# Growing A Discus Jungle



## joshyboi2 (Mar 28, 2009)

Next time I do a total rescape I want to add this peice of driftwood to the center.
It will go from the floor to the top. This is the best wood I have found that will not encourage algae and wont hurt the fish.


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

Only thing I would change in the tank is I would move the large sword to the back. Right now it's like smack-dab in the foreground, blocking the view of the other smaller plants at the back. That's just me. Also, that wood looks good, does it have a hollow center that would double as a cave?


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## joshyboi2 (Mar 28, 2009)

Ok So the wood is not hollow yet, but I plan on making a cave or two for some plecos to hide in. I don't keep plecos with my discus unless there is driftwood, as I find they love the wood more than the slimy coat on the discus. This is the one thing I have noticed in discus communities. when driftwood is present, the bristlenoses in particular graze on the wood instead of being tempted by a coat of discus skin.

I have had the exzact bristle plecos in this tank when they were younger and breeding. I am looking forward to less algae scraping maintenance that's for sure.:biggrin:


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## joshyboi2 (Mar 28, 2009)

*Latest Pics*

These pics were taken today, 21st June 2011


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## wilsonlin45 (Apr 18, 2011)

How long have you had the pigeon blood in there? I'm thinking of getting one but I also have a black background and light sand, I just dont want it to pepper


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## joshyboi2 (Mar 28, 2009)

*Discus peppering*

This pigeon blood has always had peppering, so I don't think it matters on the background and substrate. I have had it since it was a medium juvenile. Definitely has the most personality in the tank and is also the largest and fastest growing. I have also heard that the pigeon blood is one of the hardier strains of discus. Peppering can be the result of many things, not just stress. 

My discus peppering never changes so I find it hard to relate this to the stress levels of the fish.


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## Snowflake311 (Apr 20, 2011)

The plants grew in fast.I like the wood. Now that the plants have come in I would organize them a bit more. They kind of look like they were just thrown in. 

Most of your discus look good but the one small one I saw in the back ground. He looks a bit sad. Kind of skinny. How many discus do you have? What size tank is it.

Peppering is genetic in the pigeon blood. Most breeders have bred it out pretty well. Yet some still will have it. My PB has very little peppering. It does not have anything to do with stress. But dark color back ground and dark substrate can make the peppering more noticeable.


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

That small turq seems to be on its last leg. The pb looks to be healthy, he might be picking on that small turq at night time.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

I think the peppering is from breeding with blue turqs. also, be careful of cross breeding in your tank with all of those diff kinds of discus


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## joshyboi2 (Mar 28, 2009)

I know the Turq does look a little worse than the others. Funny thing is, I got him at the same time as the PB, they were the same size, and came from the same supplier. Mabye this one is a runt? he never grows, but eats plenty.

I have had him for nearly two years and he is still the same size. I did a bath with metro a while back for him, and I also worm my discus every couple of months using Prazi. I also read that discus give out a hormone into the water that suppresses their growth. maybe this guy has too much of the hormone to grow.

I thought I was gonna loose this guy so many times that I don't know what to do anymore. could someone throw some light onto the situation?


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## joshyboi2 (Mar 28, 2009)

OK So I did a bit more maintenance on the tank today and heavily pruned back some Riccia to create a new piece for the center of the back of my tank. 
I also Sucked out a lot of pebbles that had blue/black hair algae on them.
I agree that the plants look like they were just thrown in together, this is the look I want to create to give it a natural effect. 

After lots of pruning this tank looks a little more organized, and if I could I would move plants around, but unfortunately I have root tabs under most of my substrate that would be disturbed when I uproot the plants. 

I hope to create denser growth by trimming and maintaining the tank gradually.

By the way, after today's water change I noticed the smaller turquoise was actually looking pretty healthy and happy.


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## they call me bruce (Feb 13, 2011)

wont be long before u are movin stuff around once every thing grows in you wont have room for a lot of those plants very nice right now though


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## joshyboi2 (Mar 28, 2009)

they call me bruce said:


> wont be long before u are movin stuff around once every thing grows in you wont have room for a lot of those plants very nice right now though


I am just starting to realize that, and I already have in mind the plants I want to remove. Some of the crypts, bacopa, and valliseneria will be going, along with some of the blyxa. regretfully I will have to remove some of the pogo stellatus to. This tank is truly a jungle, even after a heavy trim.


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## kendrid (May 15, 2010)

Your plants are very health. I'm hoping to get there with my Discus tank.

RE: Discus peppering, with my discus the substrate and background both made a difference. I started with Eco-Complete and a dark blue background and my blue turq was extremely dark. With sand and a white background he's very light. I also tried just a dark background with sand and he was 'medium'. 

Eco/blue background:









A week later with sand/white background:









My Pigeon Tiger started to pepper with the eco/blue background when I brought it home from the breeder. A few weeks later the few spots went away.









I know peppering is normal for some discus but for my fish I was able to prevent it.


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## Snowflake311 (Apr 20, 2011)

I love the color change in the discus. They do try and blend in to the enviroment and the color changes a lot with mood. Those 2 discus look very nice what size are they?

I would not worry at all About breeding if you get fry cool but it's not that easy.

I see whereyou are going with the natrual look. It will
look so differant in a few months. Very nice. Did you add the wood yet?


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## joshyboi2 (Mar 28, 2009)

Thank you Both Kendrid and Snowflake, I am very impressed by your Discus and their homes. I haven't added the Driftwood Yet, as I need to Soak it for a while and tomorrow I will be going to Bunnings (the local Aussies Hardware warehouse) to find a container to fit the monster piece in. 

It weighs about 35 Kg, and took quite the effort to salvage. I Carried it over 4 Kilometers, from the discovery location, to the car, and have moved it quite a bit since. 

One of my mates seen it the other day and asked if he could have it for his garden as he wanted to grow mosses and ferns on it. I had to let him know that this is my plan also but the mosses and ferns are going to be aquatic and it will be going into my Discus tank soon. After I got home from work today I noticed a large portion of my Riccia came unattached from the coconut today. Instead of replanting on the coconut, I put it in a vase that my lucky bamboo and other riccia are growing. Once The Driftwood has been soaked for a week I will plant the wood with the Riccia, and keep it moist until The Re scape.


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## joshyboi2 (Mar 28, 2009)

So I have not yet re-scaped the tank yet, and the driftwood is maturing well, but due to me working a lot lately, I have not had the time or energy to put into the whole thing, but am very content on getting the plants to fill out. with every week and water change, I am tweaking things, but the real test is soon to come. Also I have added a few pics. The smaller turq is doing very well of late, so I added a pic of him too.


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