how to start a planted discus aquarium

[pikashy]

i have 6 discus along with 1 black angelfish and i am planning to change my undergravel system into a planted aquarium. i have about 2 inches of gravel above the underwater gravel system and a powerhead. the powerhead seems to be a little too much current for the fish and the plants. how could i convert this into a planted discus aquarium?

should i remove the powerhead and the undergravel system and add sand to the substrate? i have a three stage canistor filter and i have no idea how to start my planted aquarium.

[RAWesolowski]

Pikashy,

It would be easiest to set up a new aquarium as a planted aquarium. Let the water cycle and the plants get established before moving the discus into the tank. That said, I am going to assume that you would like to convert your current tank.

Primary problems that I see are:

1. Removal of UG filter. IMHO the filters do an OK job but may become breeding grounds for all sorts of nasties. If the plate has been in place for a while, the substrate in your tank may have channeled and removal of the plate will release all kinds of things. Be prepared to do multiple water changes when you pull the plate. I would think that you would do at least two if not three 50 to 75% water changes, depending on the muck. Clean the gravel well.

2. Since I assume that you do not have an extra tank, I would not add sand to your existing tank. If you are meticulous in rinsing the sand, it may not be a problem. I try but I can't rinse sand. Don't try it. Do plan your plantings. Visit Walter's Aquuarium page and devour it. He has done an excellent job of showing planting techniques and background on plants.

3. The cannister will work, but you need to have a viable bio-filter going before you bust up your UG. Start the cannister now and run it for a couple of weeks. Be prepared to break it down and clean it after you remove the UG. Quick note: if it is an Eheim, you can control the flow rate, run it at a low rate for the first couple of weeks and put a pre-filter on the intake. It will keep your media from mucking up as quickly.

[pikashy]

if i do remove the UG, do i need to get a quick filter for the powerhead and arrange the powerhead so it moves the surface of the water?

i'm afraid that my gravel doesn't have any of the necessary nutrients for the plants. do i need to add some fertilizer or more nutrient rich gravel?

i've had the cannistor filter running along with the UG for a couple of months.

[ChloroPhil]

Pikashy,

Do you have the canister hooked up to the UG filter or are they separate. If you've got them connected where the canister is removing the detritus from the UGF then it's ok to leave things as they are.

If they're not connected you're probably better off just tearing the whole tank down and starting from scratch. I've tried removing UGF plates from an running aquarium before and it caused all sorts of problems. At this point I would switch to either a large grain sand, #2 or #3 silica filter sand, a non coated gravel such as chicken grit, or a commercial plant substrate like Eco Complete or Flourish.

From there going by the info on Walter's site and the stickied threads above will point in you the right directions. Keep this in mind though...PLAN PLAN PLAN. This isn't something you want to do on the fly.

Best,
Phil

[pikashy]

my canistor filter and UG filters are not connected in anyway. I just have both of them running seperately at the same time.

how's this for starters?
1. remove gravel slowly. 4 weeks for complete removal for a BB tank.
2. add seachem florite to the bottom of the tank.
3. add estes pebble size rocks on top of the seachem.
4. install 2 hagen powerhead 402 with quickfilters attatched to the bottom.
5. put the plants in.

i'm planning to do this over the summer, around 2-3 months, and it will be a gradual change for the discus because i do not have a spare tank big enough to keep them. (i have a 10 gallon tank for quarantine and treatment. since i do not know how this will affect my aquarium, any tips or changes i should do to my schedule?

[jared]

Before you run out and replace substrate think about the plants you would like to keep. For many of the begginer plants (swords, vals, asst stem) special substrates will not make a huge difference. Only when you get into carpet plants and red varieties is this significant. JMO Even if you get flourite, you don't have to add 100%. I noticed no difference between 50% and 100% besides how cloudy the water got when I first put it in. Quite honestly, CO2, increased light supply, and ferts did more for my setup than adding flourite.
Jared

[ChloroPhil]

pikashy

That sounds like a great plan. Jared's also got a very good point. It wouldn't hurt to follow his advice on the substrate.

Best,
Phil

[pikashy]

i've started removing the gravel by siphoning it out with water. i remove about 5 gallons of water/gravel each day and replace it with 5 gallons of R/O water. my fish have seemed to lose some of their appetite and not feeding as aggressively as before.

being that i've had hex before and i know the early symptons of losing appetite, i quickly soaked 250 mg of metro with my regular feeding of flakes once a day. is that enough or do i have to prepare a more effective way of dosing? they are all eating so i figured soaking the metro in the food is the easiest way.

one thing that shocked me today was when i did my pH test. it was around 7.3, 7.4. usually, it's around 7.0 because i use RO water. i did a test on my RO water and it turned out to be 6.0. i dont know whether RO water should be that low pH or not but how could my tank water still be at 7.4?

anyways, maybe changing 5 gallons a day along with removing gravel puts too much stress on the aquarium. but i did not see any nitrite/ammonia spike before/after removing the gravel. could it be the pH that's upsetting the discus so much?

[Howie_W]

Hi Pikashy,

You didn't mention what size your tank is. IMO, your current plan is infact going to cause too much stress for your Discus, not mention taking a long time. Is there any way you could set-up a smaller bare bottom tank? I would transfer the fish to a temporary tank, and then get your new planted set-up all squared away. Once it's established you can put your fish back.

I agree with jared's advice on the substrate...as a mix will work fine.

HTH

Howie

[pikashy]

i have one 50 gallon tank and another 10 gallon tank. maybe i could go out and get a 29 gallon one? except, i have 6 discus and one angel fish, the discus range from 4-6 inches. is ti possible to keep all 6 in a 29 gallon tank?

from my knowledge of BB tanks, this is what i would have to do:
- aqua clear filter
- powerhead with quick filter
- heater
- use the same water from my 50 gallon tank to fill up about half to 3/4 of the 29 gallon tank.
- after this, can i just put my discus in or wait a while to have the biological cycle start working?

[Howie_W]

Getting yourself and extra 29 gallon is not a bad idea. This is only going to be a temporary home while you get the larger tank restructured.

You can never have to many sponge filters, as they are not expensive. If it were me, I'd set-up a hydro-sponge in the 29 gal. and begin cycling it; you can use some amonia to get it started, your angel and water from the existing tank can give it a kick from there. The only thing else you need is a heater. Once you've made sure the the parmeters are okay, add the fish, keep-up on your water changes, and don't over feed.


Howie

[pikashy]

i got a 40 gallon tank from my friend and was claening it this afternoon. i'm gonna let it dry for the night and tomorrow start filling it with tap water and conditioning it. i don't know what type of conditioners to get yet. any tips?

i have a clown loach and and a pleco algae eater to use as my biological starters. how many days/weeks would i have to wait until i could put my discus/ angelfish in assuming that the filter/powerhead water is all new.

[ChloroPhil]

I feel that "Prime" by Seachem is the best water treatment available right now and recommend it. As for the fishes, I'd ditch the clown loach right now. Those things get to be the size of a grown man's forearm and will bother your discus so much at feeding time that they won't eat much. :( Likewise for the pleco, discus have a tasty slime coat and most of the common pleco species will suck on them.

To start your biological cycle going I'd put a couple corydoras in there or just cram it full of plants and call it even.

Best,
Phil