Need to fix your link Chris. Its not working. :(
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Need to fix your link Chris. Its not working. :(
That tank is Cristopher's (Crstfr). I fixed his link.
Nice tank Chris!
Eddie
Hi,
I just did the lectures also on discus in California, and I suggested again (and showed) that discus need sand - fine silica sand - and on one of the above pictures you can see as they are looking for it. Also give them some shade, best with some floating plants...
All the best,
Heiko Bleher
www.aquaqpress-bleher.com
PS have a look at Bleher's Biotope on my website.
Hello Simply People,
I'd like your opinions on my tank. No, there aren't any discus in it....yet. It's a work in progress. Since I have to have at least 4" discus, the initial cost is a bit much. Time to save!
Anywho, what do you think of the aquascape? It seems that I want to change it almost every six months or so. I'm starting to 'nit-pick.'
Things that I'm concerned about:
I hate seeing the filter output/input, C02 output, and PH monitor. I had thought about getting one of those more expensive 3D backgrounds, but I really can't bring myself to spend $200 on a piece of foam. Plus, they take up a lot of valuable swimming space. Any other ideas to hide them? I feel that if I block them completely, I'm limiting circulation. Thoughts?
Speaking of 3D backgrounds...the one in my tank is the Marina Rock background....covered in algae. My 2 bushynose try to go to work on it, but with no luck. And a toothbrush will start tearing away on it. I'm almost at the point where I just wanna rip it out and put a blue background in. I like what one of the members on here did with two tree stumps in each corner of the tank...whenever I take my dog out for a walk, I'm always on the look now. :)
The substrate is alright, but I'd wanna add a sand later on. Which would you suggest? Play sand? Silca? Something decent for plants. I'm thinking about siliconing a barrier to the bottom so the two don't mix as much and when I move, I'll be able to save most of it. It can't alter PH.
I need a wider variety of plants. Plant people, what do you suggest? I'd like to add some red in there. Jeez, it' a green paradise. Tiger lotus? L. Aromatica? Anything that would withstand the heat and still flourish?
Finally, what about the overall positioning? I want to add 6 discus:
Albino Checkerboard
Eruption Leopard
Cobalt Snakeskin
Altum Flora
Albino Snakeskin or White butterfly (Will probably pepper?)
Carnation Turquoise
Tank Specs:
90 Gallon Planted
C02 Pressurized
Fluval FX5 Filtration
Temp: 80 F
PH 6.4-6.5
Fish
20 Rummies
12 Cardinals
2 Albino Bushynose
2 SAEs
2 Kribs
5 German Blue Rams
5 Guppies
5 Ottos
Plants
Amazon Sword
Amazon Chain Sword
Anubias Barteri
Vallisinera..don't know
Rotalia ...don't know
Two types of crypts....one brown, one with stems that jut out a bit taller.
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Enjoy!
Thanks for all your input!
you can make your own textured foam background..by getting a sheet of foam and a couple colours of lacquer in spray cans. when you spray it on..it melts the foam and looks like rock. get a grey and a beige or something. ive seen it done..years ago by an oldtimer discus keeper from holland.
experiment. cheap enough to try out.
your tank is beautiful. nice plants. only thing missing is a aromatica. (eye rolling emoticon)
i owe him one.
nice looking rummynoses.
Pigeons and blue based discus are going to pepper and darken, respectively with how dark your background and gravel make the tank--but certainly it is a VERY NICE tank visually. You have done a nice job!
If you switch to sand, silica [pool] sand gets many votes. It is clean, plants root beautifully in it, it is inert, it is cheap!
The drama of a dark background is hard to part with in a planted tank--looks wonderful--but discus are hard wired to blend in to the environment and would look very differently in a lighter tank than in this particular situation.
There are some fairly red plants you can add--a few swords like Kleiner Barr, red flame or Indian red, red rubin are some of the better known red type Echinodorus. I like the red tiger lotus also--but I would snip off the leaves that are surface floaters and keep it a compact neater plant--they can get quite full and are very attractive--they do great when you have CO2. There are also redder crypts. There are several stem plants that are red with sufficient light but they grow very quickly and it's a pain in the butt to keep up with trimming [for me!].
A great tank you have!
Best regards
Harriett
Thanks April :)
I think I've heard of the same experiment on here somewhere...it involved several coats of spray paint. It's definitely a nice art project for an art teacher. I'm thinking that I'll get something brighter in the end...
The rummies are schooling very nicely and everyone is getting along very well. Still wish the clown loaches came out more during the day. lol.
It's alright, I know you're busy! Do you happen to have that price list? Thanks!
By the way, nice shipment you just got in! I'm jeeeealous :)
Yeah...I've read countless threads about the whole dark substrate, dark background fiasco. One step at a time, I'll probably end up making my tank brighter - sand, blue background. We'll see. It's a toughy. In the end though, I want the tank to be about the discus and have plants accenting the tank, not being the focus.
Trust me...those vals are a pain in the butt. I rip out 3-4 decently sized vals a week just so they don't take over the tank! lol.
You have a great lookin tank for sure!! Growing up some 6-7 juvies in that tank of yours would be great! Any sponsor here would fill that tank up nice! Just do alot of WC's and things will be fine. Plants love the WC's anyways. ;)
A foam background would be an asset to that tank as well but personally I would just hang everything lower in the tank and let the plants hide all your inlets and outlets. Thats what plants do best...Hide everything. ;) :D :D
If that were my tank...I would probably move the plants more towards the sides of the tank. Make them denser opening up the center for the fish to swim.
I would also move the large amazon sword to the back left corner. The tallest plants really shoud be in the back. Take the top left corner and the top right corner of your tank from the front. Thats the top of a bowl. The bottom of your tank in the bottom of the bowl. Try and get the scape in that shape. The middle of the tank after that is the point of interest. Your fish will be sitting right in the middle of it!! ;) :D
Thanks for the ideas GrillMaster. I'll definitely use my plants to my advantage to hide the equipment. I'll probably have to get more tubing to lower my output.
I wanted to open up the center a bit more, so I'll definitely make the ends of the tank more 'planty,' keeping the larger in the back. I was planning on putting a trunk in, just right of center, take the driftwood I currently have and try to suspend it from the top of the tank. Attach some willow moss from the hanging branch and grow some more lillies near the trunk. Anubias will be attached to the trunk.
The substrate will switch to sand and the background will turn to a gradient blue background. Positioning of plants and which ones I will add ...I still have to think about.
I won't be doing juvies...this being my first attempt at discus, I'd rather have adults.
Here are a couple shots...I've been a bit busy re-arranging a few things.
You'll notice that the background is out...thank god. What an algae trap.
I've moved my filter return to the far right of the tank and the C02 return is zap-strapped to the filter intake (i do have a diffuser/reactor, this is to make sure the C02 is distributed evenly)
I removed all of the rocks....thinking about adding them back...
Added lotus and reinikii.
Sand added...obviously.
Created new scape...not sure what to think of it yet. It opened up a lot of swimming space as you see...is it too much space? Does it look empty? After having such a dense tank...It feels...naked.
The trunk is going to go in the far right corner and the current branch will suspend from the surface with moss on the ends. Any ideas on how to suspend the branch? I don't want to attach it to the center brace. Perhaps just drilling it into the trunk will suffice.
Anubias will be attached to trunk.
Blue background to be added after I cut it. Using Clear View glue...
Looking to add aromatica and red cabomba. Any other plants that would look good? Maybe some green ground coverage on the gravel?
Whew. That's it for now. Hopefully the trunk will be in this weekend or the next.
Cheers!
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....any thoughts?...