need ideas of plants for discus tank

[mitch890]

never used a uv sterilizer but from what i hear they can cause oxidation of trace elements. others say they have had no side effects. its kinda a damned if you do and damned if you don't appliance. but then again I have been wrong before and this thread proves that. good question btw.

 

[plantbrain]

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.

Less is very often.......more.
Floating plants are great for Discus tanks.

Easy, soak up all the light, any waste etc, and natural depending on the time of year in their native habitat.

I agree, these are some of the easiest tanks to set up, but folks cannot help but stick their finger where it don't belong......but.......the results are worth while often times:

Lots of work initially but well managed now.

 

[3dees]

plantbrain, while your tank is not a discus biotope it's one awesome tank. I'm so jealous of those who can grow plants like this. I would love to see a more frontal shot. maybe start your own thread as to not hijack this one.

 

[splant]

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.

Mitch

Good luck with the CO2 system. I'm wondering how long the paintball cylinders will last on a tank this size. That's not an option that I ever considered because I figured it wouldn't last very long. You will want to get a drop checker too so you can monitor your CO2 levels. Check ebay for those. Way to go on figuring out the CO2.

My tank has a Marineland C Series 360 GPH. The SunSuns are great I have them running on two of my 55 gallons. I think they are 265 GPH. They are as good as the Marineland C Series and they have a spray bar and skimmer attachment. On another 55 gallon I have a Marineland C Series 220 and the SunSuns I have are identical in size to that one. I plan to sell the 360 and get a SunSun for this tank too. You should really check them out.

You are right that if you keep the water level high it will cause less CO2 loss.

I usually have my lights on for about 8 hours. I run two for half of that time and then the other two for the other half. They overlap in the middle for about two hours.

 

[mitch890]

splant, I was thinking myself how long the paintball tanks will last. I figured that since I have around 15 Co2 tanks (9-24 oz) it shouldnt be to much of a pain in the ass. I will probably change co2 canister weekly with water change and plant maintenance.

the description of the Co2 system says rated all the way up to a 125 gallon aquarium. It did not give specific amount of time though. So I assumed that that was rated using a standard paintball tank which is anywhere from 9-24 oz. and was over a considerable amount of time.

And I was also already considering the drop checker. I know id sleep easier if I had one. I need to think of ebay more often. Also I have been considering canister filters more and more not sure if they are right for me yet. Im thinking even with the HOB's I should have enough bio filtration with the high amount of plants, peat, driftwood, and bio media it should all pan out.

.

 

[3dees]

I know people who tried the paintball thing and they said it cost them a small fortune. I used a 5lb. tank on a 46 gal. tank and it lasted for about 4 months. was 15.00 to refill.
splant, the plants are brazillian pennyworth.

 

[JasonG75]

Nice thread I just have one queston, would a uv steralizer off set the algea growth that you are speaking about?

Some LOVE uv sterilizer and swear by them, and some swear them off. Some like to MASK the problems while other like to RESOLVE the problem.

So it is a matter of taste actually.

Red Sea CO2 Pro System for Paintball CO2 Cylinders cheapest place Ive found on the net for one.
I have HOB's
what type of filtration do you run?
do you run all 4 lights for 12 hours or do you run 2 and then run 4 for a "mid day burst"?

I still want to go with an amazon biotope setup. since I am not going with discus anymore now I need livestock ideas. Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

75 gallons and using a paintball system? ummm I see a lot of consumption.

Water-testers.com has a Mil regulator with solenoid and bubble counter for $86 and free shipping.
Aquariumplants.com has a 5lb cylinder for $65 or you can look locally. I wouldn't recommend the system you're looking into, they are really for smaller systems.

I would sell the HOB's and use that money to buy 1 or 2 Perfect Sunsuns on ebay.

I can't think of anyone that runs 4 lights unless they have a bunch of floating plants. On a 75 gallon 2 T5HO is all your ever going to need. Actually if you could run 1 and turn on off and during certain times turn both on THAT would be more Ideal. Check the sticky at the top on lighting page 4 and 5 have really good charts.

Fish suggestions: Cardinals for sure, rummy (a must) a Bristlenose, cory cats, maybe a pair of Marble Angels? I personally am not a fan of Rams but it is your setup and my suggestions haha.

 

[JasonG75]

I know people who tried the paintball thing and they said it cost them a small fortune.

+1

AS I just got through mentioning...totally agree. It would be ok for smaller setups.