian assignment or your other requests. I spent 21 yrs in the USAF, 17 in Military Airlift Command, and 4 yrs as F/Sgt. Remember PSC moves from Guam and the Philippines, both times shipped aquariums in household good shipments without breakage. If you have to go maybe take an tank with you. By the way like your planted tank, very clean. Also spent 4 yrs at McGuire AFB. I think that have great water out of the tap for fish. Good luck and thanks for your service my brother.

[woopaul5]

Man you've done a much better job of it than I did. Don't know how you managed to keep the tank so clean with all those plants in there! No algae on any leaves that I can see, no algae or cyano-bacter on the sand either. It's beautiful. Really well done!

Thank you. Well I cleaned the tank prior to taking the picture but it doesn't get too messy in there. I have a really good clean up crew 5-6 amano shrimp and about 10 nerite snails. I finally nailed the right amount of CO2 to control algae, additionally I finally found the right amount of time for light. If i remember correctly cyano bacteria thrives on high nitrates and I tend to do large frequent water changes. I used to have several issues with cyano and spirogira... it's all about right dosing/cleaning/timing

[woopaul5]

Hope you get that that humanitarian assignment or your other requests. I spent 21 yrs in the USAF, 17 in Military Airlift Command, and 4 yrs as F/Sgt. Remember PSC moves from Guam and the Philippines, both times shipped aquariums in household good shipments without breakage. If you have to go maybe take an tank with you. By the way like your planted tank, very clean. Also spent 4 yrs at McGuire AFB. I think that have great water out of the tap for fish. Good luck and thanks for your service my brother.

MAC... thanks for making me feel young! LOL First and foremost thank you for your service and paving the way for us!!!

If I do go to Mcguire I do plan on taking atleast 2 tanks with me. Just hoping they survive the 2 day drive form AZ. If I am able to stay in AZ or NV/ Southern CA I'll most likely take all of it.

[woopaul5]

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/woopaul5/8014EE00-1123-4452-82BB-E572304740F6.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/woopaul5/media/8014EE00-1123-4452-82BB-E572304740F6.jpg.html)

Guess this will be the parting shot. Learned a lot from these guys and it was a tough choice in getting rid of them. But a planted discus tank was too much for me. I stunted half of them and early on had several issues with a few that were eventually culled. So long story short planted tanks are a lot of work. Got tired of the daily massive water changes to try to grow the runts out. Am I discouraged from discus? No, I will continue with the wilds that I have and maybe one day go back to domestics... This time will be BB or light coat of sand like wilds with a hardscspe.

For those that want a heavily planted tank, please be cautious and do your homework. I thought I was prepare and partially was successful. It is very hard to find that fine line of healthy plants and healthy fish. Additionally with the money it costs for co2 and dosing, be prepared for a lot of money spent. Not trying to discourage anyone but I'd recommend a hardier fish for a heavily planted tank, it can be done but it's a lot of work!

Thanks for looking! - Paul

[bamzam]

To be honest... It's never the same. Still at least every other day. No less than 20% but up to 90%. Recently had to do an emergency water change due to bad advice with flourish.

Sorry to bring up an old post, but if you don't mind, what was the mistake with the flourish? I've recently switched to a lightly planted tank and am currently dosing with flourish every other day as well.

Thanks!

[woopaul5]

I had a bad algae outbreak. I read on some planted tank forum overdose flourish to kill the algae faster (need to check sources better than going on a single poster). Well I did and the fish turned pale and started laying on their side.

You're fine with the normal recommended dose. At the end when I found the perfect mixture I dosed seachem potassium and iron only. Tried several brands and even powder form but iron and potassium with daily co2 at 2 bubbles a minute made everything thrive.