65 G.- Stendker juvie mix growout thread

[Filip]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
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Hi SD fellow discus keepers .
After a mistake and disaster with my previous batch of 6 fullgrown discus , here is a tribute pic of them just for remembrance :)

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And the thread about them :

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?121117-My-65-gallon-planted-discus-tank

I'm back on the tracks again with a new Stendker growout journey ahead of me . I'm ready and set to give my new batch the best care and pampering I can handle and hoping for a good colouring , shaping and final result :) .


2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?
**************
My previous discus experience is about +6 years of keeping discus and lots and lots of reading mainly from this forum, since it is the best place on the net for getting first hand experience and advices from succesfull discus keepers .


3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
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My tank is 65 G 130cm. l x 40cm. w x 50cm h .
Its a display tank in my living room so I guess that's why I always insist on keeping some greenery and decoration in it eventhoug it makes discus keeping much harder :)
It was bleached out and started from the scratch and properly cycled for a full 1-2 months with bottled bacteria , plants in pots and a lots of fish food on a daily level.



4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
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The tank is a growout BB but it has potted plants along the back for aesthetic purpose since it is a display tank in my living room . Some driftwood is also included , just enough to cover the plant pots .
My initial plan is to put a thin layer of sand once my discus is grown but who knows , I just might learn to like BB and leave it this way for a easier and simple maintenance routines and for much cleaner and healthier water .



5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
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WCs are planned Daily at least for the first couple of months from 50% to 90% depending on my time and discus needs .
I can only age 40% of my tank volume and the rest will be straight tap but prefiltered with floss for outgassing .
So it will be a mix of aged and straight tap .



6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
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-Canister filter with big volume , four trays and 550 GPH Flow rate.
-Inline UV sterilizer 40 Watts - 20 inch long tube .
-Lights T5 tubes with reflectors. 3 tubes x 54 watts .I mainly use only two of them and the third is used 2 hours a day occasionally to boost the plant growth .
-Heater - Jagger Eheim 300 watts



7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp 28 -29 C _

- tank ph 8.0

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap 8.2

- ammonia reading 0

- nitrite reading 0

- nitrate reading 5- 10 ppm. The same reading straight from the tap and in the aquarium too.
Municipal water



8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
*****************
11 tiny Stendker discus 4-5 Cm. :

3x Pigeon bloods
3x Red / blue snakeskins
2x Stendker Santarems
2x Alenquers
1 x Diamond blue


9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.
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Stendker discus recipe just to get them started and Beefheart , Shrimps Artemia and tetrabits for a long run .
3 times a day eavenly spreaded at 8:00 ; 16:00 and 23:00 hours .



10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?
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Discus planted community tanks + Breeding experience and raising my own fry from zero .



And now the funniest part of the introduction .Pictures and videos of discus and tank :)
They are 3 days in there so far and eating from day 1 but still hiding when there is traffic in front of them :) . :


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[Filip]

http://youtu.be/7dgVOUAO6Rs


http://youtu.be/hJUFhgECol8


http://youtu.be/28nr6lG9xG0

[Davidzil]

Looking good!

[jmf3460]

YAY Filip!!!! Congrats and I am so happy for you that you were able to find quality discus at an affordable price so close to your hometown. Now its time to put the past in the past and let bygones be bygones. Only moving forward now. They are super cute.

[Filip]

Thanks for your kind words and encouragement Jacklyn and David :) .
That's right Jacklyn , moving forward and feeling super excited right now with my new babies .
I have never kept 2 inch tiny discus before and although they still lack shape and colouring , they look super cute to me too :) .

[jmf3460]

question, was the single blue diamond an impulse buy?? Your last tank was strictly 2 species, how come you didn't go back with a single or two species tank??

[Filip]

question, was the single blue diamond an impulse buy?? Your last tank was strictly 2 species, how come you didn't go back with a single or two species tank??

I couldn't make up my mind about the colours since there were so many Jacklyn :) .
I ended up feeling like a kid with M&Ms and bought a mix of 5 different strains .
Other important reason was also my wife's begging /(bugging) me for blue diamond and pigeons for quite some time :)
On their growing up I will have to let go of 4-5 of them and maybe than I will decide to keep a 2 strains tank again , but only time will tell :) .

[Filip]

Some more interesting pics from tonight :


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[Ryan925]

Really nice Filip

[Filip]

Really nice Filip

Thanks Ryan .

[jmf3460]

really beautiful and colorful pictures there filip, what lighting system do you use on this tank?

[Filip]

really beautiful and colorful pictures there filip, what lighting system do you use on this tank?

Thanks Jacklyn . I use T5- HO - tubes with reflectors .
They are proven to be effective and cheap for plant growth so that's why I choose them a couple years ago .
I got 3 x 54 watt tubes with 3 different Kelvin range 3000K - yellow , 6500K daylight and 8900 ice white to make the colours look more vibrant and real .

[Adive]

Great Filip, will follow this thread

[two utes]

Looking good Filip.
I think growing out juvenile discus is lots of fun....Lots of work, but lots of fun. Its great being in a position where you can determine how they grow out, and enjoy seeing it. Will be eagerly following this thread. Good luck.

[Filip]

Looking good Filip.
I think growing out juvenile discus is lots of fun....Lots of work, but lots of fun. Its great being in a position where you can determine how they grow out, and enjoy seeing it. Will be eagerly following this thread. Good luck.

Thanks Joe . im excited for sure because i have never before raised discus from less than 2 inch size . Its definitely a lots of work and care but its a new and refreshing experience for me and it is fun to watch them grow from Null. Im sure it will get more and more interesting once they start colouring up .

Here is a one week in their new home update pic and video :

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http://youtu.be/epAmhW4AlTo

[two utes]

Hi Filip. How is the grow out going? Are they starting to show a little more color yet?

[Filip]

I haven't updated this growout thread this past 4 months so I will try to make it up in one day ,with pics and videos of every month from the discus growout .

I bought this Stendker 2 - 2.5 inch aprox. 3 months old babies in March so by now I'm guessing they should be more or less about 7-8 months of age .
I've kept track of their monthly growth and hand measured them every month just out of my curiosity so I will post my excel grow - chart too , just to share my experiences with you guys .

So let's starts the photo chronology :

Here are the photos taken on 27 of March , 25 days after their arrival :

Discus bucket pics :

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Close ups of PBs , SS and Alenquer:

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And here is a Video from the first month :


http://youtu.be/75a0fhDncDs

[Filip]

April 10th update photos :

Tank shots:

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Close ups :
Alenq.

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PBs :

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SSs:

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[Surf&turf]

Very Nice.

[Filip]

2 random Tank pics from 14 th of May :

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[Filip]

1st of June Tank photos (6-7 months old juvvies) :

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Discus :

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[Filip]

And my last documented photos from July (7-8 months of age ):

Group pics :

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Discus close ups :

PBs:
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SSs :
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[Filip]

Photos from the July post proceeds here :

The biggest one- The BD :


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Alenquers and Santarems (can't really tell the difference between the two of them TBH :) )

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And a video :


http://youtu.be/fBn728jjT74

[Filip]

And here is my grow up excel chart month by month :
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And the Stendkers original grow out chart just for a reference :

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[Ryan925]

Looking great Filip. Color and shape Iook really nice

[avraamp]

Great job Filip.:eek:

Very nice colours and good shaped discus.
It is really amazing growing out these fishes.
Which canister filter do you use?
Is the UV sterilizer necessary for a discus tank? I have never used one and I would like to know about its usage.
I look forward to seeing your aquarium' s progress with interest.:)

[Phillydubs]

Some of them are getting awfully round!!!

Not to bring up a sore spot, but man your old set up and those amazing blue fish are still one of my faves ever!

[Filip]

Some of them are getting awfully round!!!

Not to bring up a sore spot, but man your old set up and those amazing blue fish are still one of my faves ever!

Thanks for the king words Phill . You are right my friend , this discus can not beat the beauty of the previous Jeffrey Tan's Galaxy turks.
And about The planted setup , don't worry , I'm getting there slowly . I postpone the sand and planting month to month in order to get the most of their growth but my original goal would be a lightly planted setup with selection of my 6-8 adult favs . from this batch .
Right now after 5 months of steady growth and progress I'm faced with 2 month appetite loss problems that I'm trying to deal with .Here is a link from my thread in disease section for the specifics of the issue I'm dealing with :

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?129722-Potential-gill-flukes-or-BGD-disease-problems

. Once I get them back on the tracks again , and hopefully i will , Ill select the best looking 6-8 discus and try my self again with a beautiful low tech planted discus setup .


Great job Filip.:eek:

Very nice colours and good shaped discus.
It is really amazing growing out these fishes.
Which canister filter do you use?
Is the UV sterilizer necessary for a discus tank? I have never used one and I would like to know about its usage.
I look forward to seeing your aquarium' s progress with interest.:)


Thanks Makis . I wish you the best of growth with yours too , and although a very demanding and hard task , I agree with you , its amazing watching them transform from ugly ducklings to beautiful swans in just a couple of months.

I use one cheap Sun- Sun canister rated flow 2100 lph with 4 big filter trays . The filter trays are filled only with coarse bio media : Fluval rings , Seachem matrix , Sera bio - rings and LECA clay balls . The only mechanical filtration is wrapped f filter floss on my canister intake , that I change / rinse daily .

UVs are absolutely unnecessary for growing discus IMO but I personaly tend to believe that they can and do help a little in discus pathogen and algae control , keeping both under controll in the water column.
I my self run a 36 Watt Sun-sun UV attached to my canister .
Algae control of UVs is pretty visible IME (dead algae chunks spills from the canister outtake every time you turn off and on the canister ) but pathogen control is something that you just have to trust in :) , since its not measurable for us , regular hobbist .

Thanks for your support and I look forward seeing your selection of discus Makis . I hope youve got some Tefes ,Brilliant turks ,Leopard SS Blue pigeons because those are my favorites from Stendker .
My selection was choosed hastily, from the Shop leftover discus and I wish I had the chance to choose some more appealing varieties than this current ones .



Looking great Filip. Color and shape Iook really nice

Thanks Ryan . I was thinking of doing a comparison photos from before and after , like you did with yours to show the beautiful transformation of this fish .

[Filip]

Here are my last documented videos/photos and a hand measure session from the 3th of September .
I went on a 8 day vacation after the 3th of September and since I came back the appetite loss just got worse and I doubt there's any significant growth since this last measuring till today .

Tank video :


http://youtu.be/1qPcJLarNHo

Discus video:


http://youtu.be/owVkxVkdm1g

Tank pics :

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[Filip]

Pics from September :

Pigeon bloods :

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Snakeskins:

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Alenqs. And Santarems:

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The Blue Diamond :

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And my grow up chart from the 3th of September (raw material- written with a fishnet with discus in one hand and a marker in the other :) .
Sizes all in Cm's and
BD-being the blue diamond ,
SS's - being the Snakeskins ,
SR's- being the Santarems and
Aq's - being the Alenquers

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[Filip]

An update after a 4 months from my last post .

Discus are 13-14 months old now and almost a year in my tank since I've bought them in march 2 inch sized.
This last 4 months they didn't get their optimal growth because a heavy disease struck them (fully described here :
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?129722-Potential-gill-flukes-or-BGD-disease-problems&p=1282001) but I'm still happy about their final outcome and size.
They all range from 5.5 to 6.5 inch to this moment .

Hera are some tank and discus shots from this month :

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[Filip]

And here are the discs :

Santarem :

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Alenquer :

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Blue Snakeskin

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Red snakeskin :

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Pigeon bloods:

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And last but not least . The bigesst bully in the tank .The blue diamond :

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[Ryan925]

Tank and fish look great Filip

[abijitr]

Wow! Just wow Filip!!!

[Filip]

Thank you very much for the kind comments Ryan and Abi.

[sayid]

Your tank looks awesome and it is a credit to you.

[jmf3460]

FISH IN PICTURE # 7 is my favorite of your group. they all look amazing Filip and great job with the plants. What lighting again?

[Altum Nut]

Well done Filip...your grow-out group are stunning and tank set-up very appealing to the eye. Something my wife would show more interest in rather then looking at my bare-bottom tanks.

...Ralph

[Filip]

Your tank looks awesome and it is a credit to you.

Thanks Said , I appreciate your support .


FISH IN PICTURE # 7 is my favorite of your group. they all look amazing Filip and great job with the plants. What lighting again?

#7 - a wild lookalike Alenquer discus . You are so hooked up on wilds and wild looking discus Jacklyn :) .
I use 2 x 54 watt T5 High output bulbs with reflectors . T5 HO's are already proven among plant tank enthusiast to have great effect on plant growth . Plants are all potted in soil + sand mix because I only have just enough sand to barely cover the tank bottom glass .


Well done Filip...your grow-out group are stunning and tank set-up very appealing to the eye. Something my wife would show more interest in rather then looking at my bare-bottom tanks.
...Ralph

Thanks Ralph . Although a bit dissapointed i've missed my personal goal for raising 7-8 inchers with the disease that hit them, I'm still fairly satisfied with how they grew out .
And about wifes and their preferences , my wife got very disappointed and in disapproval of the tank Bare look for the 3 monts period, while I was treating them different treatments :) . She was a constant reminder and PIA of how sad and blue my tank looks :)
Now she's all happy and proud about the tank look again :)

[Second Hand Pat]

Oh WOW Filip, very nice job here and the fish and tank look awesome. Well done. :)
Pat

[Filip]

Oh WOW Filip, very nice job here and the fish and tank look awesome. Well done. :)
Pat

Thanks for your compliments Pat :) .

[two utes]

Despite all that went wrong you ended up with a beautiful group of discus if you ask me. Good on you for getting them here. I absolutely love your full tank shots, and i bet you get alot of pleasure sitting in front of it.
Enjoy the fruits of your hard labor Filip. Very well done!

[Filip]

Despite all that went wrong you ended up with a beautiful group of discus if you ask me. Good on you for getting them here. I absolutely love your full tank shots, and i bet you get alot of pleasure sitting in front of it.
Enjoy the fruits of your hard labor Filip. Very well done!

Thanks for the compliments Joe .
After the long BB look of the tank during the growout period I do enjoy my current planted look of the tank . I've missed the sand and plants during the growing and treating periods , but now I'm back with my greenery and I do enjoy it .

[Davidzil]

Look great
Nice job!

[Filip]

Look great
Nice job!

Thanks Dave .

[Filip]

Some new update pics from my tank and discus . I have them for 1 year now , and got them as 2 month old discus a year ago , so approx. 14-15 months of age :

Full tank shots :

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Discus close ups :

SS's:

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[Filip]

PB's :

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Mr. Blue :

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Brownies :

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[Pices]

Absolutely gorgeous. The fish, the plants, the tank, the water-so beautiful!

[LoGeek]

Very nice looking tank Filip!

[Filip]

Thanks for your compliments Patty and Jorgen.

[Filip]

I recently got new 50 tetra fish in my discus tank to make things more dynamic and eratic in there :) . I got 43 Red nose tetras and 7 Furcatas all grown and bought from a fellow aquarist .

After a 6 weeks QT ad a hero testing discus everything went well and now they all swim together in my display tank .
Here are some videos and pictures from the QT and my main tank with my new additions :

10 Galons QT :

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Display tank Videos :


http://youtu.be/zAqx6QE5JRM


http://youtu.be/sXdfxslojU4


http://youtu.be/aLbvAdpq_DE

And a couple of photos :

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And the whole tank , sofa view :

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[Filip]

Just some random new photos of my discus and tank . Now they got all grown it seems almost too easy to maintain them and I kind of miss all the daily action back in the days when I was raising them :) . Now Im trying to chase away that constant itch to buy and replace some of them with new discus :).

Here are some of my latest photos, close -ups and discus bouquets :) :

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And a whole tank shot :

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[Paul Sabucchi]

They look fab, have any paired up? Any thoughts about becoming a grandad?

[Filip]

They look fab, have any paired up? Any thoughts about becoming a grandad?

Thanks Paul . Not a single pair to this moment .
At my amazement they seemed to be all males group (: . However regardless of my wish to try my hand on breeding I lack space and tankage at this point to do that so I'm not that disappointed that they all turned out to be males.
Also , , having small and slightly overcrowded discus tank maybe it's better that no pairs were formed .

[Paul Sabucchi]

What are the odds of that happening! (1 in 512 actually)
I thought that we had no room left for a breeding tank but the wife yesterday hinted she would not object to putting her 2 goldfish in the pond with their cousins and free up the 45 gal for possible discus breeding so you never know!

[Filip]

Added some Amazon frogbit to my tank that I got from a fellow hobbist .
I like the new look with all those roots floating from the top and moving around the tank along with the current .
Here are some shots from the tank with Frogbit added :

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[danotaylor]

looks amazing mate!!

[Filip]

Thanks Daniel .

[MickO'S]

They look so great they almost look unreal !!
Amazing aquarium and even nicer fish !!!

Mick

[Filip]

They look so great they almost look unreal !!
Amazing aquarium and even nicer fish !!!

Mick

Thanks Mick . I hope youll grow yours even bigger and have success in your planned nice looking planted discus tank too .

[MickO'S]

Thank you Filip,

I really hope so too! Im throwing lots of tech at the project with sub-optimal levels of water change, (for well thought out reasons !! but I may be wrong) I really hope i dont spend all my time as Paul S said "knocking at St Peters door" and bouncing from one disaster to the next, Who knows though!!!!
Anyway I love the way your fish tuned out, they are a credit to you

Mick

[Mando]

Hey, Fillip! Just read the entire thread. What a journey! Which ones did you end up keeping? The browns are my favorite but they looked funky as juvies compared to the others.

I see that you went through a lot of different plants. Was this because of melting/heat issues or simply preferences?

Can you name the plants in your last full tank updates?

[Filip]

Hey, Fillip! Just read the entire thread. What a journey! Which ones did you end up keeping? The browns are my favorite but they looked funky as juvies compared to the others.

I see that you went through a lot of different plants. Was this because of melting/heat issues or simply preferences?

Can you name the plants in your last full tank updates?

Thanks for your interest in my experience Armando .
I just realize that I haven't been updating my thread for a full year now , and I'm sorry for my negligence .
The same batch of 9 minus the smallest pigeon is still there , and in march this year I added 3 more grown Discus to the batch ( and yes I know that im way overstocked :o ) .
Later , I will add some timeline videos and Photos from the tank from this past year in other posts to make up for my absence here .

Yes , the plants were changed mainly due to melt off and dying in some periods of my tank upkeep . Sometimes Algae took over and killed the plants , so I end up trying other kinds .
I came to realize that the best periods for my plants , were when I maintained the ttank and changed water daily . When I slack off on water changes there were always algae presence which leads to plant degradation .

My last update from left to right :
Left hill of plants :
Cerathopteris Thalicroides
Bacopa Australis
Rotalla rotundofolia
Hygriphilla corymbosa

Right plant pile :
Echinodorus ozelot
Hygriphilla corymbosa
Nymphoides hygrophilla Taiwan