planted aquarium with discus

[liquornpoker]

Hello guys, I have a 60 gal aquarium that i was thinking of making a planted discus aquarium. I was thinking of making those CO2 out of those soda bottle and add water, yeast and sugar but i'm not sure how many bottle i should make. would 2 be good enough.

[kalebjarrod]

you sholud use two reactors and one 1.25lt bottle as a safegaurd against any yeast entering the tank

check http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

[flukes]

This your first discus tank??

I would suggest not too do a planted tank for your first and i would strongly suggest not too play with a DIY yeast co2 injector on a discus tank..

The first one many wont listen and will find out the hard way and the second you really need to know what you are doing. They are very unstable which is something you cant afford in a discus tank..

[Chafule]

y would it be hard to sustain discus in a planted tank for someone who is new discus

[Proteus]

personally I dont think it would be too hard to sustain, just with a BB tank, it gives you more experience as to the water chemistry side of things before stepping into other areas, such as plants and the additional water paremeters required.

I feel it is more about learning the basics over anything else.

[weird]

I never realised how much fish/discus poo until I went bare bottom ... I don't think I would be able to vacuum it all up if I did not go b/b. Just makes it way easier to see all the cr8p.

[lesley]

Why don't you start off with plants attached to driftwood, and floating plants. Keep a careful eye on your pH and kH and do lots of reading about co2. I have stopped using it and my plants are still quite happy and look good.

You do want to have a good read of water chemistry if you are going to use it, but then it's a good idea even if your'e not.

Lesley

[weird]

That is a good idea. I would get a big piece of drift wood, tie 2 pieces of anubia and 2 pieces of java moss to it with fishing line ... you have an instant forest. Place 2-3 of these around the tank ...looks great, and you can move the pieces of driftwood when vucuuming for the poo ... you have best of both worlds.

[Trebs]

I agree with being cautious about planted discus tanks. Don't get me wrong they can work very well together but it means there are also more variables you need to control, which can lead to conflicting requirements at times. Depending on your experience I would suggest looking at using plants in pots or on driftwood in conjuction with a bb tank. I also wouldn't recommend using CO2 with discus until you are comfortable with both planted tanks and discus. I'm yet to get the courage to give it a go.
You can achieve some very good results with low light plants which will be easier to achieve.
Just my thoughts.
Decide what you want once you have weighed up your options either way we should be able to help.

[lesley]

I know it seems to go against the norm, but I have always found a planted tank easier to keep stable. I only plant the back of the tank, give the discus lots of room in front, they sleep at the back in plants at night, and then spend the day in the open. If you run the tank initially catering to the needs of the discus and let the plants take care of themselves, I think you will be okay. Choose the low light plants, start off with it sparsely planted and let them grow.

For instance, changed water yesterday - must have forgotten to put something in because all the fish in both tanks were just a little skittish. Checked the pH - was 6 in the planted tank and 5 in the sand tank with plants on driftwood (I normally run them at just under 7). Same water, same additives for both tanks, but the fully planted tank balanced the water out more.

I don't add fertilisers to the tanks, the discus provide all the fertilisation. Initially your plants will do it tough but once they establish you won't be able to stop them growing. My plants do fine, the discus are happy - a win/win situation!

HTH, Lesley

[kalebjarrod]

i tend to agree lesley

i have a planted tank low light, no co2 , no added fert

my fish seem to enjoy the plants and it does keep my tank very stable

IMHO :wink:

[Chafule]

would it be hard to keep hairgrass, javafern, java moss and mayby wallachi in with discus?

[kalebjarrod]

not really but that would require alot of other factros such as high light and fert etc etc

that would make it harder

[weird]

I am no plant expert, check out plantgeek.net for that ... but I know that anubia and java moss are a winning combination on driftwood (and anubia actually has quite a few varieties, I think I am using anubia nana), so to answer one of your questions ... java moss is fine. But if your thinking gravel ... then try the banana plant (Nymphoides aquatica) ... I have one in my community tank ... they are readily available and easy to care for.. they flower.... but I am not sure if they like temp above 28 degrees.

Not to go off topic. but I checked the banana plant I put in there 3 weeks ago, and "drop and forgot" ... it is growing very fast ... in the tank I keep 2 huge bala sharks but don't have a lid (bala sharks are apparently great jumpers ... mine maybe too fat) ... I think I will get a few more of these to create a natural lid instead of glass.

[DiscusMad]

would it be hard to keep hairgrass, javafern, java moss and mayby wallachi in with discus?

Ok i don't have hairgrass but the rest mentioned are growing great in my tanks and i don't use and fert.

and I also have amozon sword that they all play in and around

[DiscusMad]

But if your thinking gravel ... then try the banana plant (Nymphoides aquatica) ... I have one in my community tank ... they are readily available and easy to care for.. they flower.... but I am not sure if they like temp above 28 degrees.

plant or lilly

I had a banana lilly

I found they grow alot better in sand than gravel (mabe it just my tanks lol)

had it shoot out great big leaves when put in gravel and then shot out 7 lilly pads...... maby I should of had some frogs lol :roll:

[chris_d]

i began discus with a planted tank. and i haven't any diseases.. i find that with reg. water changes that plants help in nitrogen cycle process by using it up as food.


Nature is the y for healthy fish!!!

[red tiger]

I Can’t think of a better way to keep discus than in a planted tank. When I first started this hobby many years ago, I read every piece of info that I could get my hands on, I reckon I spent $A300.00 on books before I even had a tank. Reading all of this info was quite confusing, Everyone said something different, but the overall message was the same it’s hard to maintain discus in peak condition in unless they are in a sterile tank environment with no plants/CO2 and the ph must be keep at 6.5.

Bollocks I said, that just wasn’t my idea of a great fish tank. So I figured that I would do it my way.

I have a 350ltr open top tank which is fully planted Inc mangrove root driftwood. I have heaps of low work plants, Inc varieties of Anubias barteri, Anubias afzeli, Anubias congensis, Anubias nana, Cryptocoryne petchii, Cryptocoryne nurii Java ferns, java moss, Amazon swords, enchondrosis (the med one) etc.

The main thing with I found with CO2 and plants is you need a good substrate blend, but go easy on the CO2. I only have DIY 1 X 2ltr bottle for a 350Ltr tank, The CO2 is injected via a separate power head works fine after its initial burst of CO2.

I let the whole system stabilise for about three months after I got the tank setup and planted (I was reckon I was broke or under threat of divorce), the only fish I progressively added in this time where 10 Cory cats and 40 Rummies nose tetra. When I finally got the discus, my DIY CO2 setup was so well tuned (well sort of… not the most reliable for controlling the PH), the discus brightened up after 2 hours, they have been breeding and thriving in this fantastic underworld paradise since.

What I am trying to say, if you’ve got a different idea give it a go.

[weird]

in this fantastic underworld paradise since.


... you can't say those words without posting pictures , especially when you describe it to the seriously addicted !!!!!

[red tiger]

know worries, i will post some as soon as i work out how to make the photo's smaller, i have to warn you though my photography skills leave a lot to be desired.

[Annie]

I have a very low light Discus tank, it has worked wonderful. It has been up and running for a year and a half now. I have since moved, and the pic is about a year old.
http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=272