90 Gallon Planted Tank

[Dakxx1974]

I have converted my 90 gallon oscar tank tank to a planted tank. For filtration I have 2 fluval 405s, a whisper60 and it has a wet dry sump filter as well. It now has a school of bloodfin tetras, some julli cory cats and 4 albino bristlenose plecos. My water paramters are 0 amonia, 0 nitrite, 80 nitrate, ph 7.6, temp 83, GH 180, KH 40. Some people say not to mess with ph others say to bring it down to 7.0 what do u guys think? I will be getting tank raised discus in feb and was wondering how difficult it will be to keep young discus healthy in this type of setup. Im basically going for a display tank here no intentions of breeding. Any advice? Thank You

[Skip]

It wont be easy with young ones.. Get at least 4".. Then u will be ok

[Dakxx1974]

All the ones my guy carries are between 3 and 4 in.

[Skip]

Largeris better.. Now all those fancy accessories dont mean u get out of doing regular water changes.. Bb is much easier due to less varianles.. Planted are difficult.. Jus be aware

[shoveltrash]

IMHO I wouldn't worry about a pH of 7.6. heck my Discus are thriving in 8.2!!! so long as it consistent.
and ditto the bare bottom advice!
interestingly, when I removed my gravel (which I vaccumed regularly), I was AMAZED & sickened at how much crap was still in it. I liken it to having pets with carpet in a house, vs hardwood flooring LOL (I hate carpet!).

[ericatdallas]

I have converted my 90 gallon oscar tank tank to a planted tank. For filtration I have 2 fluval 405s, a whisper60 and it has a wet dry sump filter as well. It now has a school of bloodfin tetras, some julli cory cats and 4 albino bristlenose plecos. My water paramters are 0 amonia, 0 nitrite, 80 nitrate, ph 7.6, temp 83, GH 180, KH 40. Some people say not to mess with ph others say to bring it down to 7.0 what do u guys think? I will be getting tank raised discus in feb and was wondering how difficult it will be to keep young discus healthy in this type of setup. Im basically going for a display tank here no intentions of breeding. Any advice? Thank You

I wouldn't worry about pH either.

There's a lot of people who have tried young discus plant combination. It usually ends in failure or delusion. I'm amazed by how much crap is on the bottom of my BB tank with just discus and plecos.

If you go planted, start your discus out in a BB tank first and grow them out before putting them in the 90G.

Also, are your plants meant for the higher temps? I know even my 'high' temp plants ended up doing better after I removed the Discus and brought the temperatuer to 75+F versus the 82-84F I had it when I had Discus in them.

[ericatdallas]

btw, I can't remember how big bloodfin tetras are, but my Discus liked their adult cardinal tetra snack.

[damba]

All sounds fine but your nitrate readins sound very high especially in a planted tank. What is your water source like and do you intend using ro? My nitrates never stray above 10. I think your discus may be a little uncomfortable in that level of nitrate.
Tom

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[ericatdallas]

Oh, I missed that! Nitrates are on the high side. I had to actively dose my planted tank. I did it at about 5-10ppm daily and the first few weeks I did it, I checked nitrates daily and it was always zero by next day.

[Dakxx1974]

Thanks for all the advice. My LFS thinks I should play with ph to bring it closer to 7 and says to do very few water changes and only in sm amounts. Which is exactly the opposite of all the advice online and in books. The big reason Im waiting so long to add the discuss is to get all my water paramters stable and let the plants really take hold and grow. The discus that my lfs carries are from hans stendecker. Anyone have any experience with those lines?

[shoveltrash]

IMO buy directly from Hans. and don't go by the LFS advice......(I learned this the hard way). read up on this forum, do a search on "pH", water changes, and whatever else you may be questioning. I'm new to Discus too, and have learned LOADS just reading here! my Discus are thanking me :)
-Trish


I had to actively dose my planted tank.Eric what did you 'dose' with? (curious)

[stephcps]

Please don't take advice from your LFS. They don't know discus and probably don't know plants. It is rare to find someone in a LFS that actually knows from experience what they are talking about. Ask your questions here. Also agree with buying directly from Hans or any of the vendors...don't go through your LFS.

Most important thing about ph for any fish...unless you are breeding or they are wild caught...is consistency. Don't add a bunch of crap to your water....just let it be.

[Dakxx1974]

Reading everything I can get my hands on as well as sifting through the forums online trying to find the best practices for planted discus display tanks. I have been keeping fish for over 20 years and have succesfully kept many different kinds of tanks including reef tanks and now I have decided to try something that seems even harder lol. I'm looking to get myself and the tank on a a schedule as if the discus were already in it so when I do finally add them it shopuld not come as a shock to me. What would be a good number to start with I was thinking between 5 and 7.

[Dakxx1974]

I'm glad about the dont add stuff response in my expirience when u go messing with PH etc you end up doing more harm than good. The biggest issue I had was when he said very sm and infrequent water changes that just did not jive with all the other info out there.

[stephcps]

Most people who have never done it....think doing really large water changes is harmful. Lots of people on here do frequent 90-100% water changes....the discus love them. Your plants won't though. Thus the cunundrum. I have seen some people do it successfully. I think you have to be clear in your own mind what your goal is. I was having some decent success with my last batch and just minimally planted with some swords and anubias...no CO2.
They were growing well,and healthy...then lost power for 10 days in October snowstorm and lost them all. :(
You are not going to get the big, huge guys you see some people on here have. But I think personally you can have nice, decent sized healthy and happy discus in a planted tank. You just have to work at it, get the biggest fish you can as that will help a lot and have an already established planted tank.

[Dakxx1974]

Yeah I'm waiting a few months to add the discus so that the plant I have will be good and established. And I only chose hardy species of plants to hopefully help with the stress od the water changes. And Im not to worried about not having the biggest ones just want them to be healthy and happy. What types of changes do most of you do with the planted tanks as far as amount and frequency?

[Skip]

who you kidding..

you will have discus by the end of January.. LOL!!!!

[Dakxx1974]

LOL I wish I have decided firmly to wait :) plus gotta save up I would really like to get them as a group to avoid any squabbles.

[ericatdallas]

Eric what did you 'dose' with? (curious)

NaNO3, KNO3, and MgSO4. I didn't bother with calcium b/c plenty in the tap.


Thanks for all the advice. My LFS thinks I should play with ph to bring it closer to 7 and says to do very few water changes and only in sm amounts. Which is exactly the opposite of all the advice online and in books. The big reason Im waiting so long to add the discuss is to get all my water paramters stable and let the plants really take hold and grow. The discus that my lfs carries are from hans stendecker. Anyone have any experience with those lines?

Hans sells larger discus... will ship. Just buy it from him direct. Why would you have Hans ship fish to LFS for them give you a "bagging fee" when you can have the SAME Fedex guy get it to your door instead cheaper?

Also, if everyone online and the books tell you different, why are you wasting our time by even mentioning that your LFS tells you otherwise ;)


Most people who have never done it....think doing really large water changes is harmful. Lots of people on here do frequent 90-100% water changes....the discus love them. .

yup, I started with two 33% WC a day, slowly increased volume of change and now I do 80-90% after I realized it didn't matter. I still don't like 100%, but wen I aged my water I might consider doing it. For now, the fish get a little spooked by the water that low and when I fill.

[stephcps]

For me, I found my plants did ok and my fish were happy and growing with 50 percent every other day. If I had time, sometimes I would do smaller ones in between, but as a general rule just the 50 every other day with a good sand vac.

[damba]

If your lfs is saying that go.elsewhere. You need big at least waterchanges ever other day with youngsters and a steady consistent ph if possible below seven is better. As said above go to a breeder or specialist. Please give stats on your water source.

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[Dakxx1974]

"Also, if everyone online and the books tell you different, why are you wasting our time by even mentioning that your LFS tells you otherwise"

I was just wondering if anyone else had heard the same thing. My LFS is usually very knowledgeable with fish and his customers including myself are very happy with his products and services.

[Skip]

I was just wondering if anyone else had heard the same thing. My LFS is usually very knowledgeable with fish and his customers including myself are very happy with his products and services.

LFS know about GUPPIES>.

but unless the LFS person actually has discus at Home... they don't know...

there is decades of experience in SD.. and the LFS person is the authority.. idts..

ps.. was the LFS selling a product that would change the ph?! lol

[kalan850]

why is it that the young don't do well in planted tanks? or tanks that are not bb? if i keep the water quality good(water changes) will it be ok?

[judy]

Thanks for all the advice. My LFS thinks I should play with ph to bring it closer to 7 and says to do very few water changes and only in sm amounts. Which is exactly the opposite of all the advice online and in books. The big reason Im waiting so long to add the discuss is to get all my water paramters stable and let the plants really take hold and grow. The discus that my lfs carries are from hans stendecker. Anyone have any experience with those lines?

Ignore the LFS. They are wrong, wrong, wrong.
DON'T play with your Ph, DO frequent (thrice weekly if possible) LARGE water changes (at least 50%, more is better). And get those nitrates below 10. (The water changes should take care of that for you.)

[Apistomaster]

Your water test results seem so high regarding hardness that I suspect they are in error. The high Nitrate was probably a fluke too or just a temporary stage.
The pH is not a problem nor is the hardness that tap water typically has.

Because small Discus require more frequent and heavier feedings than 4 inch plus Discus this makes it difficult to keep the tank clean. That is why a bare bottom type tank is the best arrangement for raising smaller Discus.
I personally do not like completely bare bottom tanks so I compromise. I use less than 1/4 inch of fine quartz sand. This retains the ease of cleaning the bottom while providing the Discus with enough sand for them to practice their natural sand sifting feeding behavior. I place all my plants in Gladware food storage container. I prefer to use Florabase as my potted plant substrate. I only use substrate fertilizers. I also usually have some free floating plants like Tropical Hornwort, Water Sprite to provide shaded areas and some branching bog wood to make the tank look a little more natural.
Once the Discus have grown up to 4 or more inches if I wish to develop the tank into a more planted type I retain all the show plants in there potting containers and fill in the area with sand so when the low growing bottom plants I use like Chain Swords or Dwarf Saggitaria subulata will help hide the rims of my pots.

The last place I would get Discus or advice about their care is a fish shop. Only rarely will you find a shop which has a great deal of interest in and knowledge about Discus keeping.
I would never buy any Discus from a fish shop. I recommend buying your Discus from a SD sponsor and Hans has nice Discus but so do the other sponsors.
You may want to buy from one of the sponsors that are reasonably close to you especially in case you are buying fish in the dead of winter.
Good luck.