Discus tank conversion, bare bottom to planted

[Tequila]

Due to silly way this company ships stuff out in 5s or 10s I'm going to end up with 27 plants

I know a fish that will eat them if too much arrives He's currently working the way through that last beef heart mix, I don't think there is anything he won't eat

Having said that I've never tried live cat, maybe wait until his teeth develop

Dude what did you wanna do, buy one of this one of those and five of those errr yea yea I'll take hmmmm make that 3 not five, one each on the other twelve you carry. That what you do at the LFS, where they pay kids and people that are already crazy to deal with that type of nonsense. Buy in Bulk is what real planted tank keepers do.

When I decided to make this 180G tank a planted tank. I went down to Florida to a wholer/trans shipper, but first I asked everyone I knew that had a tank would they also be interested in some plants. Then upon arriving at the place a seeing all of what they had and the price list, I decided to make a few calls. I called a few shops that I know back home and after offering to pick out a few dozen for them too, I was good to go. I had everything shipping directly to the shops so that always I had to do was run by and pickup my money. The items I chose for myself and friends went directly to a friend when I returned home I got mine and everyone was happy.

 

[Yanbbrox]

Dude what did you wanna do, buy one of this one of those and five of those errr yea yea I'll take hmmmm make that 3 not five, one each on the other twelve you carry. That what you do at the LFS, where they pay kids and people that are already crazy to deal with that type of nonsense. Buy in Bulk is what real planted tank keepers do.

Well there, I have learned master tequila Seriously I couldn't agree more, never more will I cross the palm of an LFS to buy a plant at least I'm doing something right, finally

When I decided to make this 180G tank a planted tank. I went down to Florida to a wholer/trans shipper, but first I asked everyone I knew that had a tank would they also be interested in some plants. Now that is a seriously good idea, the simple ones are always the best. Then upon arriving at the place a seeing all of what they had and the price list, I decided to make a few calls. I called a few shops that I know back home and after offering to pick out a few dozen for them too, I was good to go. I had everything shipping directly to the shops so that always I had to do was run by and pickup my money. The items I chose for myself and friends went directly to a friend when I returned home I got mine and everyone was happy.

You should change your name to 'reliable Del boy'

 

[Yanbbrox]

Order has been dispatched hopefully it's tied up with my my one green light of fun

Expect a lot of plant pics tomorrow and a hopefully good review
Plants dieing pics to follow in a week!
Fingers crossed....

 

[Yanbbrox]

Will try home made co2 if things start going bad been doing a lot of research into this recently, with a view to going full on in a week after or so.....

Master Tequila, will provide a lot of info before finally committing....

 

[Tequila]

You should change your name to 'reliable Del boy'

Dude I can't deal with all these freak'n colors, I can't take it anymore.

Will try home made co2 if things start going bad been doing a lot of research into this recently, with a view to going full on in a week after or so.....

Master Tequila, will provide a lot of info before finally committing....

DIY, hmmmm ok just be sure that you can turn this DIY C02 stuff off when the lights go out and O2 on.

 

[Yanbbrox]

Dude I can't deal with all these freak'n colors, I can't take it anymore.



DIY, hmmmm ok just be sure that you can turn this DIY C02 stuff off when the lights go out and O2 on.

Sorry dude I meant to have a 'I' before the 'will provide' : Master Tequila, will provide Sounds like I was just expecting your automatic help, which was not the case....

Plants have arrived, I was going to picture the packaging they came in but I had a shout from Mrs Y that went along the lines of 'I've just dropped the plants in the water for now' but never mind. That may not sound all the exciting but its was going to be a reference if anyone else thought about purchasing them from the same place. As I've stated before even with all the research and help from Tequila this was alway going to be a good learning curve for myself.

They were in bags with a little water in them is the simple answer

I was reasonably happy with the condition of the plants and would order from the same site again. Remember I was ordering 27 plants for 20 dollars so I really wasn't expecting all that much to be honest but they were in good condition, Hygrophila polysprema was clearly a few cuttings from the top of a tank which made it difficult to plant and one of the Aponogeton crispus had mainlybrown leaves. All in all happy with the purchase and would order again... probably when this lot die

 

[Yanbbrox]

Tank after the plants were thrown in:



Tank after it was planted up waiting to clear as the substrate had been disturbed a lot. I wanted to think more of what will come in, I thought a densely planted around the edges with the middle being clear when carpet forming plants dominating. The fish were pretty shaken up with activity so hid in the corner :



Tank after it was clear, the fish seem to be enjoying there new aquascaped home:


..and to put a smile on my mentors face:

 

[Yanbbrox]

Before I put the new plants in I removed the testers all apart from the moss which is still alive although the pictures don't show it.

I've swapped over one of the tubes to a floura glo bulb and added the new reflector. I've scrapped the idea of home made co2 even though I believe it would have provided the results until I find a unit suitable for the size of tank. I don't see the point in messing around and setting it up when the proper unit is clearly the way to go. There seems to be a big gap between a 30g system and a full on system, more research is need and quickly to find the right unit. As everyone in the fish keeping game has lots of spare o2 pumps as back up is not a problem. Ewurm posted something about having too many spare pumps a while back funny thread

It's a huge jump between $30 for a basic system to $100-200 for the fully automated one.

Master Tequila, input needed..... With all the changing we could do with a light sabre simlie

 

[Tequila]

Before I put the new plants in I removed the testers all apart from the moss which is still alive although the pictures don't show it.

I've swapped over one of the tubes to a floura glo bulb and added the new reflector. I've scrapped the idea of home made co2 even though I believe it would have provided the results until I find a unit suitable for the size of tank. I don't see the point in messing around and setting it up when the proper unit is clearly the way to go. There seems to be a big gap between a 30g system and a full on system, more research is need and quickly to find the right unit. As everyone in the fish keeping game has lots of spare o2 pumps as back up is not a problem. Ewurm posted something about having too many spare pumps a while back funny thread

It's a huge jump between $30 for a basic system to $100-200 for the fully automated one.

Master Tequila, input needed..... With all the changing we could do with a light sabre simlie

I'll tell what I use:

Carbo-Plus
No bubble counter, pressure tank, gas refills, valves, or gauges needed! it was easy to control, and quick to setup, and the fine CO2 mist it produces was superb.



Many people don't like this system because its expensive unit cost $130~$170 depending on where you find it, plus replacements blocks & clips $50~$75 again depending. For me it was easier, than the other choices for me.

Running full throttel, at 12 hrs per day the block last approx 90~120 days. 1 unit is good for tanks up to 60G~90G depending on shape of aquarium. (so I used 2). Needs to be placed in the path of water flow. Requires manual cleaning, which some people think can be a bit messy, (just wipe the unit with a spong every 4 weeks, & remove the mineral deposits when you replace the block). Cannot be used with Saltwater! Also shouldn't really used with really sensitive fish, ie babies. Because this system generates a low voltage electrical process around the unit. Even when I kept Discus in the tank, they never hugged the unit, which may be because of the water flow but just the same. I find catfish like to play around the unit. But listen the dam thing is all of 3 inches wide 1 inches thick and 7-8 inches tall. the rest of the unit sits out side the aquarium.

You just gotta find what works for you, and if having a metal cyclinder sitting under your tank is no problem for you. I didn't wanna deal with all that crap, bubble counters, gauges etc. I'm a lazy American. I wanna eat my popcorn and watch my fish.

 

[Yanbbrox]

I'll tell what I use:

Carbo-Plus
No bubble counter, pressure tank, gas refills, valves, or gauges needed! it was easy to control, and quick to setup, and the fine CO2 mist it produces was superb.



Many people don't like this system because its expensive unit cost $130~$170 depending on where you find it, plus replacements blocks & clips $50~$75 again depending. For me it was easier, than the other choices for me.

Running full throttel, at 12 hrs per day the block last approx 90~120 days. 1 unit is good for tanks up to 60G~90G depending on shape of aquarium. (so I used 2). Needs to be placed in the path of water flow. Requires manual cleaning, which some people think can be a bit messy, (just wipe the unit with a spong every 4 weeks, & remove the mineral deposits when you replace the block). Cannot be used with Saltwater! Also shouldn't really used with really sensitive fish, ie babies. Because this system generates a low voltage electrical process around the unit. Even when I kept Discus in the tank, they never hugged the unit, which may be because of the water flow but just the same. I find catfish like to play around the unit. But listen the dam thing is all of 3 inches wide 1 inches thick and 7-8 inches tall. the rest of the unit sits out side the aquarium.

You just gotta find what works for you, and if having a metal cyclinder sitting under your tank is no problem for you. I didn't wanna deal with all that crap, bubble counters, gauges etc. I'm a lazy American. I wanna eat my popcorn and watch my fish.

Ok I get it, it's a personal thing that works for you, i need to find a unit that works for me, I'll switch back into heavy research mode tomorrow and reply with the results and you can enlighten me with what I've come up with.

If your truly a lazy American, stereotypically you should be eating cheese burgers and enjoying the fish or in your case with a nice XO reserve as well

Y