# shalu's 55gallon low tech



## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)




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## PeteyPob (Apr 26, 2004)

That is a huge parrot fish! Greata looking tank.
-Pete


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

PeteyPob said:


> That is a huge parrot fish!


hahaha, Pete, that's a gold severum. Can you believe I raised it in a 10 gallon till adulthood? Did not do much water change, either. oh, so much easier than discus :icon_bigg


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Looks nice, although that fish... what's the deal with Severums eating plants?

No-tech is of course an unfortunate misnomer... I was expecting a sunlit tank :wink:


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Wasserpest said:


> Looks nice, although that fish... what's the deal with Severums eating plants?


hm.. it did not touch my plants. I can hand feed it colorbits, although it might accidentally bite my finger. 



Wasserpest said:


> No-tech is of course an unfortunate misnomer... I was expecting a sunlit tank :wink:


LOL. It has a single $2 T12 40w bulb over it. Overdriven by an $18 4x ballast. ok, I now also call it low tech, happy now? :icon_bigg


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## Sweet Violet (Aug 10, 2005)

Do you have an AH relector on this single bulb? Does this tank still have no/co2 as well? I love your light thread that you just started... keep up the great work. Hope it gets a sticky too~


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## conduct (Mar 25, 2005)

Shalu-
Do you have a better picture of your gold severum.. he/she is so so so beautiful and if it no trouble I would love to see a closer picture. 
Thanks


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Sweet Violet said:


> Do you have an AH relector on this single bulb? Does this tank still have no/co2 as well?


It did not have AHSupply reflector initially, now it does(2x22" ones). Also I switched the bulb to a single 40W T6 bulb, drawing 60W ODNO 4x, see my lighting measurement thread. It is amazing how bright that 60w looks over 55 gallon. Still no CO2. Glad you like my lighting thread, thank you.



conduct said:


> Shalu-
> Do you have a better picture of your gold severum.. he/she is so so so beautiful and if it no trouble I would love to see a closer picture.
> Thanks


Thank you, conduct. I gave it away to a friend a few weeks ago :icon_frow I know I vowed never to raise small discus again because of the hard work involved, I just couldn't resist the urge to grow out more juvenile discus. The tank now houses 9 1-3" small discus.

Here they are, you see they are very small 









feeding time:


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 10, 2005)

I am thinking about getting a 75 gallon tank. It would be low tech, for now. I love the idea of Discus in the tank but i didn't think you were supposed to do water changes on a low tech tank. How often do you do water changes?


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

2x90% weekly. With discus, the lower tech you go, the more water change you need to keep water quality acceptable. Plants don't help nearly as much as in high tech tank. Low tech, no water change tanks are mainly intended for low bioload.


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 10, 2005)

That answer my question. Seems like keeping adult discus is easier in a C02 tank. Ill wait to try my hand at them until then.


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Baby discus lining up for a photo shoot








I got them about a month ago, at 1" to 1.25". now little over 2". These are leopards and leopard snake skins. Buying discus at such a small size is like getting "a box of chocalate, you never know what you are going to get". They might show red spots when they grow up, or they might not. Other options are to buy those brightly colored, hormoned 3" discus, but they won't live for long, or pay $250 for a nice adult.

Virgin red








Got it over 2 weeks ago at 2.5", now about 3". It should look like this as adult:
http://sunrisetropicals.com/imageli...&target=tlx_new&title=6.5" Virgin Red # S2675

Albino (rabbit eye):








Another pic:








This is an expensive 3" fish. I bought it more for its novelty than beauty. It does not have any black pigment on the entire body, hence "albino". Even its pupils are deep red, and the remnants of the black bars are also red. I picked out this fish in a hurry and realized its shape could have been rounder. I found that this type of fish seems to be highly inbred, and it has pretty poor eye sight. Remember the T-Rex in the movie Jurassic Park? It can only see the prey when it is moving. Same thing here, it can only find bloodworms when the worm is dropping in water, it can't find food either from the feeding cone or on the floor! My other discus make a mess at feeding time, so it does not have any problem filling its stomach, but I doubt that it can survive in the wild.

My new aquisition yestoday, a 4" "scarlet" discus:








Another pic:








"Scarlet" is the name given by the breeder. To me, it is just a super clean "red melon". It is now my favorite discus, you can see why.


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## robert (Sep 13, 2005)

clear out your PM's shalu!!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=21839


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## David Hui (Sep 14, 2005)

Hmmm, the only thing that stick on your glass should be discus' eggs not snails!! You are giving bare bottom tanks guys/gals heart attack!! I wonder what would people say if you post that pic on Simply???


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

hehehe, David. I did post the red discus on simply. And one did ask what is on the glass, I said snails :icon_bigg


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## Jim (Apr 4, 2005)

Sha,

Those are really nice discus! I especially like the "scarlet" -- perfect shape and color. He obviously likes your water conditions. Where did you buy him? I think his red color is much brighter than most of the red melons that I have seen. Mine have more of a orange/yellow tint to them. 

Jim


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Jim, you know where I got it from, your favorite store, :icon_bigg . I went to pick out the fish when the new shipment just came in from Singapore.


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## Jim (Apr 4, 2005)

I was there about two weeks ago for some bloodworms and his tanks were almost empty, waiting for the shipment. I have never seen his tanks so empty -- it was disappointing after the 45 minute drive. :icon_frow


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Jim, call him about new shipment date, he will tell you. I noticed that he actually now announces coming shipment on the website. The last shipment was past Wednesday, so still plenty of fish to choose from.


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Well, I went to David Hui's place and picked up two discus for a very small price, thanks David roud: 

Blue diamond descendent from the famous Wayne's discus strain:








Notice Wayne's signature high body, incredible shape.

David also gave me a brown based red fish he bred himself:


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## Safado (Jul 10, 2005)

Those are incredible fish. I am in awe.


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## timr (Mar 23, 2005)

What are you going to do with all of those beautiful fish when they grow up?


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## VWD (Oct 9, 2005)

*Very Nice looking Tank.*

A+A+A+An Great looking tank.


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

timr said:


> What are you going to do with all of those beautiful fish when they grow up?


make fish burgers? :hihi: Seriously, either more tanks or "upgrade" the current fish in the 100 gallon(give away or sell the lesser grade ones). Once you get into this hobby(discus and/or planted tanks), you can never have enough tanks.


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## Kyle (Jul 19, 2005)

aww man, you make me want them so bad! I'm at a loss which route to go when I get a bigger tank, discus, or community w/ some angels and some schooling fish.


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## zelmo (Oct 20, 2005)

Can you describe how you feed the small ones? You said you only give them bloodworms, but how often? Who makes the feeding cone?


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

Here is the worm feeder:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=28979;category_id=1775

I fill the cone before I leave for work in the morning. That keeps the discus entertained for a few hours. I feed them again when I get home, basically I refill the cone every couple of hours whenever I am home.


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## zelmo (Oct 20, 2005)

shalu -

I got that worm feeder, but when I put the frozen worms in they don't come out. Did you modify it?


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