High tech planted tank with discus

[Smalone94]

Hello everyone, thanks for a taking a moment to read and giving me your input. I run a “high tech tank” with discus and some guppies. I used the quotes because im missing the high light but substrate, filtration and co2 are there... anyways i always see issues with PH swings and discus. When my co2 is in full saturation i do go down 1 whole number with my PH from 7.6 to 6.6 range but online it says you want a PH swing of 1.0 when your co2 is in effect. Is this true? False? Bad? Okay?

[Filip]

Hi Smalone and welcome .
Please share some photos of your planted discus tank .
It's a true statement that pH drop of 1 point will get you close and approximate to 30 ppm Co2 in moderate( KH +- 10) water .
Its good and optimal for plant growth and bad for discus health . I do not recommend using co2 and pH swings with discus at all , but if you are dead set and you going to do it anyway , you can at least try to lower your PH drop to 0.5 and settle with +- 15 PPM of Co2 to avoid putting too much stress on your discus .
Good luck with your discus journey .

[Smalone94]

Thank you so much, i will do some more research and take that into consideration. Im new to the hobby still and i tried to get all the best equipment i could hint the co2 haha. Beautiful fish and planted tanks can help keep a man occupied and off drugs. All though i am deadset on keeping it a planted tank. Co2 will not be filled back up once the hairgrass carpet fills in, probably a couple more months i assume.

[dspeers]

Hope you don't mind if I ask but I am confused. there are several systems that will regulate CO2 flow on the basis of Ph, during active photosynthesis, high CO2 flow, and at night reduced CO2 flow with the idea being to keep Ph stable. Is there some advantage other than saving a little CO2 to completely turning off the CO2 at night?

[Mando]

Hope you don't mind if I ask but I am confused. there are several systems that will regulate CO2 flow on the basis of Ph, during active photosynthesis, high CO2 flow, and at night reduced CO2 flow with the idea being to keep Ph stable. Is there some advantage other than saving a little CO2 to completely turning off the CO2 at night?

There really isn't an advantage except for saving the co2 and it also gives your fish a little break from the co2. It would be nice to find a balance as I, too, want a hitech planted discus tank.

I don't see anything wrong with keeping the co2 at 30ppm during the day and lowering to half (15) at night. Some people run co2 24/7 and add an air diffuser at night to agitate the surface.

[Smalone94]

Armando im going to do some more research on this, i have a couple high tech planted tank people. If there is a way to tag you into a thread later please let me know how.

[Filip]

I've never used Co2 with a PH controller Don , but I personally believe that it's a better way of keeping PH stable in discus tanks and avoiding the big pH swings twice daily when Co2 turns on and off .
For plant only tank Max amounts of CO2 +30 ppm , without pH controller are more efficient .

[Smalone94]

ive tested myph so many times now when co2 has been on for hours and off for the whole entire night and my ph does not swing at all. i think this is due to my substrate that helps keep the water acidic as it comes out of my tap at 7.6 and my tank stays around 6.5 at all times. sooooo im not going to worry about it anymore. even before this substrate i used dirt and my co2 wouldnt drop the ph... idk whats going on but it is stable at all times of testing.

[Filip]

ive tested myph so many times now when co2 has been on for hours and off for the whole entire night and my ph does not swing at all. i think this is due to my substrate that helps keep the water acidic as it comes out of my tap at 7.6 and my tank stays around 6.5 at all times. sooooo im not going to worry about it anymore. even before this substrate i used dirt and my co2 wouldnt drop the ph... idk whats going on but it is stable at all times of testing.

That's impossible because if and when Co2 dissolves in water it forms a carbonic acid that lowers the PH of a solution . If you don't see any PH drop you either do not test PH accurately or you completely fail to dissolve any of the Co2 injected in the water .
Do you use reactors , ceramics atomizers or any equipment to dissolve your injected CO2 ?

[Camrin]

Originally Posted by marinephd
I thought of raising the temperature (currently at 80-81). So I'm trying to adjust the co2 slowly to manage the temperature increase. I'm not an expert, just a noob trying to search on forums using the essay typer (https://essaytyper.pro/) tool for my inquiries. I've a 75g cycled aquarium.


Adjusting pH swings and co2 levels is the last task, if you're a beginner. Discus may be particularly stressed by CO2, so be careful. You may also check the The Planted Tank Forum or the Ukaps forum >> Specific Planted Tank Discussions >> Fish >> Discus in a high tech planted tank

[dornblaser]

I run high-tech Discus tanks with an 8-hour photo-period with CO2 turned off at night. I use Seachem's Black Fluorite which is an inert substrate and does not change the PH as the substrate in those tanks. I do not use as much CO2 in the Discus tanks as I do my other tanks, I use an in-line diffuser. My tanks are very stable. I particularly like the UP Aquatic Plant Society forum, I visit it almost every day.

[Shan_Evolved]

I was told the PH fluctuation due to CO2 wasn't as bad as fluctuations caused by other factors and not to stress too much. I would start with a low amount of CO2ppm and see how the discus react and go from there.

[dornblaser]

I was told the PH fluctuation due to CO2 wasn't as bad as fluctuations caused by other factors and not to stress too much. I would start with a low amount of CO2ppm and see how the discus react and go from there.

That is my understanding as well, my CO2 injections in those tanks are on the lean side. It is all about tweaking your tank so that the entire ecosystem is in balance, correct plant selection is key as well. I am don't know the rules on this forum about posting links but there is a very good article that was written in 2001 titled The Planted Discus Aquarium by George and Karla Booth that is worth reading.

[Iminit]

Dave things were different back than. The goal was to have your discus in a planted tank. I’ve kept planted tanks since the late 80s and still haven’t tried co2. I’ve been fine without. Keep it simple has been my motto. 130374

[eugenefish]

Once you start injecting CO2 into the tank, you have to consider adding fertilizers like phosphorus, nitrogen.... into the water column too. Those extra chemical may have a negative impact to your discus too. Something to keep in mind.

Don't get me wrong, I love high tech Plant tank and Discus as well. However putting them together is not going to be an easy task. Plant tank with 30 ppm of CO2 will need to have at least 30 ppm nitrate and 10ppm of phosphorus for the plant to grow nicely. Discus does not like to be in the water with 30 ppm of nitrate :(

My 210 gal discus tank

[eugenefish]

For some reason I cannot attach my high tech plant tank photo :(

I reduce it to 640kb but still no luck

[dprais1]

Once you start injecting CO2 into the tank, you have to consider adding fertilizers like phosphorus, nitrogen.... into the water column too. Those extra chemical may have a negative impact to your discus too. Something to keep in mind.

Don't get me wrong, I love high tech Plant tank and Discus as well. However putting them together is not going to be an easy task. Plant tank with 30 ppm of CO2 will need to have at least 30 ppm nitrate and 10ppm of phosphorus for the plant to grow nicely. Discus does not like to be in the water with 30 ppm of nitrate :(

My 210 gal discus tank


I may be wrong on this.

I believe that what discus don't like are dissolved organic compounds (DOC) in the water. These compounds breakdown and end up as nitrate but they pollute water until they do. If nitrate was the only problem everyone would just run nitrate removing resin instead of doing waterchanges. There is no easy test for DOC but nitrate test will tell us all we need to know, so people ultimately just use that.
Tom Barr once ran a planted tank with cardinal tetras with nitrate dosing over 400, no problems, if I remember the details.

Anyhow, my point is that although we use nitrate as an indicator of water cleanliness it doesn't translate the same when we add nitrate as a fertilizer.

If I am correct, you could run a tank and dose nitrate to 50ppm without a problem as long as you kept your tank clean of the waste and other organics.

[Shan_Evolved]

For some reason I cannot attach my high tech plant tank photo :(

I reduce it to 640kb but still no luck

Try uploading to imgur, then resaving it to your computer.

[eugenefish]

I may be wrong on this.

I believe that what discus don't like are dissolved organic compounds (DOC) in the water. These compounds breakdown and end up as nitrate but they pollute water until they do. If nitrate was the only problem everyone would just run nitrate removing resin instead of doing waterchanges. There is no easy test for DOC but nitrate test will tell us all we need to know, so people ultimately just use that.
Tom Barr once ran a planted tank with cardinal tetras with nitrate dosing over 400, no problems, if I remember the details.

Anyhow, my point is that although we use nitrate as an indicator of water cleanliness it doesn't translate the same when we add nitrate as a fertilizer.

If I am correct, you could run a tank and dose nitrate to 50ppm without a problem as long as you kept your tank clean of the waste and other organics.

You are absolutely right about the DOC in the water. That why almost all successfully discus keeper are doing massive daily water change (80% or more WC) and that including me too. However daily WC on a high tech plant tank is counterproductive and the plant will not be happy at all.

Just my 2 cents :o

[bluelagoon]

I once had a high tech adult discus tank. With 80% WC's every two days. I used EI dosing and it seemed to work well. Buy your ferts at a hydroponic shop and find a recipe on the web to make your own, cheap.