need ideas of plants for discus tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Simply put 260 is crazy. Can you tell me the K value on each bulb? Is this 2 or 4 bulbs.

You can do 2 things if its an option. 1. If you have 4 bulbs and can turn 2 off that's what I would do. Get yourself a timer and for say 30 mins maybe run all 4. Option 2. Sell your fixture and buy one with less wattage.

Plant:
You definatly want Vals, Jungle preferably.

Filtration:
Drop the HOB's, get 2 Perfect Sunsun Canisters off ebay for $35 a piece.
 
K value is 6500. lower end of the sprectrum and its a 24 inch deep tank. Power compacts lose alot of their power at around 20-22 inch. so that being said I dont think its to much light, maybe a little high near the top. But I will also include some sort of floating plant that's easily thinned down as to not suck up all the nutrients and light needed for the other plants.
I'm planning on heavily planting this tank while still taking into consideration the need of space for the discus. I will go with Co2. No problem with balancing the tank. I have pretty good tap water but may use a pre-filter anyways. And the HOB's will be full with Bio-media and i went into the garage to check and I was wrong, one filter is rated for a 55 and then the other is for a 40, I may even have another 40 laying around somewhere. So ill have plenty of filtration. The only time I will use charcoal is only when clearing tannins from driftwood during the initial fill-up as well as a short time during cycling. Ive heard problems about canister filters with planted discus tanks. I will still leave some color in the dank for the discus because of their sensitivity to light.
Timers are just a given with this type of system. I don't wanna have to rely on my forgettable memory .
The tank itself had been running for 5 years with half the wattage and No Co2, only tabs. half plants half fake. With absolutely no algae, surface gunk, or any issues. I took it down last year for financial reasons (stupid economy we have all come to rely on). And now that im preparing to put it all together again I want it to be EPIC! Im planning on building it into my soon to be bar in the man cave so external light attributing to algae with almost be nonexistent.
I have known a couple of people with almost this same type of setup minus the discus and pulling of some very amazing tanks. I am only trying to get ideas on plants for this. I want it to be more of a bio-tope setup and don't want to go with one of the plant packs you find at many retailers. Thanks for your thoughts by the way I always like double checking my logic. If anyone sees anything that would cause alarm with this setup please feel free to let me know. If not I need plant ideas!:nilly:
 
if your going the biotope route then your problems are solved. a discus biotope has NO plants except for some floating. much of the Amazon is heavily planted but you will never find discus there. I suck at growing plants so I set up a discus biotope. probably the easiest tank to maintain.
this is your tank and it has to make only you happy, but you are asking for advice. my advice is to slow down. tackle one thing at a time. you can always add plants, co2, or whatever. here is my tank. you can do a lot with just a little.

fts sm 1.jpg
 
I thought i read somewhere that discus are found in densely planted areas. Thats why they have that distinctive narrow body form (makes it easier for them to navigate through plant systems).
 
btw how big are your festivums? those aren't M. acoras are they? what size tank is that. Nice driftwood pieces as well. did you find them yourself or did you purchase them from a retailer. Also nice pic. I never could get a good pic of my tank.
 
Mitch,

I have a 75 gallon with 260 watts PC lighting. I promise you that with no co2 you will have an algae factory. I run three 2-liters DIY CO2 on this tank. DIY on a tank this size is not supposed to work but it does for me. I have spent time researching CO2 set-ups but they are so expensive! If you come up with one for $150 let me know :)

It is true that a HOB will offgas CO2 but that's only if you are adding CO2. I don't know what type of filters you have but when you say rated for a certain size tank I don't know what you mean. Do you know how many gallons per hour they are?

I ordered Discus from Hans for this tank but after reading on simplydiscus that they won't grow nearly as well in a planted tank I decided to empty out a 55 gallon and do the bare bottom method at least until they are full grown.

If I can offer any advice since I have the same size tank and lights let me know.

Dee,

After seeing your tank I'm thinking maybe I don't want to put the discus in a planted tank. Your tank is so natural looking and it is really stunning!
 
discus have slim bodies to get between the fallen branches. thier water is too warm and acidic for plants. my festivums are about 4" and growing. they are always found with discus in the wild. some people have had aggression problems with the towards the discus but so far they all play nice. my tank is 120 gal. (48x24x24). got all my wood from manzania.com.
splant, thank you. this is my favorite tank out of many over the years. imo, for wilds a biotope is the only way to go.
 
splant i am planning on using co2. I found one at marineandreef.com for $156 close enough for me its the Red Sea CO2 Pro System for Paintball CO2 Cylinders cheapest place Ive found on the net for one. I am an avid paintballer so I have many tanks that i rarely use. the kit doesn't come with a timer but timers are cheap so that's no issue.

after listening to 3dees I may not want to go with discus. Thank you for your input 3dees.you have been very helpful

I have HOB's and when I say rated for that means what size tank they are designed for , has nothing to do with gph. I believe around 500 gph if I use the 55 and 2 40's, could be wrong though something is telling me it would be more gph, like I said all my equipment has been in the garage for at least a year now maybe longer so its been awhile since I looked into that. since I am going to be heavily planting this tank I may not need the extra 40 not sure yet. I think if i keep my water level higher so the water doesn't fall from to high and cause a lot of gas-off they should work fine. what type of filtration do you run? and do you run all 4 lights for 12 hours or do you run 2 and then run 4 for a "mid day burst"?

splant what ype of substrate do you use? and what do you use for additional supplementation if any?

I still want to go with an amazon biotope setup. since I am not going with discus anymore now I need livestock ideas. I will be adding a descent school of neons or cardinals, cory cats, not sure yet but perhaps rams or apistos. Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
 
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