substrate or not?

[fishrock]

hi all,
i have a corner unit 2ftx7x2ftx7x2ftx20high (looks like a diamond when viewed from above), with a beautiful pair of marlborough reds.
tank is absolutely bare atm with an upturned pot to breed on.
they have bred once but the eggs dissapeared (had b/nose in with them then).
problem is the pair are always scared and i thought with some substrate and plants they might feel more comfortable?
i even entertained the thought of a school of cardinals to make them feel it's "safe"?
any suggestions as i would love these guys to breed for me again.
thanks
adam :)

[fishrock]

ok, to describe the tank better ( i hope) if you measure the circumference it goes from back corner:
2ft then a 7 inch panel which makes the bay front then 2ft then another 7 inch panel (other side of bay front) then another 2ft back to the back corner where we started :roll: and it is 20 inches high
can anyone work out the literage of this tank?
some one told me 158L i think :?
cheers :)
-

[Merrilyn]

Hello Adam, and welcome to the friendliest forum on the web :wave

Your tank sounds lovely, and the perfect size for breeding. I've seen these diamond shape tanks, and they are really beautiful.

There are a number of things that you can do to make your fish feel more secure. Cover all but the front 2 foot panel with a blue paper, or paint in with blue paint. Paint the bottom too if you can, that will stop the glare.

Your fish will then feel a lot more secure. Probably at the moment, they feel it's too open, and discus hate being caught out in the open, so the minute you enter the room, they will dash behind the pot to hide. By giving them more cover on the back and sides, they will feel more secure in their tank.

Most of us use bare bottom tanks for breeding. It makes water changes and feeding so much easier. You can see what is actually being eaten, and what's not, and it will encourage you to do lots of water changes, because all the uneaten food and fish poo is very visible on the bottom of the tank. :?

It really is best not to have any other fish in your tank when breeding, other than the pair. Anything else will either be a distraction to the breeding pair, or worse, will eat the newly free swimming fry. Best to keep them on their own. They'll soon get used to the tank.

Good luck with your breeding program.

Post some pictures when you have time. We love to see pictures of member's fish.

[fishrock]

thanks for the great advice merrilyn, and i agree about no substrate. so much easier to keep clean.
should have also said the tank has no background on it either
was thinking of those foam jobs, pretty cheap and i can't see the discus ripping them up????
adam

[Littlefish]

I calculate the volume to be about 141 litres (maybe I got the maths wrong) but for water volume you would need to subtract the volume of any substrate, driftwood, background, etc.

The least mind-boggling way to work out the water volume is to put everything into the tank that you plan to have in there (except the fish :lol: ) and then add water, taking note of how many litres you put in.

Fred

[Mulisha]

Yeah Merrilyn told you what to do and what i find also makes the tank alot better looking and does release tannis which the discus love gives the more natural feel what i do if go for a walk out the back were i live and btw i live in bush and find a nice bit of old looking wood make sure it's not green or anything just a bit of old hard wood then just fill up ur laundry sink with hottest water so it's over the wood then boil the kettle a few times and slso scrub the wood with a new tooth brush or (ya brothers or sisters) :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: and then just scrub and tip boiling water over it and let it soak for a few hrs then repeat untill your happy with the cleanning job.

Go down to ur LFS and but your self Anubis plant then sit it on the wood and tie the roots down with fishing line untill your happy..

Hope that helps gives the discus more happier tank as the tannis and plants etc

HTH

GoodLuck.. :wink:

[piranha-discus]

hi i had a home made fish tank also. i dunno how to work out the size to work out the water capacity. but i found out what it was, the easiest way i found out was just get a one 1LT bottle and fill it up with that then add all the total bottle used, thats how i got the answer , it may take a while but if u realy wana know , thats one way how to do it,
ben

[goldenpigeon]

* slowly but surely ;) *

[chris]

Hey Adam,
welcome to the forum, Im a sustrate user in my breeding tanks one of the very few, because all of my pairs are used to substrates and not bare bottom tanks.
When ive used bare bottom the pair spins out a bit if there not used to it, but im sure they will settle in time.
I spread the thinist layer of gravel possible.
Also my tanks are in the the lounge room so I have to make them look presentable. Oh im not saying BB tanks arnt presentable, any tank with discus look awesome.

Good luck chris :wink: