Work in Progress....

[Macca]

Hi all, a few months back now I handed over my aquarium to my fish mad son to give him an opportunity to get his feet wet.

Having grown up around me keeping discus it was no surprise that he wanted to get straight into discus keeping.

Its bitten him so hard that he's just ordered a new 72 x 24 x 18 set up. For the time being here is his current 180 litre set up. It been something of a journey for him to get this far, so any comments you have for him would be appreciated :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjjdboWCguI&feature=channel

Macca

[Disgirl]

Nice looking tank but the fish look very dark in the video. A light colored background, either painted or something attached to the outside glass, and a lighter substrate like white sand would really lighten up the dark fish! The fish are dark because they are trying to blend in with their surroundings now. Also, the large gravel will hold too much uneaten food and poo. Sand will be much easier to keep clean. Good luck with it!
Barb :)

[Macca]

Hi Barb, you're bang on there. As I say its been a voyage of discovery for him and he's still very much learning. The substrate in the curret tank is a micro gravel however the new tank is as you say to have a sand bottom and he's fitting a Back to Nature slimline background which is a pale red, so the new tank will be very different indeed.

The thing he's struggling with currently is that he has two light units fitted to the tank, and daylight plant growth tube and a blue tube. When the daylight tube is on the fish are very shy and rarely want to come out, when the blue is on later on they're all over the place, in fact that's how the video clip was shot.


Cheers,

Macca

[David Rose]

Sounds like the growth light may be too much and I have to wonder if that strength is needed for swords and anubias. I thought they were more low light type plants, so I would think a 50/50 bulb would be sufficient or even less to replace the grow bulb.

Hopefully the more experienced planted discus tank keepers will jump in here.

[zamboniMan]

Sounds like the growth light may be too much and I have to wonder if that strength is needed for swords and anubias. I thought they were more low light type plants, so I would think a 50/50 bulb would be sufficient or even less to replace the grow bulb.

Hopefully the more experienced planted discus tank keepers will jump in here.

Its going to depend on how deep the tank is. Swords will survive in low light but they won't propagate. If you add injected CO2 you might get them to propagate but it's doubtful. Chances are the problem is switching between the two bulbs. Try swtiching the blue tube for a daylight bulb. Consistent lighting will help your sons discus settle in better. Also if you put a nightlight next to the tank (or moon lights) it won't be such a shock for the discus.

Hope that helps,
Josh

[Macca]

Hi guys, the current tank is 60 x 15 x 12, and the odd thing is the plants are propagating without any issue, which i'm putting down to lighting and the fact that he's running a peat growth bag in his external filter.

Macca

[zamboniMan]

That's a fairly shallow tank so the light is close to the plants(you didn't specify but I'm assuming 12 in is the height since it was last). Peat does a good job helping to soften the water when used properly and will put out trace elements needed by most plants if it's kept fresh. Is he dosing the tank with anything else? (KNO3, etc) It sounds like the key is the shallowness of the tank, most people talk a watts per gallon (WPG) but you can get away with less WPG if the tank is shallow. Either way I'd try and switch the actinic (blue bulb) with a new daylight.

Hope that helps,
Josh

[rickztahone]

i just saw the vid and i don't think it's as bad as some made it out to be. first and foremost I would like to point out that your lighting is not the greatest in the video, they almost look like antic lights for SW. When i had 4 10k's on my 125 my discus looked exactly like that because i had some gravel the same color as the one in your vid. if you lighten the background, change lighting to say 6700k's and change gravel, they should look like completely different discus, in a good way.

HTH

[Macca]

Hey buddy, its OK I don't think any of the guys that have posted have been overly hard at all, they've just shared their opinions. Let's face it that why such things are posted in a forum like this, i.e. to get feedback from folks that have more experince. If that feedback is positive then fine its encouraging, if its more guiding him to better practice then that's even better surely?

All comments gratefully received guys, and very welcome. Some of the comments already made are in synch with his current thinking surrounding changes to be made for the larger tank, so its all to the good. I also fully expect these fish to look completely different in alternative surrounding and lighting so time will definitely tell on this one guys.

Cheers all,

Macca

[Macca]

Hey Zamboni, the tank is 15" tall and 12" front to back, but it is a temporary home.

Macca

[zamboniMan]

Well 15" isn't that much deeper than 12". Switch out the bulb and put them both on during the day and his plants should really take off. Keep us posted.

Good luck,
Josh

[Macca]

Hi all, my sons been taking various comments on board over his discus group and although he's not wanting to make huge changes to this setup (as the new one is on the way), he has experiemented.

He removed half of the gravel creating a beach effect and runs the tank on both the daylight and blue lights. This gives a decent reflection from the white polystyrene under the tank and helps to 'light' the fish.

So he shot some more video, and I think the fish are starting to look 'a little' more colourful. Bear with it, there are some close ups midway through the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FceKxuWieAI

Any thoughts guys?

Macca

[Macca]

Hi all, he's been taking various comments on board over his discus group and although he's not wanting to make huge changes to this setup (as the new one is on the way), he's experiemented.

He removed half of the gravel creating a beach effect and is running the tank on both the daylight and blue lights. This gives a decent reflection from the white polystyrene under the tank and helps to 'light' the fish.

So he shot some fresh video, and I think the fish are starting to look 'a little' more colourful. Bear with it, there are some close ups midway through the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FceKxuWieAI

Macca

[zamboniMan]

They do look a bit better. Tell him to keep up the good work.

Take Care,
Josh

[Macca]

Cheers Josh, yeah its been interesting for him watching how they adapt to conditions so we're both quite keen now to see how they'll change again in the new set up, with sand, new background and new lighting.

Macca