blackwater biotope tank with wild greens and wild laetacara dorsigera

[jmf3460]

I've upped the amount of rooibos tea I use in my tank, as well as added two new pieces of manzanita wood, what do you think? I will be removing the bigger (older) pieces with tomorrow's water change likely, its just too much but it does look cool. Ofcourse the ancistrus are already all over new wood pieces, but the discus don't seem to care either way. I may switch things around over the next several water changes just to see what I like.

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video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap2knRuOVh4&feature=youtu.be

[Lighthouse7]

I like the driftwood on corners coming down they look great is that new? - Lighthouse

[rickztahone]

I like almost everything. I love the branching of the wood, but the piece on the left side coming down towards the front of the tank is very distracting to my eyes. I would simply flip it so that it follows the direction of the other DW and simply adds branching to those existing branches

[Rapture]

Agree with Rick, everything looks awesome except for that one branch fighting the rest of them.

[jmf3460]

I like almost everything. I love the branching of the wood, but the piece on the left side coming down towards the front of the tank is very distracting to my eyes. I would simply flip it so that it follows the direction of the other DW and simply adds branching to those existing branches

excellent advice Ricardo, I will adjust tonight. we will see how my water change goes with all that wood in the way, it may be a take out and put back in every time kind of thing, which means each waterchange is a slight rearrangement of wood.

[briztoon]

How do the dorsigera handle the warmer temperatures, seeing as they generally come from more southerly, cooler waters in South America?

[jmf3460]

How do the dorsigera handle the warmer temperatures, seeing as they generally come from more southerly, cooler waters in South America?

They handle it well Peter, I do keep my tank on the cooler side of the discus temp range though. It normally is 81.1 in the morning and by the afternoon (the light adds some heat I think) it tops out at about 82.4 before starting to cool down again as the lights switch off for night mode and then off completely for the night. I was first intrigued by the l. dorsigera by another member here on this forum and they have by far been one of my most favorite cichlids to keep. they have a really cool little personality I think, very inquisitive and fun to watch interact with eachother. I've had mine since my discus tank was a festivum tank, meaning they are 2 years old by when I got them, but they were quite large when I got them too so maybe 2.5 years old total.

I do want to keep their cousin the guianacara and the krobia one day, I currently also have a pair of the nannacara species in another tank though I do not enjoy them as much, they seem more timid and scared, and are much more aggressive with their territories.

[briztoon]

I love dwarf cichlids, both South American and West African. Like discus, they can have different personalities. I've kept nannacara anomala, and they were bossy little fish.

If you ever get the chance, laetacara araguaiae are another awesome little fish.

[jmf3460]

I've kept nannacara anomala, and they were bossy little fish. If you ever get the chance, laetacara araguaiae are another awesome little fish.

thanks Peter, I agree nannacara anomala are too bossy, that is the species I have in a 46 planted tank. when I upgrade this tank to a bigger one I plan on adding another trio or so of a dwarf cichlid, I will look into the l. araguaiae thanks for the advice. Really fixated on the krobia xinguensis and guianacara fish, and possibly a small school of dicrossus.

[jmf3460]

I changed the wood around as well as removed some of the older pieces and added the third new piece, what are our thoughts now??? This arrangement brings most of the wood to the front of the tank, leaving a swimming space open in the back, but maybe that will force the discus to the back of the tank to swim from side to side?? they seem to enjoy swimming in and out of the new wood pieces.
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and the rarely seen clown pleco, sometimes I forget he is even in this tank, but the new wood has got him doing lots of exploring searching for a new territory.
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and a short video, I need a tripod real bad, I have very shakey hands lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1YeG81A20g&feature=youtu.be


Ricardo, new advice??? you have a good eye for this.

[rickztahone]

I like the new arrangement Jacklyn. I'm always a stickler for things "flowing" and the piece in the middle that branches to right and kind of upwards is one that I would actually tie to the current one on the left and have it flow downwards. This is me just picturing making an already great looking setup look better, but, either way i think works great. That would actually give you a little more swimming space as well I believe.

[jmf3460]

a brief update with new pictures. All discus are doing fine, but I have lost 2 laetacara dorsigera this past month and am down to 2 total that are also losing color. I can find nothing wrong with them post mortem, and the only symptoms are fading colors and loss of energy followed by death. I am pretty sure its just age. I got them 3 years ago and they were good sized when I got them so I feel that they are just aging out. I will likely not add them again to this tank, Id like to try a small school of guianacara or cleithracara, possibly dicrossus. Beveled acrylic tank is still in payment phase so the upgrade is getting closer and closer. Some pictures from this morning, not enough rooibos with my water change last night, will be adding more.
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starting to see lots of spots on these guys as they mature. I have had them now a little over a year.

and the clown pleco
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[Phillydubs]

Great pics!! You really have some thick guys there! That one is a fatty! Big thick head! You are at that year point now, which I believe most say the true colors really shine and form so hopefully those nice red spots start to pop for you!

Weird that you are loosing those other guys so rapidly, you might be right, who knows the age on them, could just be that... The discus look awesome though... I know you along with others are big on the tea and all but I like seeing them so clean they really pop in those pics and shine!

[jmf3460]

Thanks Phil, big head Fred as I like to call him is def my most beautiful fish with the best shape and he has tons of spots but he also is one of the more camera shy fish in the tank. Of course the skinny one with the broken bar and no spots is the one that likes to shine in pictures the most. I love the tea, ran out to be honest and have some coming in the mail today/tomorrow so back to the darkness it will be.

I did read that normal lifespan for the laetacara dorsigera is only 5-7 years so me having them 3 already who knows how old they were when they were caught. Pretty sure they are just aging out, plus I doubt they will live to their longest in the temps of a discus tank.

Here is a pic I doctored up a little for my instagram page:
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[Phillydubs]

Big Head Fred!! I love it! Hahaha, the name fits! He is a beauty, love the spots!

I can only hope that mine grow to be big and fat like freddy there!!

[jmf3460]

some update here. I rearranged the wood a little last night during the water fill (boredom gets the best of me) most of the wood on the left is at the surface leaving the bottom open for swimming. another black neon tetra died, down to 7 now (this is a good thing) so far $700 paid towards the acrylic tank, getting closer every month.
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video during morning feeding, pardon the lighting this is during sunrise setting and its very dark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QvZVO_n2Qg

[Phillydubs]

Really nice as always Jacklyn!

You love to play with that wood! Hahaha... Reminds me of my days with African cichlids and lots of stacked Holley rock, it was like each water change the tank looked different. Right after I hated it, then it grew on me then by the next week I loved it and it was changed again... The current wood I have in my tanks is anchored to some slate that is hidden in my sand, I am sort of thankful or I would prob be constantly playing, but in an effort not to mess up the tank too much during WC I leave it... That being said, it seems whatever you do works anyways so have fun with it!

Cool feeding video... I haven't been able to do the glass stick myself, seems to cause more fighting an issues... Have you always done this method or built it up ?

[jmf3460]

Really nice as always Jacklyn!

Cool feeding video... I haven't been able to do the glass stick myself, seems to cause more fighting an issues... Have you always done this method or built it up ?

Thanks Phil. Not until recently did the wilds take to a cube. Originally they were scared of it. So for the first 8 months, I fed loose FDBW and had really good success. Like you have noticed they enjoy hunting for their food. Even still my fish get 3 feedings a day from an automatic feeder of loose FDBW (I prefer the ones with the biopigment) and the feeder drops them into the HOB output so they get spread out all over the water column and tank. I only feed 2 cubes per day and its usually first thing in the morning. The fish have come to expect it but even still they do not go to it with the gusto of a domestic raised fish that has been used to the cubes their whole lives.

[Phillydubs]

Pretty much the same for me, only I mix in a cube of frozen blood worms as well that they like to pick at and so do my pleccos...

I call it the worm out! I mix the fdbw and blood worms in a cup and let it settle then they get a few pours into the tank and it looks like a snow globe... The worms fly all over and they go crazy for it...

The cubes to the glass was causing too much agression, there was more protecting of the cubes going on than actual feeding!

[jmf3460]

there was more protecting of the cubes going on than actual feeding!

oh yea that happens, you can see the two on the right in my video doing a mixture of eating and protecting. goofy dummies. those are the two I wish would pair up, they keep teasing me

[Kyla]

beautiful big discus! love their halos. i wish my bristlenose would come out for photos too. what type of autofeeder do u use/recommend? i have been thinking of getting one. any drawbacks? any jammig or issues with it?

[jmf3460]

beautiful big discus! love their halos. i wish my bristlenose would come out for photos too. what type of autofeeder do u use/recommend? i have been thinking of getting one. any drawbacks? any jammig or issues with it?

Thank you so much Kyla. I have 3 bristlenosed in this tank and they are all very lively but it has taken them some time to get that way. I use the Eheim automatic fish feeder, it works great I have never had a single problem with it. I use loose FDBW in mine (al's brand). I have mine open as wide as it will go to feed 3 times a day and I feed once more in the morning. Ive had no issues with this feeder jamming or anything.

[Kyla]

Thank you so much Kyla. I have 3 bristlenosed in this tank and they are all very lively but it has taken them some time to get that way. I use the Eheim automatic fish feeder, it works great I have never had a single problem with it. I use loose FDBW in mine (al's brand). I have mine open as wide as it will go to feed 3 times a day and I feed once more in the morning. Ive had no issues with this feeder jamming or anything.

awesome, im excited to get one, my guys r so hungry when I get home from work, ill feel better with an auto feeder

[jmf3460]

a couple pictures from last night directly after a water change. I forgot rooibos tea in my aging barrel so that's why they water looks so clear. I need to do some nerite egg scrapings asap. Fish look good

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and a shakey video, fast forward to 2:10 for a brief moment of the fish trying to come to my fingers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc50HPtoYvE

[William1]

Hi Jacklyn - new guy here. I like the way you thinned out the wood. Good move from my armchair. Keep moving and improving, I say. I like it!

[jmf3460]

Hi Jacklyn - new guy here. I like the way you thinned out the wood. Good move from my armchair. Keep moving and improving, I say. I like it!

Thanks and welcome to the forum William. I did thin out the wood thank you for noticing. The fish seem to like the extra swimming room, but they get scared and skittish when I take out too much wood, so I enjoy moving things around completely different every 5th water change or so. THanks for the comment and again, welcome to SD.

[Phillydubs]

You know my feelings on the clear tank already! So of course I love it! But I am sure you are going batty without your R TEA! lolol

Really looking great as always, I enjoyed the video!

[jmf3460]

You know my feelings on the clear tank already! So of course I love it! But I am sure you are going batty without your R TEA! lolol

Really looking great as always, I enjoyed the video!

you know me Phil, already got this tank back to brown water. Have you gotten your wilds to accept anything other than FDBW and frozen blood worms yet? I still wish these guys would accept pellet because I have so many types but they repeatedly refuse it and as a result my corydoras, ancistrus and l. dorsigera are all over weight.

[Phillydubs]

Hahah I figured you did already! Lol...

No, I haven't gotten them to eat anything else... just the fdbw w spinach and the blood worms... I have to be honest, I haven't pushed too hard either... I toss a few pellets in as they eat but they just sink... They didn't even go after any brine shrimp or mysis they seem to leave that as well so I stopped

[ksuyen]

Cool tank, I love the woods! I am thinking to do the same with my setup. What kind of wood do you use? I assume you don't hold the top and let the branches be the legs? Do you use additives to achieve the black water look (http://www.continuumaquatics.com/freshwater_wc/floraviv_blackwater.php) or only tannin from the wood?

[jmf3460]

Cool tank, I love the woods! I am thinking to do the same with my setup. What kind of wood do you use? I assume you don't hold the top and let the branches be the legs? Do you use additives to achieve the black water look (http://www.continuumaquatics.com/freshwater_wc/floraviv_blackwater.php) or only tannin from the wood?

I use manzanita wood. I get it from Rich at www.manzanita.com he has some amazing pieces. I have so much manzanita in my basement that I have collected over the years that I switch pieces out regularly. I have 4 other tanks with wood also so everything gets switched around occasionally. I add rooibos tea to get the stained water. http://www.amazon.com/Davidsons-Tea-Organic-African-16-Ounce/dp/B000SATIE6/ref=sr_1_5_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1462539145&sr=8-5&keywords=rooibos+tea I just add it into my aging barrel using one of those floating tea strainers. I also float it in the tanks directly sometimes.

[jmf3460]

updated pictures. Nothing new to report. no eggs, no more flirting. I am still paying on my bigger, acrylic tank. I will start a journal for it hopefully in the upcoming months. some pictures:
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[jmf3460]

and yes, all those tiny white dots on the glass are nerite eggs. Ive come to be used to them. I really don't even see them when I look at my tank, but in pictures I do.

[Second Hand Pat]

I was really hoping you would have some pair action Jacklyn.
Pat

[jmf3460]

I was really hoping you would have some pair action Jacklyn.
Pat

tell me about it. I was for a while but now it has sotopped.

[jmf3460]

just an update here. A few things have happened since my last post. One: the dicrossus filamentosus from the qt tank have been added to this tank with the discus now. Everything went fine. Two: I had a really bad bout with some aquatic botanicals I bought and added to the tank without boiling. They were removed and tons of water was changed to return things to normal within a week. Lesson learned.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZrSZ9gkwKE

[Phillydubs]

Looking great and back to normal!! Glad to hear. How are the new additions doing ??

Jose white dots.. Snail eggs? Is there anything you can do about that...? They are kinda unsightly if you ask me and would drive me nuts. Do you feel the snails give you enough benefit to deal w that?

[jmf3460]

Dicrossus were schooling with the 5 black neon tetras at the top of the tank this morning, idk what is wrong with them that is not their territory. Other than that odd behavior, the dicrossus additions are doing fine Phil. I'm ordering 6 more from Wetspot today to add to these 6 once through with qt and grown up a bit. I grew the current ones from less than half an inch to 1.5" before adding them this time and will plan to do the same with my new ones. I had hoped to find dicrossus maculatus or fiorni but they just are too rare.

White dots are snail eggs, nerite snail eggs to be exact. I don't even hardly see them anymore, just look past them I guess. Yes they are annoying but those nerites do a wonder on my glass. I literally never clean my glass, maybe less than 5 times the entire history of this tank. And I've never cleaned the sides or back ever. So yes they are worth it, but they will not be making the trip to the new acrylic tank when I transfer over if that answers your question. I could take a razor blade and get them off pretty easily but they don't bother me.

[jmf3460]

YEsterday I fed my wilds some live blackworms for the first time, here is a video of it and I apologize in advance for the weird angle. I need a tripod. At first I'm not sure the discus even saw them and so the fat corydoras got a feast, but after about 4 minutes they got the hang of it and really seemed to enjoy the worms.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc6FXh3MFJU&feature=youtu.be

[Dhavalsp]

I love your setup and your fish...they are so bulked up, it seems like all are members at some local discus gym!

[jmf3460]

I love your setup and your fish...they are so bulked up, it seems like all are members at some local discus gym!

lol thanks so much Dhavalsp, soon their setup will be changing drastically as I am upgrading them to a larger acrylic. I think it will be around 110 gallons with beveled edges. I have it just about paid off and I cant wait.

thanks for the comment.

[Phillydubs]

Chef Jacklyn at it again... Man your guys eat better than I do!!

Great video!!

[jmf3460]

some updated pictures from this morning...nothing new in the tank except I took a razor blade to some of the nerite snail eggs along the front of the tank. I also tried some new sand in the front but I didn't like it enough to put it everywhere.
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oh and a cool picture of a laetacara dorsigera with an earthworm hanging out of its mouth.
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[Phillydubs]

Very nice... those spots on that guy always melt me.. love him!

[jmf3460]

thanks phil, I am lucky, 5 of 6 have significant spotting now. Last one has little but its coming along. I am considering bringing 2 to NADA next year depending on where it is. The one in the very last discus pic (kind of blurry pic) and the one in the back in the second to last discus pic have significant roundness and thickness. The one with all the spots unfortunately isn't very round, what do you think.

Also a video I meant to post earlier, bloodworms during sunrise setting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z791yDjmkx8

[William1]

Georgeous greens. Love the colors.

[jmf3460]

September Update: the wilds have been acting weird lately, no disease or discoloration just less personable and confident. I took some wood out and then added it back with some anubias and it seemed to freak them out for several weeks but this morning they were acting like their old selves again so I shot some pics. Tested water last night all parameters were good except maybe ph had risen by .2 or .4, likely because its been raining a lot and my well water is full of nutrients because of the ground being so saturated. This 75gallon tank has served its purpose well but I am about $300 away from having my 110 gallon acrylic tank paid off so I am hoping to have it by the end of 2016. Also I have recently become a big fan of bucephalandra species plants, so I just received a big variety pack from buceplant.com that I will be adding to the wood soon. The tank now has 12 dicrossus filamentosus in there and they are beginning to get their adult coloration. Only one laetacara remains and 4 black neons. I will not be replacing the laetacara when I move to the larger tank, nor the neons. just kind of letting them age out. the acrylic will likely just be discus/corydoras/ancistrus/dicrossus

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[Second Hand Pat]

Good to hear your wilds have settled Jacklyn and they look awesome. Congrats on your new tank. I wonder if there have been changes to your well water this summer which unsettled the wilds?
Pat

[jmf3460]

Good to hear your wilds have settled Jacklyn and they look awesome. Congrats on your new tank. I wonder if there have been changes to your well water this summer which unsettled the wilds?
Pat

idk pat, it has been another weird month with the discus. I changed the wood around some and added back what I had removed once they started acting weird, and that made them even weirder bc the wood I added back I had attached some anubias to (meant for another tank but wouldn't fit right) They stay hidden under the wood and are afraid of me again like they have reverted back to when I originally received them. I'm not huge on checking water parameters so I checked and everything seemed normal except the ph had risen slightly. they still eat, and still go after bloodworm cubes vigorously but not until it sinks to the bottom, they don't attack it mid water level like id like they usually do. The peck at fdbw cubes and finish it all but only finish one in the mornings and not two. they are wussies, they seem scared of the dicrossus filamentosus but had no problem bossing the bigger laetacara around.

I wonder if I need to add more wood. Over the past year I have tried to have less and less wood and more open swimming space and maybe I have hit their limit. also I went through a phase this month of skipping 2 days between water changes bc it seemed like they were liking that more, but now I'm back to daily or every other day. who knows, maybe ill never fully understand. One day they are eating out of my hand, the next they are scared of me when I even pass by the room.

[Second Hand Pat]

Might be worth considering running your well water thru a high-flow sediment filter/carbon block combo.
Pat

[jmf3460]

Might be worth considering running your well water thru a high-flow sediment filter/carbon block combo.
Pat

I do Pat, it might be time to get new ones though, they don't last too long the type I get as seen here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U1OQ02M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I bought my last set in may so ill get some more on order now

[William1]

They look nice and big. Stupid fish. They don't know how good they have it. A lot of that going around. May there be peace and harmony in your tank, but more importantly for their keeper! Best of luck. Those guys are nice.

[Phillydubs]

That's rather odd that they have such swings in behavior. Are you still feeding the live food and larve?

You see no ill effects from them though other than the skiddish behavior. I think you and pat tossed around some great ideas to try.

Honestly check back on your other posts. I could be wrong but I feel like a few times you mentioned wood movement and changes quite often. Maybe you are constantly resetting them in a way. All of a sudden terrortory is different shadows are different. I mean think about if your bedroom was rearranged every day. I know I'd be walking into crap all the time...

I'm more for a steady set up so that they can sort things out and adjust. Maybe you need to get some different wood or biggier pieces that are more solid and easy to use.

I know when I had my African cichlid tank back in the day I used to have these like hollow cichlid stones they were called. I used to stack them all crazy then water change came and they all would get messed up and I had to rearrange and it was always an annoying mess. Now in my domestic and cross tank I have 3 peices of drift wood that almost fit together to look like one I pull them out Vac and add them back in the same spot. My wild tank the wood has not been moved since I added it. They were on flat stone and light sand so it's easy to vac around. Point being is that maybe you need to make life simpler for you and them and just keep it simple and consistent and see how they react. I would def suggest this for your new tank as wel because that's going to be an adjustment for them.

Just my attempt to help.

[jmf3460]

That's rather odd that they have such swings in behavior. Are you still feeding the live food and larve?

You see no ill effects from them though other than the skiddish behavior. I think you and pat tossed around some great ideas to try.

Honestly check back on your other posts. I could be wrong but I feel like a few times you mentioned wood movement and changes quite often. Maybe you are constantly resetting them in a way. All of a sudden terrortory is different shadows are different. I mean think about if your bedroom was rearranged every day. I know I'd be walking into crap all the time...

I'm more for a steady set up so that they can sort things out and adjust. Maybe you need to get some different wood or biggier pieces that are more solid and easy to use.

I know when I had my African cichlid tank back in the day I used to have these like hollow cichlid stones they were called. I used to stack them all crazy then water change came and they all would get messed up and I had to rearrange and it was always an annoying mess. Now in my domestic and cross tank I have 3 peices of drift wood that almost fit together to look like one I pull them out Vac and add them back in the same spot. My wild tank the wood has not been moved since I added it. They were on flat stone and light sand so it's easy to vac around. Point being is that maybe you need to make life simpler for you and them and just keep it simple and consistent and see how they react. I would def suggest this for your new tank as wel because that's going to be an adjustment for them.

Just my attempt to help.

I am still feeding the live food Phil, although not as many mosquitoes as I would like, simply because I haven't gone mosquito catching lately but yea at least every other day they get lives. this morning they were better still and I did another water change last night. I had time this morning to watch them swim through the water and eat a FDBW cube on the glass, they all look great, their coloring and their eyes look just perfect. But if I made a sudden movement or something they would dart behind the wood for a few minutes, then gradually come back out to graze.

I do have a large and in charge piece of wood I will be adding to the acrylic tank when I get it. More than likely it will be the only piece of wood in there and so hopefully I wont feel the urge to change it around so much.

With this hurricane, we are about to get a lot of rain again. I'm going to watch and see how my fish act to the water changes after this rain and if they go back into hiding then I think it may have to do with my well water parameters as a result of rain.

[jmf3460]

They look nice and big. Stupid fish. They don't know how good they have it. A lot of that going around. May there be peace and harmony in your tank, but more importantly for their keeper! Best of luck. Those guys are nice.

thanks William. I agree they don't know how good they have it.

[Dhavalsp]

they look nice as usual..

do you notice a change in pecking order every time you rearrange your setting?

[jmf3460]

they look nice as usual..

do you notice a change in pecking order every time you rearrange your setting?

I do Dhaval, but for the better. Normally when things get too aggressive I will rearrange the furniture and it settles things down. Like it keeps them guessing and constantly finding new spots so no one gets overly protective of one particular spot.

[Jack L]

I've upped the amount of rooibos tea I use in my tank, as well as added two new pieces of manzanita wood, what do you think? I will be removing the bigger (older) pieces with tomorrow's water change likely, its just too much but it does look cool. Ofcourse the ancistrus are already all over new wood pieces, but the discus don't seem to care either way. I may switch things around over the next several water changes just to see what I like.

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video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap2knRuOVh4&feature=youtu.be

this tank i like.....

[jmf3460]

yesterday's water change brought more change. I added a large piece of wood back to the left side of the tank and added some bucephalandra to several pieces of wood and added those as well. The fish seem happier with more wood. if I post things like this in the future, remind me to just put more wood back in. I change too much sheesh
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss_Zl_0ebr0
something spooks them bad at the end, who knows what it was.

[Phillydubs]

Wow that was weird at the end... I watched it a few times and can't seem to put my finger on what caused that. They sure do scatter huh...? I've never had mine dart that hard... Your room seems rather dim that they are in correct. I wonder if there is something catching or throwing a shadow or like as the wind blows it flashes somehing.

So I also have to ask. Do you see a difference when you go with taller scapes as opposed to lower scapes? I feel like I've seen some of your set ups and it's super vertical too to bottoms then this one seems to be more horizontal. I would have to assume that the vertical creates more breaks and sections there for making it harder to charge a fish or spook with open areas. But then the open set up is much more spacy.

I ask because I have had some agression in my domestic tank and I am toying with going with a taller scape to create more sections.

[jmf3460]

Wow that was weird at the end... I watched it a few times and can't seem to put my finger on what caused that. They sure do scatter huh...? I've never had mine dart that hard... Your room seems rather dim that they are in correct. I wonder if there is something catching or throwing a shadow or like as the wind blows it flashes somehing.

So I also have to ask. Do you see a difference when you go with taller scapes as opposed to lower scapes? I feel like I've seen some of your set ups and it's super vertical too to bottoms then this one seems to be more horizontal. I would have to assume that the vertical creates more breaks and sections there for making it harder to charge a fish or spook with open areas. But then the open set up is much more spacy.

I ask because I have had some agression in my domestic tank and I am toying with going with a taller scape to create more sections.

the room is dark only because its 630 am and the sun is just coming up. also their sunrise setting of the tank lights has just begun. the room they are in has 2 windows that have blinds but gets a lot of light through them. idk what spooks them sometimes. often one of the discus will bump another discus and they all freak out. or my dog will chase my cat through the room and that freaks them out, or my dog will put his nose up to the tank and that will freak them out, other times they just freak out for no apparent reason at all. happens often with the cubes that stick to the glass, what a bunch of pansies.

as far as vertical vs horizontal, I think they like the vertical scapes more. but the horizontal ones provide a better place for me to attach my plants so its a rock and a hard place kind of situation for me. I think my discus like the bigger chunkier pieces of wood all arranged vertically better. Maybe ill change back to that with the acrylic.

[Jack L]

mine spook like that, sometimes it is a chain reaction from one twitching or something tiny, escalating fast

[jmf3460]

still doing well. bucephalandra is doing quite well in this lighting, I can see new growth on several plants. There are over 10 different species and $80 worth of bucephalandra on those 3 branches. I may start dosing EI in this tank. I do it on my other planted tanks so dosing this tank would not be an issue. Fish doing well. one more payment on my acrylic and then 10 weeks for delivery whoop whoop

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[rickztahone]

Looking great Jacklyn

[jmf3460]

Looking great Jacklyn

thanks so much ricardo. now you know our light can support bucephalandra for when you get your show tank ready and are ready to add some plants to the wood. :)

[jmf3460]

a few updated pictures from this morning and a full tank shot. Paid off the acrylic tank Friday, it will officially be 26 x 23 x 22 with 1/2" thick acrylic for a total of around 110 gallons. it does have quite the build time so I'm not expecting it until the beginning of 2017. discus and dicrossus doing well, dicrossus pairs continue to sneak off and spawn but the eggs never make it beyond 24 hours.

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and the 46 gallon bowfront tank adjacent from the discus tank that you often see a reflection of in my pictures. its current scape is just a single species java fern bunch attached to driftwood inside a clay bowl
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