Hello from London

[Bigerbig]

Hoping to find the information I need to keep discus in my big aquarium. I’m a long time fish keeper and have successfully bred many species of fish. This time I just want a nice planted community tank with discus as the main feature

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Bigerbig and welcome to Simply. May I ask if you have kept either discus or a planted tank before. The reason I ask is there is a certain amount of knowledge and expertise to keeping discus or a planted tank. It is best to have done both separately before combining discus and plants.
Pat

[Bigerbig]

I kept and successfully bred discus 30 yrs ago and raised the young. I’ve never had a planted tank but always do my research before I start a new project

[Second Hand Pat]

Sounds good. My only suggestion would be to keep a planted tank for a while prior to adding discus. You might consider asking any questions you might have in the planted tank section of the forum. We do have members who have beautiful planted tanks with discus http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumdisplay.php?37-Planted-Show-Tanks-and-Biotopes. You also could start a tank journal here if interested http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumdisplay.php?365-Our-Tank-Journals.
Pat

[jeep]

Welcome aboard! I look forward to seeing your project. Please keep us updated!!!

[Bigerbig]

Thx pat I’m not expecting to put any discus in until October at the earliest

[Mr.BigBlock]

Welcome aboard!

[ggillies]

From a Scotsman who's working and living in the San Francisco Bay Area right now, Welcome!

I just did exactly what you are about to do. 200 Gallon fully planted tank; it's a huge success. Don't get dissuaded from doing a planted tank. As long as you have done a few before and do your diligence, it can be done very successfully.

Here's mine:

122977

[danotaylor]

G'day cob, and welcome!
My encouragement to you is to buy adult discus for your planted tank when you're ready. It is very difficult in a planted tank to keep the water quality optimal for growing juvenile discus to adulthood. In their rapid growth phase 0-4.5"+ they require tons of clean water and high protein feeding to reach their potential. Difficult in a planted tank. Adults on the other hand don't require the heavy feeding and frequency/quantity of water changes as juvies.
There are some crackin planted tanks with nice big discus and they look amazing, so.e even without substrate and plants attached to wood &/or rock.
I wish you all the best with your new adventure mate! Keep us in the loop :thumbsup:

[danotaylor]

From a Scotsman who's working and living in the San Francisco Bay Area right now, Welcome!

I just did exactly what you are about to do. 200 Gallon fully planted tank; it's a huge success. Don't get dissuaded from doing a planted tank. As long as you have done a few before and do your diligence, it can be done very successfully.

Here's mine:

122977

Bloody marvelous mate!! Do you dose ferts at all? I see swords & crypts....anything else? What temp are you running?

[ggillies]

I am running 83 F. I did root tabs for all the Swords and Crypts; the Anubias I add iron and liquid ferts once a week just after my water change. I have some other plants that I don't remember at the moment. I can look up my original invoice, I think they're listed on it.

Cheers.