substrate heating coils?? a must have??

[Bruno]

I have read alot about these and how great they are to help give water movement in the soil by convection....

is it really all that necessary to have mouvement?


i plan on using eco-complete plant substrate...
for lighting, il have 2 life-glow (40watts,they come with a reflector inside the bulb) 48inches, and 2 24inches philips floral.
with a eheim 2213 (eventualy add another one)
i was thinking about setting up a silicone tub attached to my power head with holes all over the tube, set undergravel??



Also such a system would help keeping the gravel alot cleaner no? making W/C easier and less disturbing for the discus (less moving arround inside the tank), it would be a very gentle current, i would use a Y to divide the flow of the power head, the other would be used for my CO2 reactor and i could do all this under 20$CAN...

Ive seen similar setups in african tanks, but large tubes were use for large water mouvement to help with the cleanings..

would this help? or be more a nuisance?

Now, can i just do without/? i would like some opinion on this system! :?:



by the way, my plans for the tank are....a small group of discus (start with 8 too finish with 4-6 depending on agression level and W/C as they grow) with 6 corydoras and 2-3 ottos for algae, maybe a few pristellas for dithers...

i dont know yet what kind of fertilizers il need? i was thinking laterite?, but dont know yet if i really need or why i would need it? or is there something else??

that sums it up pretty quick, tank isnt running yet, will be soon, just finishing up my stand and canopy, maybe am i worrying to much, its my first time making a heavily planted aquarium and dont really know where i am going!


i would really appreciate some pointers, i want to do this right the first time probably wont happen, never does, but whatever, il try my best :P)!!and obviously cant afford the coils...(

-a thankfull bruno!

[Merrilyn]

Bruno, from what I understand of your plans, it seems like you are going to end up with similar to an undergravel filter.

Years ago, it was thought that they beneficial to plant growth, but in recent times, other thoughts have come to light, that it is not beneficial to root growth, and can in fact inhibit growth.

Now, I'm sure some of our plant experts can shed more light on it, but I think a good quality substrate, with added fertilizer in the form of liquid to tablets, or a CO2 unit is the way to get the best growth.

[duck]

Substate heater's no real need for them,From what have read it's better to spend that money on lighting,CO2,Or an enriched substrate,Also when moving your plants a chance that you could rip them.
I dont use substrate heater's and have no problem's.

How big is your tank? lighting might be an issuse.

The tubing under the gravel good chance of getting pulled up when moving plants and if it is an UGF that is going to be lots of trouble when your plants wrap their roots around it.

[Bruno]

OH that's right, it would definatly become a pain to maintain the plants!

the tank is 48"x18"x18" so aprox 255L or arround 70galons

I havent baught any lighting yet, except for the twin 24" balast i have left over, but want to get a glow-mat twin 40watt, its a water proof unit and you can set whatever size neon you want(100% flexible).

has i said above, i will have a DIY CO2 system... and will add

for the enriched substate, you mean laterite under my eco-complete? or is it useless with such a gravel?

I should have arround 1.3 or so watts per gallon, i know its not much, but right now, i dont think i can squeeze more money out... i will have a T10 life glowII 48" long wich has a reflector inside the tub, this they say tripple the intensity of the neon, ive seen it work, its really amazing, the light is bright white all the way to the bottom, http://www.hagen.com/canada/francais/img/aquatic/addinfo/diaglife.jpg
it has a wide spectrum and should do, i hope a good job.. what do you think?

Thanks for the quick replies!

-Bruno

p.s. http://www.hagen.com/canada/francais/img/aquatic/addinfo/diagflora.jpg
this is their flora-glow, neon to promote plant growth, i am planning putting 1 of this also

and the 24 inches will be regular aqua-glow
http://www.hagen.com/canada/francais/img/aquatic/addinfo/diagaqua.jpg

[duck]

No need to add laterite if you are going to use Eco-Complete it's a stand alone substrate.
1.3WPG is not bad but see if can squeeze it closer to 2WPG and with your CO2 system you got you should do fine.
For fert's you should get away just using some liquid ferts ie:seachem flourish.

[Bruno]

Eventualy i may be able to add a second glo-mat balast, but for now, its out of the question, money is running out on this project...!

i know the blues would look great even paler, but the checkerboards, im not sure... :? anyways, for now its all i can afford so that'll have to wait...

plus, if you have alot of lighting, wont it affect the discus in a negative way? make them more skittish- shy- paler ?? i guess lots of folliage is supposed to make up for that creating dimmer spots for the to go into to relax.

i finaly found some diamond blue and checkerboard, this guy has some nice discus!!! and he has a special right now, buy 2 get 1 free :P 30$ per at 2" 1/2, best price i got so far...http://www.canadadiscus.com/index.html and i may be able to go get them at his door, im soso on the idea of shipping... tell me what you think about his fish!


thank you for all the infos duck, they are all very usefull!

-Bruno

[Merrilyn]

She certainly has some nice looking discus Bruno, and seems to take great care in the packing and shipping. Without seeing the fish she is actually going to send, it is a bit hard to make a definate comment, but from what I can see, it looks good.

[Bruno]

oups yeah, She :P...


she posted pics of the actual fish for sale, there isnt any blue diamonds or checkerboard on there, thats a sale, im not decided on what kind yet... i stil have time to choose!!

http://www.simplydiscus.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43397

they look pretty good to me, not coloured up much yet, but they look healthy, but am no expert... what do you think? :wink:


im setting up the tank this week end, and i will seed it with my eheim 2213 of my existing aquarium, im happy how my stand turned out!, il try to post some pics of the finished product!

-Bruno

[Merrilyn]

Those fry from the snakeskin/rose red cross look really good. If you get a chance to pick them yourself, go for the ones with the red eyes.

Bit hard to tell from the photo of the turk babies, but the eye looks to be too big, a sign of stunted growth. Babies should always have a small eye in comparison to the size of the body. Photos can be really deceptive, so you need to see them in the flesh.

Parents are gorgeous fish. The youngsters should grow into very nicely shaped fish.

[Bruno]

thats true about the turqs, but it could just be a distorted image also... i guess if it under 2hours aways il have a peek at them :P

if not, il try and get some pictures of the actual fish before buying (since she seems to be able to do that! thats alright for me)

thanks for all your help. now time to set everything up and il come back with pictures :)

-Bruno