Sara
Thu Aug 28, 2008, 04:52 PM
I am about to inherit a discus tank. I've never had discus, but have had other fish and tanks on and off all my life. The tank I'll be getting is 75 gallons, with 5 discus (four pigeon blood and one blue). It also has two very large Siamese algae eaters, two cories, and a serious algae issue. It's a planted tank with amazon swords in gravel. The tank's former owner is a dear elderly lady who can't keep up with it any more and who wants her babies to go to a good home.
Since relocating the tank requires tearing it down anyway, I don't foresee any problem dealing with the algae (I'll boil the wood, trim out the plants, etc)... which may be wistful thinking but I'm hopeful.
I am planning to put in large pieces of wood to help keep the pH appropriate (in my other tank the pH is steady at 6.2 using only wood and with Amano's Amazonia substrate).
I am trying to decide if, since I will be only saving about 20 gallons of the 'live' water (I know large water changes are recommended for discus anyway), whether it might be safe to replace part of the substrate with something richer (probably Amazonia again, as I'm liking what I see in the other tank) that will help maintain the pH without chemicals, and that in theory will allow the plants to compete with the algae better.
Other comments, suggestions, etc are welcome!
Since relocating the tank requires tearing it down anyway, I don't foresee any problem dealing with the algae (I'll boil the wood, trim out the plants, etc)... which may be wistful thinking but I'm hopeful.
I am planning to put in large pieces of wood to help keep the pH appropriate (in my other tank the pH is steady at 6.2 using only wood and with Amano's Amazonia substrate).
I am trying to decide if, since I will be only saving about 20 gallons of the 'live' water (I know large water changes are recommended for discus anyway), whether it might be safe to replace part of the substrate with something richer (probably Amazonia again, as I'm liking what I see in the other tank) that will help maintain the pH without chemicals, and that in theory will allow the plants to compete with the algae better.
Other comments, suggestions, etc are welcome!