:: New Tank for Discus FINAL UPDATE Scroll down for pic : )

[aquartos]

Hi there,

Was so excited that i had to take some quick snaps b4 the tannins distroy the tank! Still need to add fish and more plants and background but thought id post the progress....

Hope you like... Sorry about the murky pics... I just setup the tank.

http://www.users.bigpond.com/jajay/fish/IMG_3970.jpg

Cheers,

Shev

[SandyLynne]

Hi aquartos

I love the way you have setup your tank, can wait to see some fish in it. I love the contrast of the white gravel and driftwood. I wish I had used that gravel when setting up my tank.

[mcloughlin2]

Gorgeous tank mate!!! :shock:

[goldenpigeon]

nice tank! i think i see an inlet to a canister filter there? that power filter will knock your discus arround a bit so i suggest you take it out or point the outlet at the glass (reducing current largely but you still get the good filtration).

if you do have a canister that should be ble to do the tank by itself.

the wood gives it a great effect. are you going to be using co2? what sort of lights do you have? any fish in there yet?

[aquartos]

Thanks for the nice comments...

For filtration, i have an Eheim 2224 and I feel it is not enough for my tank… thus the reason why I’m using an otto internal... GP, i think you are right that the discus will be knocked around so ill have to modify the otto filter by attaching a spray bar to it.

Regarding Co2, im not going to have any... I had enough fish in my last semi planted tank that the plants thrived... i also used some red sea fertilizer.

Lighting, well.... LOL I’m using a 4ft dalbarb in there, but considering a 4ft metal halide as a mate can get me one for a good price... not sure if this is over kill or not.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions,

Ill keep you posted on the progress…

Cheers,

Shev

[Mulisha]

Hi mate very nice tank and can't wait to see some discus in there they will love it!!

One point you might wanna tank in to consideration that white sand/gravel will attaract algae easily so your got to be carefull with what amount of light you have on that tank and make sure there is enough plants to take in the nutrients.

When you said you could get a Metal Hailde from a friend that would be awersome but you would have to have co2 for sure or you would have a massive outbreak of algae.
If you have heaps of light you got to have heaps of nutrients in the water/gravel to keep the plants using all that light becuase if your plants don't use the light who will :roll: *algae* :shock:

Don't get me wrong that will be one awersome tank once set up and make most of us jealous :wink:

Keeps us updated on how you go with it....

Cheers

[Jadels]

One point you might wanna tank in to consideration that white sand/gravel will attaract algae easily so your got to be carefull with what amount of light you have on that tank and make sure there is enough plants to take in the nutrients.


Just a question, does white sand/gravel actually attract algae easier or is it that it is more visible due to the contrast hence we think it attracts more algae?

[goldenpigeon]

if you get a metal halide you will need co2 so the plants can perform photosynthesis. if you were going to go to the trouble of getting such good lighting then you might seriously want to consider co2

just a thought

[aquartos]

When you said you could get a Metal Hailde from a friend that would be awersome but you would have to have co2 for sure or you would have a massive outbreak of algae.
If you have heaps of light you got to have heaps of nutrients in the water/gravel to keep the plants using all that light becuase if your plants don't use the light who will Rolling Eyes *algae* Shocked

Sound like sound advice.... Thanks for that.
Ill have to look into getting a Co2 system setup... Just curious though... as i am not going to have heaps of plants in there, will the Co2 suffocate the fish?
I will have 15 cardinals 10 rummy nose and around 6-8 small discus in there.
What do you think?

[shewey]

If you keep your CO2 levels between 20 - 30 ppm you will be right. No need to go any higher than that. Just keep an eye on your ph levels as it will drop during the light period when you have CO2 being injected. Also make sure your kh is not too low or you could get a ph crash. kh of 3 or 4 should be fine.

Some people keep their CO2 going 24 hours a day. Others only inject CO2 during the lighting period or inject CO2 24 hours and turn on a airstone when the lights go out.

I would only go the MH lighting and CO2/ferts if you plan to add a whole lot more plants. If you just plan to keep it simple with a few sword plants then I think the whole extra effort (and expense) of CO2 and MH is probably not worth the while.

Thats just my thoughts anyway. Good luck, your tank has gotten off to the right start - it looks great.

Cheers,
Mark.

[Mulisha]

Well how big is that tank and when the lights are on the co2 will be on and you should be fine becuase the plants abosorb the co2 when the lights are on but when the lights are off the co2 should be turned off at the same time becuase at night the plants will release co2 into the water.

So what i'm trying to say when lights on the plants use co2 and and release o2 that makes the fishys happy 8-)

But at night it does the opposite. People put air stones on at night to get rid of the excess co2 in the water so the are happy but i personally never had a problem with fish not having enough o2.

When you want to start injecting co2 to use it to it's full Potential you will need to add some ferts i don't mean go out and but all Seachem range just see how your plants go with just say Florish but if you see holes in leaves etc etc you will have to add certain chem to fix it.

How many lights/watts are you going to be putting over the tank?

Thats a bit of a run down if you need anymore info just post :wink:

Cheers mate and good luck 8-)

[Mulisha]

[quote="shewey"]
Some people keep their CO2 going 24 hours a day. Others only inject CO2 during the lighting period or inject CO2 24 hours and turn on a airstone when the lights go out.
quote]

If you inject co2 24hrs a day and turn a air stone at night on that's wasting co2 completly becuase co2 will ecape the tank soon as the water is broken so who ever does that is just wasting co2 :shock:

You shhouldn't get much of a ph swing as long kh is 4-5 and you arn't going much over 1 bubble per second.

Good luck and like shewey said ur tank is already looking great :wink:

[aquartos]

Thanks for the help Mulisha...
Just a quick updated pic... now I need fish : )

This is prob all the plants that ill be having in there... I might add in a couple more swords.

http://www.users.bigpond.com/jajay/fish/IMG_3978.jpg

Cheers,

Shev

[Mulisha]

OMG very nice tank very nice contrast between the white sand and the green plants:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

OK if your going to have manily swords etc in the tank my suggestion would be you won't need co2 and not huge amounts of light but one thing i can suggest for swords is that they are very heavy root feeded so the best thing for them is root tabs. I was speaking to a forums member the other night about whats the ferts etc and value for money we came to a conclision that clay based tabs are the best such as Dupla K that are on on AOA site for a good price. One thing you could have a probelm with is the clay leeching into the tank because you have a fine gravel/sand.

IMHO i would go with the Seachem Tabs from APW that are on special becase they arn't clay based but will do the same thing just won't last as long.

I'll put some links for you to have a look at i have 5 Amzon Swords in my tank and they grow at a okay speed and i have never used any ferts in tank but i have co2 injection and 3WPG but i'm going to add tabs and ferts soon.

Hope that has helped you out a bit any more questions just ask :wink:

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/prod793.htm

http://www.aquariumproductswholesale.com/cart.php?
m=product_detail&p=1018

Cheers mate and good luck. :P

[aquafrogstuff]

Have you got anything in the way of fertiliser underneath the white substrate?

[aquartos]

Thanks for the heads up on the fert... ill grab some ASAP as i can see the plants are not doing so well... Ill go for the sachem tabs.

aquafrogstuff, im not using any laterite or anything under the sand.

BTW, i have air running in the tank. Just want to know if this is harmful to the plants as it is adding more o2 onto the tank... i only have an handful of fish in there atm so there is not much Co2 at all!

Turn it off, or just leave it?

Cheers, and thanks for your helpful suggestions!!!!

Shev

[MattB]

very very nice tank :)

Just out of interest, is that tiny little fish in the picture a platy?

[Mulisha]

Thanks for the heads up on the fert... ill grab some ASAP as i can see the plants are not doing so well... Ill go for the sachem tabs.

aquafrogstuff, im not using any laterite or anything under the sand.

BTW, i have air running in the tank. Just want to know if this is harmful to the plants as it is adding more o2 onto the tank... i only have an handful of fish in there atm so there is not much Co2 at all!

Turn it off, or just leave it?

Cheers, and thanks for your helpful suggestions!!!!

Shev


I'm not exact;y sure but a air stone shouldn't hurt your plants at all but like you said there won't be any co2 in the water.
I can't wait to see some fishys in that tank it's awersome as. 8-)

Good Luck mate :P

[Merrilyn]

You've done a lovely job setting up that tank. I really like the look you've got. Not too crowded, but enough to creat interest right across the tank.

If you're going to stick with Amazon sword plants, then remember that they are low light plants, and don't need too much light. As already mentioned, they are heavy root feeders, so you'll do well with just root fertilizer. Unless you plan to grow lots of stem plants, I don't think you'll need to add CO2 in any form.

Keep things simple to begin with, then when you have mastered the discus keeping aspect, you might like to go for more exotic plants.

Personally, I think you tank is perfect just the way it is. :P

[aquartos]

Ok, Here is the update on the tank...
Added some fish!!! :D :D

20 Cardinals, 10 Rummy Nose, 1 RedTurq and 2 RedWhites... Just need some bottom feeders and 3 more discus and im DONE!

The plants are doing really well... the runner has exploded since i got a 4ft t5 reflector.

Hope you like...

http://www.users.bigpond.com/jajay/fish/discustank2.jpg

Cheers,

Shev

[Nathan]

that looks great, well done, really simple but really really effective.

looks even better with the black background against the white sand!

well done you should be really proud

[AussieStar]

is that just pool filter sand?

[WinnY]

WOW !!!!!! :lol:

Nice setup Shev... Simple but Effective.

I also liked what you did with the borders... looks very professional.

I gotta learn how to do that :oops:

All the best with the stunning display tank.

Cheers
WinnY

[aquartos]

Thanks for the comments guys! Much appreciated...

The substrate is a mix of 2mm and .5mm white sand... not pool filter sand.
This stuff comes out nice and white compared to Pool filter sand imo...

Hope to have more Discus soon then ill post the last Updated pic...

Thanks again for the comments...

Cheers,

Shev

[MattB]

Wow, that's amazing, wish my tank looked even close to that :)

[Mulisha]

very nice mate makes my tank look like a alage pit :lol: :lol:

goodwork

[aquartos]

Final update on the tank...

Im not adding any more Discus! The balance is now right... fighting has stopped and they are just HAPPY like ME! :yahoo:

Anyway, I added in 3 blue diamonds, 2pigeon bloods 4 SAE and 3 ottos and 3 cory julii to clean up the mess...
All of the new plants are from the runner from the previous update... There are 3 runners now from the main plant... im expecting around 12 more swords soonish! Remember, no Co2 too... All natural Hahahahah

Here is a pic of the tank... NOT the best, but shows enough.

Enjoy,


http://www.users.bigpond.com/jajay/fish/discustank3.jpg




Cheers,


Shev

[Merrilyn]

That tank is stunning Shev. Beautiful fish and a beautiful layout.

Who said ya need CO2 to have a beautiful tank :lol: but we all want to know your secret.

[tara]

Can I have your tank and fish please, looks great u must be happy with the result.

[Nathan]

it really looks great you should be really happy with it, i really like the runners coming from your sword an that red turk is just beautiful.

well done mate!! :D

[taksan]

Shev thats just really really nice

[DR.V]

NOT the best, but shows enough.

Are you serious ?? That is really awsome !!!

I love it, simple but stunning !

[*Chris*]

he is going to get a big head
that blue diamond i got for you looks great
LOL