# carpet plant for discus



## youdontknowme (Jan 17, 2013)

was in the middle of planning my planted discus aquascape with some driftwoods.

i would like to carpet the foreground. what would you suggest ? DHG ?
and will the discus have feeding problem since they sometimes eat from the sink-ed food at the substrate ? 

specs : 4ftx2ftx2ft , 2x54w giesemann powerchrome and midday ( individual parabolic reflector for each bulb) , pressurised CO2 , ada powersand L 2L with 31.5L of ada new amazonia ( normal ) , tank temperature will be 28~29degree.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Dwarf hair grass is one of my favorites. I like glosso the best though. With that setup you shouldn't have any problems growing either of them.


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## youdontknowme (Jan 17, 2013)

2x54w with the tank size will be okay for glosso ? i thought they need higher lighting ? 

will the discus be fine with carpet foreground ?


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

I personally think it will grow fine considering I grow it with success and I use the same bulbs. If you really are worried and font want to chance it, than you can't go wrong with DHG. That will grow even under low light. Two geisemann midday bulbs over that tank is a considerable amount of light. Glosso should carpet just fine.

And I'm sure the discus won't care what foreground plant you use lol.


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## Yankee (Jan 12, 2013)

You may want to add one more t5 or a Finnex Ray II to ensure you'll be able to grow glosso. It likes a lot of CO2 as well. I'd suggest you start the carpet dry first to get the roots established and then you can flood it. When you flood it let the water be around 79 degrees and slowly adapt the plant to the higher temperatures (maybe add 1 degree every few days). I agree, glosso + discus looks amazing and I plan on doing the same in a 75g. Currently I'm growing glosso in a 10 and its relatively CO2 demanding but grows great if you can keep the lights and CO2 in check.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I grew glosso with just hi-lighting and soil.....no co2, not even yeast co2

And I now have more of it than I know what to do with.


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## DOJOLOACH23 (Oct 27, 2016)

Would Glosso due well with injected CO2, 40 breeder, finnex ray2, ei estimate ferts, and fluorite sand?

Posted in this old thread as oppose to making a new one. I'tll be a great reference guide for people looking to do foreground with higher temps and stricter parameters.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Just a note of caution from a long-time discus keeper.
If you truly want discus and want to succeed at keeping them in good health, I strongly suggest you reconsider carpeting your tank.

Discus are not tolerant of poor water quality and conditions, and need large, frequent wcs to stay healthy and grow properly.
Small, young or juvenile discus will not generally do well at all in a planted environment even with daily wcs, and will be subject to potential stunting and development of poor shape. Even adult discus should have a minimum of large once or twice a week wcs in a planted tank.

Discus are often grazers and a carpeted tank bottom will inhibit their ability to locate food which has fallen to the bottom. Even more of a problem is that a plant carpet will readily collect uneaten foods, fish wastes, and decomposing plant matter, which will harbor the undesirable development of potentially harmful bacteria - which of course adversely affects water quality & conditions.

If you wish to succeed with discus and want to do so in a planted set-up, then you need to maintain a rigorous tank cleansing routine, which includes the capability of having an appropriate substrate and keeping it as free and clean of debris as possible.











I don't wish to paint a doom & gloom picture - this is simply to let you know some of the pitfalls in keeping discus properly.

Bump:

Bump:


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Just for the additional information of those of you hobbyists who would really like to give discus a try, here are the 3 worst start-up mistakes that wannabe discus-keepers can make:

1) Wanting to start off with a planted tank, and planning on getting nothing bigger than young small relatively inexpensive discus, or even juveniles, to stock the tank, and not planning on doing large, frequent water changes.

2) Planning to use coarse gravel, or any type of dirt/soils as substrate for the tank.

3) Heavily planting the start-up tank, and planning on having a planted carpet bottom.


While I'm at it, and for what it's worth, here are the 6 cardinal rules for discus newbies to follow if they want to succeed at keeping discus:

D-I-S-C-U-S - 6 CARDINAL RULES FOR NEWBIES TO FOLLOW


First I'd just like to mention once again that discus are hardier than many people think, and are not difficult to keep, so long as one is prepared to accept and adhere to a few key practices that will provide the best chances of success with discus.

This listing is recorded more or less in order of importance:

1) - D - Do your homework well before delving into discus. Read and research all you can beforehand. Googling will certainly help, as well as spending a good deal of time reading the posts and threads on the simplydiscus.com forum, particularly the stickies in the 'Discus Basics for Beginners' section, which will provide you with much of the material you need to digest.

2) - I - Investigate and learn of the best sources to get your discus stock. Find those breeders &/or importers that are long time, well-experienced, responsible, reputable, and known to supply high quality, healthy, and well-shaped discus. Buy your discus from one of these sources in order to insure that you get off on the best footing possible.
This is the single, most important factor in succeeding with discus.
The simplydiscus.com forum has a sponsors section which lists a good number of high quality discus suppliers in North America. Check it out.

3) - S - Set up and plan to follow a strict regular routine of fresh water changes, tank wipe-downs and cleansing, vacuuming of wastes, and regular filter and media cleaning, changes, replacements, and maintenance. Be fully prepared for the kind of commitment it takes to produce and maintain the highest water quality and conditions that you can.

4) - C - Carefully consider the type of tank set up you start with. Make sure the tank size is ample enough to start with 5 or 6 discus. Don't be tempted to begin with a tank of less than 55 or 60 gallons, and don't try to justify going smaller by just getting 1, 2, 3, or 4 discus for cost or other reasons.
Wait till you have sufficient resources to get a proper-sized tank, and the suitable size and number of fish to insure continuing good health and harmonious discus sociability.
Do not start with small, undersized, very juvenile fish which have not yet developed a more mature immune system, are more demanding to raise properly, and much more prone to health problems and other issues. Get fish of at least 3.0" in size, preferably larger.

5) - U - Undertake to start off with a bare bottom tank, unless you're getting fully adult fish and have previous good experience with fish-keeping generally, and maintaining a planted tank in particular. If you must have some decor, limit yourself to a very thin sand substrate layer, and perhaps a piece of driftwood with just a couple of small plants attached, or one or two potted plants.
Once you gain several months' of experience getting to know your discus' traits & behavior, and your discus get larger, then you may proceed to an aqua-scaped environment, to possibly include some other species of compatible discus tank-mates. Feed a varied diet, several times a day, and learn which foods will achieve a nutritious diet, by researching.

6) - S - Simplify. Keep things as simple as you can to start. Don't complicate your start with discus, at least at first, by placing them in a heavily planted environment, using CO2 and a strict fertilization regime. Make sure your tank is fully cycled before adding the fish, and don't be tempted to alter or change the pH of your water, or modify your water conditions and parameters by using chemicals of any kind. No need to use RO water or adopt any other procedures that would tend to complicate what should be a simple start to your discus launch. If you plan on eventually having a community tank set-up, carefully research the species of other fish you'd like to keep with the discus, to insure they are able to withstand the higher discus temp of at least 82 F, and that they are fully compatible with discus.
And do a complete and proper quarantine before adding any such tank-mates to your discus tank.

Follow these 'rules', and there's little doubt you will succeed with discus !


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

My sincere apologies if some of you may think I brought a cloud over this thread by straying away from the original poster's question.

I've simply tried to dedicate myself over the years to helping those new to discus-keeping to avoid the problems and issues that I myself faced when starting out with discus, and that many others also experienced at the outset, and still do to this day, by not doing the essential homework beforehand - soon ending up highly disappointed over losing expensive discus to avoidable health issues.

So when I see someone planning to get started with discus by going in a potentially disastrous direction, I feel the need to step in & try to encourage the hobbyist to do things right and be successful.

Thanks for letting me have this little vent.


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