Julia's First Planted Discus Tank.....work in progress

[PhishNFilly]

Hello everyone.

I wanted to start my own thread to keep from hijacking others because I have been begging for help and asking questions alot etc. My tank is a 75 gallon. I have two 400 emperors on the back but I eventually will get a canister I am going to need it, I can tell already. I wanted to do potted plants because my Discus are still very little and I needed to go with easy clean up until they are mature adults, I got bored to death with BB. I gleened alot of information from Axio and her potted plant tank and I want to thank her for allowing me to lem her ideas LOL. The plants I have were NOT labeled so please anybody who can help ID them please help me:huh:. The florals coming off the wood of course are not real or the little grasses. The purple plants are real, also the two florals on the right and the two florals on the left with that stalk looking thing are real. So far after three days two of my plants are looking ........ruff:angry:. Do plants look worse before they look better? I have a T5 light with a maximum plant growth light bulb and the second is similar.....I need a PINK one and I am sending for it because I can't purchase that locally. Sand is the substrate. I want to paint the background black but that has to wait until I move the tank again. I had a background on this tank but the darn thing peeled off and so you have it sigh. I have a piece of nice Mopani wood in a bucket leaching for awhile and YES I have to get a few more braches in there as well......this is just phase 1 and I have to get to phase 5 lol. I raised these Discus from tiny babies and altho they aren't show stoppers they are my kids guys, so please if you can't be kind.......let it alone ty:(. I got these fish in groups of two's like Noah's Ark lol. I have two little ones that need to round out yet if they aren't stunted, I pray they are not we shall see. Oh I have a few pieces of Nubia just stuck in the sand for now and those purple plants need to go into a pot, that has to be done yet as well. I need to know what that plant is under the wood in the middle please. Also inside are 2 cories, 1 golden ram and 3 german blues cruising around. No more fish in this tank but I would love a pleco perhaps. Thanks for looking at the vid and enjoy the music. It's rather long so please sit back and chill while watching and give your BP a break LOLOL. All critiques are welcomed, the good the bad and ugly but don't pick on my fish:argue:. I just did a water change and a scruff up of the sub a bit so it's not crystal clear, I wanted to get this out because I told aXio I would yesterday lol. Julia:heart1:

PS. When I watched the vid it looked like there was a mark on my snow white discus, nothing is there at all, it's just the lights.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvfjSr0W-go

[discuspaul]

Hi again Julia.
I must say that's a fine-looking bunch of discus juvies - they look pretty well-shaped to me for youngsters - they're active and with good care should turn out great. And your tank looks very nice - keep up the good work.
As for your real plants, the purple-colored plant looks like it could be lobelia cardinalis, but possibly rotala macrandra - I suspect the former. Hard to tell, but the 'floral' plants on the left and right look like wisteria.
Best of luck with your discus.

[x2h]

hi Julia your tank looks good to me. the fish look healthy and the plants are looking fine too. these must be 4"+ discus already. the plant to the left must be Wisteria, it will grow like there's no tomorrow once settled in the soil. I used to have it, and I had to keep trimming them. It soaks up nitrate in the tank quickly. i have no idea what the purple plants are. if they have large meaty roots then they should grow in the soil too. now the Anubias stems are not supposed to be buried in the sand, they will rot. you can bury the roots in pots too but keep the stems out (I do that in another tank and they grow a lot). or you can try to tie them on the driftwood.

All in all good looking tank and you are in the right direction! You may get more help at plantedtank.net, there's a whole bunch of gurus there. please keep us updated!

[mike046]

Hi Julia .... Great job beautiful love the music .

[zhasan]

Nice setup there Julia! and +1 on the music!

[Orange Crush]

I love the setup and the fish, they all look healthy and happy . Good work!!! The only bad thing I could say is cories need to be in schools of at least 5-6 not 2.
I am curious as to why you want to paint the backround black? It will make your discus darker. You could use a lighter color like a lighter blue or something. But again, your tank looks AMAZING. :)

[PhishNFilly]

Thanks everyone for their comments and suggestions.......yes I do need a few more cories, I will look into it. It really burns me up that most of the plant stores around here have nice plants but they aren't labeled sigh. I must say the Discus just love the plants and altho the light is high for them, they are adjusting to it and it doesn't spook them much at all anymore. I am like a worried mother hen over this tank, I am sure you all know exactly what I am talking about. I will add more to this thread as I proceed with things, again thanks to all for the comments and for taking the time to view my video. Yup I love that music too! Julia:D

[wannafish]

Hi Julia,
If I could make a couple comments. After reading a lot here in the planted and biotope section and plantedtank.net., I have learned to appreciate a planted tank for what it is.
I think plants should be rooted in the substrate. I know pots are good because they help the root system get established, but I don't care for the look. Your discus are really
nice. I especially like the blue one with the purple stomach and the gold lips. And I think you should show them off more in a planted tank. You might need to look into info
on how to work with substrates. There is a lot of ideas combining two kinds of substrate, one for nutrients and one for show. When I do it again, I would like to get amazonia
covered with sand and create an aquascape, and not touch it. That way you don't mix the two substrates and it ends up a mess. You have enough plants and wood to make a
nice aquascape. Just do some reading and take your time to set it up. Nice plants!

[David Rose]

Your tank looks great to me and change is always good...best of luck! Are you using plant food spikes or adding any plant food?

[aXio]

I think you have me confused with x2h... but your tank is looking nice =) *grin*

[PhishNFilly]

Thanks everyone for comments and suggestions. Yup I finally figured I have axio and x2h confused lolol sorry for that.

I am using flourish tabs in the pots for fertilizing, I also want to say that in time I am going to ditch the pots and go right into the sub/soil but I can't right now because my Discus are just starting to grow, they are just now getting to 3-4 inches and they are still alot of work with water changes and feeding etc, it's easier for me to have a little of both worlds here with plants and discus at the same time. Even with pots I am still crunching leaves on the plants and sucking up anubia leaves sigh, I am just not ready to go fully into a substrate planted tank until I grow these fish out, the poop scoop alone for 7 growing Discus is a chore and add plants to that mix and you have quite a mess happening and very time consuming as anybody knows who have grown out lil juvies. I did it this way because I grew absolutely bored of BB which I had for almost 6 months. I am not done with this tank, I have more wood to add and I want to stack the pots in the back yet, I know the potted look isn't for everyone, but it has to work for me because I clean that bottom every two days and with plants all buried in the sand it would drive me to lunacy lol. I figure I am learning what plants work with my lighting and by the time these fish are adults I will have my plants in check and know which direction I should go.

Again, thanks for all comments and suggestions and I hope to hear more as I go along. My Discus change weekly it seems, my goal is to one day have a 120 planted tank, a long term goal, it's on my bucket list LOLOL. Julia:o

[x2h]

...When I do it again, I would like to get amazonia
covered with sand and create an aquascape, and not touch it. That way you don't mix the two substrates and it ends up a mess. ...

If you put sand on top of Amazonia, the two will mix in no time. Amazonia is like pellets and the sand can get between the space easily.

The purpose of using pots is to limit the soil to where the plants are, not the whole bottom. Another advantage is replanting/rescaping is made very easy. It also makes cleaning much easier.

If you want to hide the pots, you could use smaller/shorter pots and bury them in the sand substrate or behind/within decorations. I have seen some very creative use of pots that don't look like pots any more.

[PhishNFilly]

*Update*.........I have never been so disheartened trying to raise juveniles and having a substrate and going with planted tank.........My fish did not do well with all this changing and cleaning constantly and moving pots etc and it's taken it's toll on them. They were hiding a lot, not swimming freely around the tank like usual just zipping along looking like the beautiful fish they are........Cleaning was a disaster for me, I don't have the proper filter to begin with, two 400 emperor hobs is just not cutting it for this 75 as a planted tank it seems:mad:..........I have two pots of plants left inside that are thriving and I removed the substrate again and went BB........I can keep the tank cleaner with BB sigh. My 75 gallon tank with these 7 Discus just isn't big enuf and they must be split in two tanks very soon........the fish had no room in which to swim and strut so to speak with all these pots and plants......Also I can't consider my fish juveniles anymore, they are all hitting 4 inches in size and I do see two fish want to mate already and a couple of others are acting goo goo eyeballs and acting silly trying to be "romantic".......I have a community tank and didn't really want to mess with breeding but how do you tell fish NOT to do this:D ..... right now since substrate is gone and a few potted plants are out, they are coming back to normal for me.......the water is back crystal clear and the fish are back searching for me and NOT hiding and I just think BB keeps the tank much cleaner.......In time my goal to is have two 75 gallon tanks......one with my beginners and the second one will have a few Kenny or Discus Hans direct ordered in them......I have fallen in love with Discus and slowly I am selling all my other fish ( cichlids ) off one by one and closing up a few tanks........I don't need to breed anymore as I did with those guys (cics). My Discus give me everything I need as a fish keeper right now, These fish are amazing creatures and I want to give them more space in which to grow and thrive. Perhaps one day I will learn to handle fry and all that jazz. If anything turned out well for me is the fact I did get a nice lighting system for these fish......I never once regretted that purchase. I will however add sand back to the tanks, I can maintain that but not with plants until a much more powerful filter is added and that is out of the question now money wise sigh. I do have a question tho for the members who are long time Discus keepers...........Again, thanks for the help and for assisting me along in this Discus hobby. I appreciate all comments and suggestions. Julia

1. How many of you have a substrate for your fish and how many of you still after they mature stick with BB?

2. How many of you have gone into plants only to trash the idea and let it go because of the mess?

3. How many are successful with a planted Discus tank? Have any of you tried and failed is what I am getting at?

I hope my questions aren't to confusing, I never did have a way with words. Julia

[x2h]

sorry to hear that. my impression is that, you set up the potted plants and at the same time add the discus right after that? in my case, my tank was set up 7 months before I was confident to add discus. And I began with only two as a test.

Also you mentioned that you change/clean/move pots constantly. that might have caused stress to them too. in my case, i try not to disturb them.

anyways BB tank is much easier than planted, as long as you keep up with the WC. Good luck!

[PhishNFilly]

As of right now, my plants are moved into a different tank and they are doing ok. The Discus kids are back to normal and I left two plants in pots in their tank. I have not given up on a planted tank by any means, it's just on hold for the moment while I finish growing these fish out. I figure by middle summer, I will lay down a substrate again and plant directly into that and by pass the pots for this tank, but all in all I haven't thrown pots out the window either, I sorta like them in my other tank with my buffalohead couple and their babies. All I know is that for now, I have to keep a BB with driftwood and a few plants as is for awhile. Many thanks to those who have helped me along the way here. Julia