My Heaven in the Home, 75G Planted Discus

[cfi on the fly]

Thought I would post up some pics for people who might be thinking about putting together a planted tank along with discus. I think they compliment each other spectacularly and I love working on this tank. So relaxing!!

[jball1125]

Really nice tank!!!

Thanks for sharing:D

[Jennie]

That's a gorgeous tank. I love the grass in the foreground. What size tank?

[Eddie]

That is definitely a wicked tank! Very inspiring, even for me since I don't do planted tanks. If I ever do, I'd like it to look like this one! Awesome job man.

Eddie

[Sharkbait]

You're growing 3 plants which i've had the hardest time with.

althernanthera reineckii
rotala wallichii
limnophila aromatica

Tried several times...no luck.

It's one thing to have a planted discus tank with low-light plants...it's another to do what you're doing. Congrats :)

[tcyiu]

Thought I would post up some pics for people who might be thinking about putting together a planted tank along with discus. I think they compliment each other spectacularly and I love working on this tank. So relaxing!!

If only I do not have a brown thumb.

AWESOME! :thumbsup:

Tim

[vera]

Great tank !, how much light do u have ?

TC

[DiscusKev]

wow. Very green :)

[cfi on the fly]

Its a 75 Gallon with 4x54 t5ho lighting. Started about a year and half ago dreaming about just a small planted tank...and this is what I ended up with and would really like to get something even bigger to accomodate more types of plants. The wife says that is unlikely though!!

[diveshooter]

Excellent looking tank, and fish too! I really like your selection of plants. Nice mix of colors and shapes.

[zeke8722]

Amazing! What other fish do you house in that tank? Very inspiring!!

[vera]

Iand this is what I ended up with and would really like to get something even bigger to accomodate more types of plants. The wife says that is unlikely though!!

The verdict :D
keep trying u have our support
TC

[fishorama]

oooh, that's lovely!

[Colorado14erGuy]

Wow... That has got to be one of the most beautiful tanks I have ever seen. Thanks for sharing!

[MikeF]

Very nice tank, and fish. I wish I could grow plants that look half that nice!

[jimmyjoe]

Very, very beautiful layout you have there, how long did it take to set it up and eventually look like this. I mean to ask from day one of putting the plants in how long til these pictures. jim

[Larry Bugg]

Absolutely stunning tank!! I was into planted tanks before I got into discus. I just took my 3 high light tanks down because they weren't in the fish room which meant they got neglected. I am in the proceess of shopping craigslist for a 4' (75, 90 or 120) to set up a high light planted tank in the fish room. What you have is very close to what I would like to end up with. Can you give us a little more details on your set up? You mentioned wishing you could go bigger................I considered that but too much bigger and the height of the tank gets taller than I want to work in.

[Disgirl]

Beautiful tank with equally beautiful fish and plants!
Barb:)

[bonsai dave]

wow great job with the tank. It looks amazing.

[cfi on the fly]

Thanks for all the great feedback. Not many people in my life understand the planted tank, discus hobby, and its nice to share some of this with people who appreciate it.

To answer some of the questions...

The current tank was set up just about a year ago after I spent the summer building a custom stand for it. The tank has been doing well for about the last 7 months, with good growth and now Im able to grow just about anything Ive tried. The thing that made it so much easier was the addition of pressurized co2 with an inline difuser. After this addition things really took off. Its almost feels like cheating, but good co2, like so many say over at plantedtank.net, is really the key to control the algae. Ferts and lights are important too, but the co2 is key.

As far as other fish, Ive got 4 Discus, 2 Siamese Algae Eaters, 1 Bushy Nose, 1 otto, about 20 neon tetras, 6 Amano shrimp, and probably about 100 red cherry shrimp- with more babies every day. Also have 5 olive nerites snails, and a variety of "other" snails that Im trying to eradicate


The shrimp do an amazing job getting left overs and I see them in the finer textured plants cleaing up too.

Oddly enough, even with all this life in a relatively small 75g tank, I don't do all that much cleaning. After I figured out how to position inflow and outflow, I havnt had to vacuum the tank in the last 6 months. I do about a 60-70% water change once a week and clean one of my two cannister filters every other week...so each one is cleaned 1 x per month. I have a eheim 2217 and a 2236 which keeps everything very quiet...a must for the wife.

I do use a mixture of Ro water mixed with my tap about a 70 to 30 mix.

One thing that I would like to see happen is for my discus to spawn, though I know this tank is not condusive to fry, still I would like to see it happen at least once.

Im trying to get better at aqua scaping so any feedback is welcome...

[Jennie]

you can't get much better than that?!! awsome tank.

[Larry Bugg]

Im able to grow just about anything Ive tried. The thing that made it so much easier was the addition of pressurized co2 with an inline difuser

I have always used a Rex Griggs style on the output side of my cannister filter. What kind of difuser are you using?


I do about a 60-70% water change once a week

Are you doing EI dosing?


I'm trying to get better at aqua scaping so any feedback is welcome...

You can find a lot of show scapes out there but most of them cannot be maintained over a extended period of time. Not what I want. I think you have done an excellent job scaping your tank and you have been able to maintain it for over a year. I like the look of yours so much that I will look at it much closer when I find the tank I want and start my new one. I was going through some of the AGA show tanks the other day looking for ideas and I found it here, lol.

Is sand your only substrate? It doesn't look like it is very deep. Is the back of the tank painted? What color? No hardscape that I can see?

[cfi on the fly]

Yep, I use the Rex Grigg style, if that is the one that you build out of pvc piping....works awesome, no bubbles of co2, just complete difusion.

I used EI dosing to begin with to get a start on things. Lately though, I just pour the ferts right from the bag into the tank and eyeball it...probably putting in more ferts than ei actually calls for, but no ill effects as I believe its hard to overdose of ferts if you co2 is sufficient.

Sand is the only substrate I am using, and its pool filter sand. I have found its excellent for the plants and very easy to move plants around in. Its about 3 inches in front to about 5 in the back. If I did it again I would make it a little deeper all around. I forgot to mention that I also put is some root tabs from time to time, probably every other month. I have used root medic tabs from a guy on plantedtank.net and total tabs from aquariumplants.com. Most plants came from swap and shop on plantedtank.net


The back is spray painted a flat black. One thing I found to work well is to first spray the back with a "frosted" coating. This gives the glass some texture and grip for the "black" paint to adhere to. Otherwise I was always scraping away paint on the back when I was moving hoses around back there.

I used to have a mopani wood stump in there, and it looked very nice and natural, however it took too much space and cast some serious shadows, and I wanted more vareity of plants to try. Might try and get some thinner pieces later on.

I think a 125G would be really nice to have, long length for fish to swim and alot more room to get creative with. However, nothing will ever be big enough for me Im afraid, so ill probably just stop with a 75g.

Id be gald to answer anything else, not that Im any kind of expert, but I had and still do have lots of help along the way too...mainly Eddie on here and the plantedtank.net guys






I have always used a Rex Griggs style on the output side of my cannister filter. What kind of difuser are you using?



Are you doing EI dosing?



You can find a lot of show scapes out there but most of them cannot be maintained over a extended period of time. Not what I want. I think you have done an excellent job scaping your tank and you have been able to maintain it for over a year. I like the look of yours so much that I will look at it much closer when I find the tank I want and start my new one. I was going through some of the AGA show tanks the other day looking for ideas and I found it here, lol.

Is sand your only substrate? It doesn't look like it is very deep. Is the back of the tank painted? What color? No hardscape that I can see?

[Larry Bugg]

Thanks for the answers. In the past most of my plants came from the Swap and Shop on plantedtank, but now our local Aquarium club has a big group of planted tank nuts. We have a small auction at the end of each monthly meeting and 2 big auctions a year. You can almost always find any kind of plant you need.

I also use the total tabs from APC. When I have done major builds I have ordered all the plants I needed from them. I have always found their plants to be excellent and they are good guys to work with.

I have not posted much on plantedtank since getting into discus. I need to get back there more often.

Larry

[TURBOFROG]

Thats a great looking setup you have there!!

[Discus-n00b]

Very nice. I can't really keep plants to save my life, yours look great.

[Eddie]

Thanks for all the great feedback. Not many people in my life understand the planted tank, discus hobby, and its nice to share some of this with people who appreciate it.

.


I hear that my friend, we are definitely a minority. So many people don't understand it at all. Someone comes into that house and says WOW, those are some nice fish but what they think, is that we bought the fish and just tossed them into some water. When you tell them about the daily upkeep/care and the foods we feed, their jaw drops. The same phrase "Oh my god, thats way too much, I could never do that." And we think, thats right. It takes a special "gene" to do what we do, and we love it! ;)

[jimg]

Very nice!

[discuspaul]

Superb discus tank ! Great job - It's awesome !
You'll have lots of wannabe copiers.

[exv152]

...It takes a special "gene" to do what we do, and we love it! ;)

Gene? or a need to be constantly busy (my case). The discus thing is quite time consuming and labour intensive, but add to that a planted tank and you practically almost double your workload (ferts, CO2, testing etc). The reward for me is seeing a vibrant and colourful display (both plants and fish) that's constantly evolving. :D

[cfi on the fly]

Gene? or a need to be constantly busy (my case). The discus thing is quite time consuming and labour intensive, but add to that a planted tank and you practically almost double your workload (ferts, CO2, testing etc). The reward for me is seeing a vibrant and colourful display (both plants and fish) that's constantly evolving. :D


Yeah, Im not really happy unless Im working on something either. But part of the challenge for me is to figure out how efficient you can make something so I can spend more time on something else. Thats the fun part!!

[ExReefer]

Nice tank! Be careful what you wish for. A breeding pair of discus in a show tank can cause lots of stress for the other discus.

[exv152]

... part of the challenge for me is to figure out how efficient you can make something so I can spend more time on something else. Thats the fun part!!

Or, spend more time planning another, bigger tank? I've got a 75 gal planted, and now I've been eyeing up the 125 gal tanks at the store. I like the 72"x18"x21 tanks because they have quite the panoramic view. Maybe for spring of 2011. Congrats on the tank, looks awesome!

[cfi on the fly]

Or, spend more time planning another, bigger tank? I've got a 75 gal planted, and now I've been eyeing up the 125 gal tanks at the store. I like the 72"x18"x21 tanks because they have quite the panoramic view. Maybe for spring of 2011. Congrats on the tank, looks awesome!

Exactly, i really like the demensions of that tank too. problem for me is i like to have the tank in m living room so i can watch it during commercials. I just dont have the space for one there.

[GrillMaster]

cfi... (k whats yer name?) beautiful tank bud! The Rex Grigg reactor is the best!! I have two of em. :)

Your Discus look at home as well!

I have to say that you have the c02 and EI down looking at the pics. You got the pool filter sand going from 3-5 " Dont think I would change anything.

I am lookin for plants here soon, so next time yer arm deep an trimmin, put some aside for me bud! I am gonna start a 125G pretty soon... :thumbsup:

[kyubi]

nice tank...i love planted tank, it look so natural.... the discus is home and yes, it is heaven in that tank for the discus....good job man....

[lpiasente]

I hear that my friend, we are definitely a minority. So many people don't understand it at all. Someone comes into that house and says WOW, those are some nice fish but what they think, is that we bought the fish and just tossed them into some water. When you tell them about the daily upkeep/care and the foods we feed, their jaw drops. The same phrase "Oh my god, thats way too much, I could never do that." And we think, thats right. It takes a special "gene" to do what we do, and we love it! ;)

yep you r right eddie. Everyone comes into my house and wants a tank just like mine ( yeah right) until I tell them the work that is involved.

[lpiasente]

Your discus colours really pop with the green plants. It looks geat

[mjbarnard]

Your tank is inspirational!

Can I ask what are the main plants you are using? I cant see a list on the thread, although I note someone else has listed 3 of them.

I am upgrading to a custom built 100G tank shortly. It will be planted discus. Your planting is amongst the best I have seen in a detailed examination of the main forums over the last six months.

Thanks
Matthew

[discuspaul]

Wow... That has got to be one of the most beautiful tanks I have ever seen. Thanks for sharing!

+1

[rosyrobyn]

I really like your tank! Healthy plants, healthy fish! Just beautiful!

[dwafford0001]

All I can say is amazing

[Silver]

Super nice tank.. I like the colors... :)

[Human Torch]

Thats a really nice tank

[CajunAg]

Just like everyone else has said, beautiful tank! If I may ask a question, what strains of discus do you have in there?

[Eddie]

Just like everyone else has said, beautiful tank! If I may ask a question, what strains of discus do you have in there?

Since cfi hasn't been on in a few weeks, I'll answer the question for you. ;) Blue Diamond, Leopard Spotted Snakeskin, Red Turquoise and a Blue Turquoise.

[CajunAg]

Since cfi hasn't been on in a few weeks, I'll answer the question for you. ;) Blue Diamond, Leopard Spotted Snakeskin, Red Turquoise and a Blue Turquoise.

Thanks Eddie!

[cfi on the fly]

Hi Guys...havn't been around for a while...new baby's take alot of work it turns out!! I was going to post this over in the plantedtank.net forum, but thought I would give anyone here first dibs because of the common interest with discus.

Im going to be selling off half of my plants this coming Monday the 21st of Feb. Yep half of every vareity that was in the original picture plus there are even more now, plus at least a softball size of moss that I have growing in my basement tanks. Includes swords, stems, grass, lilies, everything. These are full grown plants with roots, so not just the trimmings and they all seem to work well in water suited for discus!! If you are interested pm me...price will be $55 shipped. Check out my comments section over in plantedtank.net if you have any concerns.

[Grey Ghost]

pm sent

[Natives]

Beautiful. That would be my heaven too.

[Doc_Polit]

Gorgeous tank and Discus!

[Herbicidal]

Wow! Gorgeous and inspirational! Makes me think about swapping out my black Eco-complete for sand and going with CO2! I was recently reading about potential dangers with sand creating areas of anaerobic 'pocket's. Have you had any issues with that? Do you stir the sand from time to time? Any other tips and tricks you can share? Thanks!

[cfi on the fly]

Wow! Gorgeous and inspirational! Makes me think about swapping out my black Eco-complete for sand and going with CO2! I was recently reading about potential dangers with sand creating areas of anaerobic 'pocket's. Have you had any issues with that? Do you stir the sand from time to time? Any other tips and tricks you can share? Thanks!

Never had a problem with anaerobic pockets. I havn't touched the sand in two + years except to plant and pull some plants. My sand is anywhere from 3-5 inches thick. Best advise I can give is to get on plantedtank.net and start reading. And if you really want good results with the least amount of trouble, get pressurized CO2. Untill I did this, my plants were always unhealthy.

[eco-mod]

Great tank, the grown of the plants is amazing, and the discus look quite at home. Keep it up!

[Herbicidal]

Never had a problem with anaerobic pockets. I havn't touched the sand in two + years except to plant and pull some plants. My sand is anywhere from 3-5 inches thick. Best advise I can give is to get on plantedtank.net and start reading. And if you really want good results with the least amount of trouble, get pressurized CO2. Untill I did this, my plants were always unhealthy.Thanks for the info! I'm a member on plantedtank too, haven't spent the time investigating from a 'sand' perspective. I've gone back and forth and back and forth on trying CO2. For me, Discus are number one and the plants are secondary, but important. I'm concerned about 'gassing' the Discus with too much CO2, but as I understand, with a low light tank, I have more room for error. Last week I attended our monthly Sacramento Aquatic Plant Society meeting and Tom Barr led a presentation on CO2. As a result, I feel more confident I could manage it successfully. We'll see. One step at a time. First step is replacing the Eco-Complete with sand. Still researching my options and colors. Not too dark and not too white.

[cfi on the fly]

Thanks for the info! I'm a member on plantedtank too, haven't spent the time investigating from a 'sand' perspective. I've gone back and forth and back and forth on trying CO2. For me, Discus are number one and the plants are secondary, but important. I'm concerned about 'gassing' the Discus with too much CO2, but as I understand, with a low light tank, I have more room for error. Last week I attended our monthly Sacramento Aquatic Plant Society meeting and Tom Barr led a presentation on CO2. As a result, I feel more confident I could manage it successfully. We'll see. One step at a time. First step is replacing the Eco-Complete with sand. Still researching my options and colors. Not too dark and not too white.

Id love to attend a seminar with tom bar speaking. That man knows his stuff. I have high light with pressurized co2 and its not that difficult to find the sweet spot. Discus always come first for me too...$100 vs $1 plant ...they have the right of way.

[Stussi613]

Great tank, I wish I was in the market for more plants.

[allgav]

How difficult is it to maintain and clean your planted tank? I think it is absolutely breathtaking. I have an 80gallon bare bottom tank with a couple of plants in pots. With my bare bottom tank, all the waste, uneaten food, etc is visible, therefore making it easy to vaccum up and maintain. How does everyone with these beautifully planted aquariums vaccum and keep everything clean?

[cfi on the fly]

that's the real beauty....i havnt used a vacuum on this tank in almost two years. the only maintenance that i do is a 75% water change usually once a week....sometimes twice depending on my work schedule. i have two canister filters...each one gets cleaned out every 2-3 weeks. i think the flow and placement of the intakes are critical in keeping themselves bottom clean. also having the tank very heavily planted really does seem like it keeps the tank cleaner as they use alot of the waste products as food. its a balancing act between light., co2, ferts, and once you find it things get so much easier.

[saltydog]

Very nice. I would love to switched out my substrate from eco to pool sand but in my 180 i am just not sure how to go about it. right now i have a mixture and am pretty pleased with the looks but i still would like for it to be lighter.

[greengreen84]

Very niece good variety of plants and the sand looks stunning keep the updates coming lol