# 55 Gallon Blyxa Japonica and drift wood build [now w/ discus!]



## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

I'm planning a glosso and drift wood only planted tank. I will be looking to add a vine-like climber that wraps around my drift wood if such a thing exists. 

I bought this setup a week ago...

Here's the tank filled up with water and filter sand as the substrate (planning to add discus when water is cycled in 4-5 weeks)










The bozo who I bought the setup from burned me by selling me a broken filter with the setup.  I'm expecting my new filter to come in tomorrow. I ordered a H.O.T. Magnum Canister Filter - up to 55 Gallon and will replace the carbon with ceramic rings.

I will be adding a few tetras this weekend to start the cycle.

I ordered some glosso from Aquariumplants.com and here they are...










Here's the glosso in the water









Things are not coming together as planned but I guess I just gotta roll with it...

I ordered a fishneedit t5ho fixture and it was suppose to arrive today but it got damaged and got shipped back. Now I have to wait another week for the vendor to send me another one. Such a pain! 

I also got some drift wood I picked up from a fellow planted tank user, tharsis.

Here's a pic of the drift wood pieces floating in my tank, I hope they sink soon!! Great pieces in there, I can't wait to plant them in the sand.










FTS of my setup so far. :icon_roll


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

The pics are not showing up.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

ahh, sorry, i had them in a private album, it should be fixed now.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

cool! glosso-y goodness. I really like the sandy substrate. Is that the wood I sent you? Just an FYI the wood will probably get waterlogged faster if you weight it down. Put a big rock on top of it to keep it submerged and it will cut the time down.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

Yep, that's the wood you sent me. Right now I have it tucked under the center brace. I'm hesitant to put anything in the water that may alter the water chemistry like a large rock. I first tried gluing the pieces to small slates of marble but that failed miserably.

From your experience, how long does it typically take for the wood to get waterlogged? I'm anxious to plant the glosso in the sand.

Yep, it's pool filter sand. It was highly recommended by discus keepers on simplydiscus. They say detritus has a hard time penetrating it, thus making it easy to clean.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

When I use the wood, I always either screwed it to a piece of slate or weigh it down with rocks, so to be honest I am not sure how long it will take.

I think that if you were to weigh it down at the bottom of the tank, the over pressure will help to get it waterlogged. There is much more pressure pushing down on the wood when it is 1.5 feet below water as opposed to a couple inches. The pressure will help the water penetrate into the pores of the wood ( I could possibly be totally full of it though..it just seems that that should be the case). I wouldn't worry about a rock changing the chemistry too much. There is not much limestone around where you live, mostly igneous and metamorphic rocks which won't alter the chemistry much over the time frame that you would have it in there (if at all). 

I used playsand in a 55 gallon, the detritus is certainly easy to clean up, it is also VERY easy to see if you don't keep on top of it.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

Good to know, how long did it take for you using your method?


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## Jester206 (Feb 17, 2010)

I think you will be waiting a LONG TIME for that driftwood to sink. I had some driftwood soaking for more then 6 months and none of it sank. Some of the smaller pieces stared to float less but none actually sank to the bottom. I would recommend going to a hardware store or a landscaping place and getting some slate tiles or shingles, a masonry drill bit and some stainless steel screws. just break the tiles with a hammer to an appropriate size, drill a hole in them , screw the wood too it and Bob's your uncle. It shouldn't change your water chemistry and it takes WAY less time then waiting for the wood to sink under it's own power.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

^+1 

This is the easiest way, and then you just lay your substrate over the slate and it looks like you have wood coming out of the sand.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

I found a couple of large pieces of slate around the neighborhood. The drift wood are now completely submerged at the bottom of the tank.  Thanks for the tips!


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## Quesenek (Sep 26, 2008)

*55 G glosso and drift wood build*



Jester206 said:


> I think you will be waiting a LONG TIME for that driftwood to sink. I had some driftwood soaking for more then 6 months and none of it sank. Some of the smaller pieces stared to float less but none actually sank to the bottom. I would recommend going to a hardware store or a landscaping place and getting some slate tiles or shingles, a masonry drill bit and some stainless steel screws. just break the tiles with a hammer to an appropriate size, drill a hole in them , screw the wood too it and Bob's your uncle. It shouldn't change your water chemistry and it takes WAY less time then waiting for the wood to sink under it's own power.


So true back a few years ago before I moved and broke down all my tanks I had a small piece I found in a creek and despite being in water already it took close to four years to get completely waterlogged.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*some progress*

I found a couple of large pieces of slate around my house and hammered one of those pieces into bits and used them to anchor the centerpiece of drift wood(s)...










I still have a few other pieces that are under the other piece of slate on the left. :icon_smil










My filter finally came in this morning, hopefully my water starts to get clearer. 

As you can see, I jumped on the opportunity to unbunch the glosso and plant them in the sand. I was really just waiting for the center pieces of drift wood to come together for that. I hope they survive!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

sweet! the centrepiece looks great! I can't wait to see how the others pieces turn out. The glosso mound will look really cool when it fills in.

Good job!


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*lil update*

I grew impatient and hammered into pieces the other large rock I had and did the sides. Not that happy with the right side, but it'll do for now until those pieces become waterlogged. I am however really happy with the left side. 










I also added a few zebra danios and an algae cleaner. :fish:


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## dj2005 (Apr 23, 2009)

I can't wait to see it fully planted. Have you decided on what other plants you will be using?

BTW, are you a fellow Futurama fan?


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

That looks nice! Maybe a backround though?


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

dj2005 said:


> I can't wait to see it fully planted. Have you decided on what other plants you will be using?
> 
> BTW, are you a fellow Futurama fan?


I'm thinking of only doing a mid-level plant around the base of the drift wood and glosso for the carpet. 

Nice catch with the Futurama reference. roud: This will be a slow process since I'm not using CO2, just dosing flourish excel.



JakeJ said:


> That looks nice! Maybe a backround though?


Thanks Jake! I don't think I'm going to do a background plant since I want to see the tank from both the front and back, peninsula style. So only mid-level and carpet plants for me. 

Anyone have suggestions on a good mid-level plant that will do well under 2WPG T5HO lighting? I can't wait for my light to come in on Monday, darn you fedex!! *shakes fist*. AHHH, my glosso is starting to melt.  I hope they recover.

iPhone pictures not doing justice for this tank but it'll do, thought I'd share anyways and get some advice along the way.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Looking good. I ordered a fishneedit fixture and i didnt have any problems with shipment. Did you buy this 55 gallon off craiglist in ithaca?


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

That's good to hear about the fishneedit fixture. 

I actually picked up this 55G setup from some spot in PA, Susquehanna. It's just 2 hours out of Ithaca. 

Someone else was selling his 55G setup near Syracuse but he was really slow in responding and seemed really flakey. Though his setup was better, I couldn't trust a "maybe" sell if I was to drive out of my way that far in the first place.



VadimShevchuk said:


> Looking good. I ordered a fishneedit fixture and i didnt have any problems with shipment. Did you buy this 55 gallon off craiglist in ithaca?


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## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

What are you using for ferts? Any root tabs?


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

The_Finglonger said:


> That's good to hear about the fishneedit fixture.
> 
> I actually picked up this 55G setup from some spot in PA, Susquehanna. It's just 2 hours out of Ithaca.
> 
> Someone else was selling his 55G setup near Syracuse but he was really slow in responding and seemed really flakey. Though his setup was better, I couldn't trust a "maybe" sell if I was to drive out of my way that far in the first place.


If its not a problem, how much did u pay for the aquarium? I drove 1.5 hr one way for my 37 gallon and i wasnt in the best of mood.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

pm sent.



VadimShevchuk said:


> If its not a problem, how much did u pay for the aquarium? I drove 1.5 hr one way for my 37 gallon and i wasnt in the best of mood.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

Just Seachem flourish. I have some root tabs coming in the mail. My poor glosso is really suffering right now. I get my new lights this Monday, hopefully the addition of my lights and root tabs will turn around the glosso. :icon_neut 



tuffgong said:


> What are you using for ferts? Any root tabs?


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## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

They will definitely help. IME the root tabs work wonders with sand. If you don't have CO2 running methinks ur going to need a bottle of metricide also to get that glosso to grow.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

It looks like metricide 14 is the way to go. 

Anyone have write ups on creating a solution for your fish tank using metricide. I've read you have to water it down with water. I just want to know solution ratios and dosing recommendations.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

Ahh, nevermind, I found a great report on the bar report

http://www.barrreport.com/archive/index.php/t-7153.html


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## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

I just ordered a bottle on Friday. I've got a 55 gallon and I was going to start off at 5 ml. I'm currently dosing the tank with that much excel daily and I don't think it's making a major difference so I think I'm safe starting with the metricide in the same amount. I've seen people on here dose in higher amounts. I think I read one guy puts 20ml of metricide in daily. I'll let you know how it goes.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

I just ordered 1 G of the metricide 14, so pumped to have found out about this!!


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*Got my lights today! woo-hoo!!*

Got my fishneedit T5HO fixture today. It's so much brighter! I opted for the 2WPG with 2 54W T5 white bulbs. 

As you can see, I also changed the driftwood work for the right side. I'm very satisfied. roud:

I can't wait for the Blyxa Japonica to come in. Hopefully my glosso starts to turn it around.

I'm officially part of the rimless club, lol, kind-of. :hihi:


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Im just wondering, why did you go with white sand? I had it in a lot tech tank and algae still grew on it. Hopefully it doesnt for you!


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## MlDukes (Nov 24, 2009)

I just stopped in to say: Futurama is the best show ever canceled!!! but wait its back again..... roud:


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## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

You might be setting urself up for an algae farm with that much light and liquid CO2. I had BBA out of the wazoo running the same amount of lights as u are and dosing around 10 ml of excel daily. I ended up ditching one and just running 1 54w T5HO over my 55g at a 6-7 hour photoperiod and haven't seen bba since.

Just something for u to consider. Maybe if you start off with a really short photoperiod you can run both bulbs with out pressurized CO2.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

I went with the white pool filter sand for two reasons.

1- I wanted the tank to be as bright as possible.
2- Pool filter sand was highly recommended by discus keepers as a substrate that is easiest to keep clean since detritus has a hard time getting mixed in the sand, thus making it easier for me to vacuum out the poop, uneaten food, and any rotting plant matter. I plan on adding a couple of discus in about 4-5 weeks once my water is more mature.



VadimShevchuk said:


> Im just wondering, why did you go with white sand? I had it in a lot tech tank and algae still grew on it. Hopefully it doesnt for you!


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

I'm only dosing the recommended dosing, which is 5ml twice a week. I plan on doing 20% water changes at least 2-3 times a week once my tank has been properly cycled. Now I'm doing a 20% water changes weekly.



tuffgong said:


> You might be setting urself up for an algae farm with that much light and liquid CO2. I had BBA out of the wazoo running the same amount of lights as u are and dosing around 10 ml of excel daily. I ended up ditching one and just running 1 54w T5HO over my 55g at a 6-7 hour photoperiod and haven't seen bba since.
> 
> Just something for u to consider. Maybe if you start off with a really short photoperiod you can run both bulbs with out pressurized CO2.


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## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

Unfortunately neither of those will stop the algae, but have fun trying!! That fixture puts you in the med-high light range.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

Lol, no doubt, Futurama was way ahead of its time when it was first on TV. This is one of the best animated shows next to South Park. roud:



MlDukes said:


> I just stopped in to say: Futurama is the best show ever canceled!!! but wait its back again..... roud:


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

haha, ok, we'll see how it goes hot shot. :fish:



tuffgong said:


> Unfortunately neither of those will stop the algae, but have fun trying!! That fixture puts you in the med-high light range.


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## MlDukes (Nov 24, 2009)

The_Finglonger said:


> Lol, no doubt, Futurama was way ahead of its time when it was first on TV. This is one of the best animated shows next to South Park. roud:


You know its back and season 6 is being aired on Comedy central. I dont have Dish.... But i just found this link to season 6 episode 1 

http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/57050

Im watching it now!


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## MlDukes (Nov 24, 2009)

The_Finglonger said:


> haha, ok, we'll see how it goes hot shot. :fish:


 
Your missing his point. You made the rookie mistake.... 

HOt5 = high tech/Pressurized Co2

NOt5 = Lowtech/no Co2

I made the same mistake and have been battleing algae since set up. Excel just isnt enough to keep up with the nutrient requirements presented when using HOt5's. You will give up on the algae battle sooner or later and buy a pressurized set-up. Im saving for mine.....


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

I'm all over the new episodes. I've seen every one, including the movies. Thanks though.



MlDukes said:


> You know its back and season 6 is being aired on Comedy central. I dont have Dish.... But i just found this link to season 6 episode 1
> 
> http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/57050
> 
> Im watching it now!


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

I guess that's my bad, whatever, I might just scrap the whole planted idea. The discus fish supersedes plants. I'm not going to get into a CO2 setup until I can set up a real permanent tank, something 120G or bigger. That's one of the reasons why I didn't go with another reef tank. Too much money on a lower scale setup that I'll eventually want to size up. As I said, we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the advice though, and as stubborn as I am, I'll find it hard to take anyone 100% seriously unless they have the EXACT set up and level of husbandry as me. I've seen so many tanks succeed in so many different ways. That's just me. At least I'm not killing off my fish ridiculously by adding them the same day I set up my tank. 



MlDukes said:


> Your missing his point. You made the rookie mistake....
> 
> HOt5 = high tech/Pressurized Co2
> 
> ...


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## MlDukes (Nov 24, 2009)

The_Finglonger said:


> I guess that's my bad, whatever, I might just scrap the whole planted idea. The discus fish supersedes plants. I'm not going to get into a CO2 setup until I can set up a real permanent tank, something 120G or bigger. That's one of the reasons why I didn't go with another reef tank. Too much money on a lower scale setup that I'll eventually want to size up. As I said, we'll see how it goes.
> 
> Thanks for the advice though, and as stubborn as I am, I'll find it hard to take anyone 100% seriously unless they have the EXACT set up and level of husbandry as me. I've seen so many tanks succeed in so many different ways. That's just me. At least I'm not killing off my fish ridiculously by adding them the same day I set up my tank.


 



Well I can say our setups are pretty close. I have a 55g and run 2x54w HOt5s. 1x6700k 1x10000K


Ive been using this fixture for 8 months. Cut the photo period back to 6 hrs and finally stayed on a consistant daily Dosing schedule, got the Algae to subside and stay at a minimal level. But man am i going through the Excel!!! 

Your right it can be done, but its just not practical. Now i see fully why all the experts say pressurized co2 is well worth the initial investment. 

I went a lil overboard on that comment. sorry. there is a fine medium. I just wish that would have been put in front of my face when i first started planted tanks. turns out the WPG rule doesnt apply to HOt5's.... Thats why TUFFGONG cut back to a single 54w HO

Heres a couple ways to deal with too much light: 

Floating plants!!! I had my tank covered in duckweed and plant growth was great, algae was minimal and minimal ferts no excel. Low tech! But i always have my hands in my tank and small floaters are a royal pain in the @$$!!! VERY annoying. Havent found a good substitute that i liked. 

Shades: I havent tried this but have been tempted, Ive heard of people putting window screen and other materials below their bulbs to block some light but still allow a good amount through.

BTW your hardscape looks really good, looking forward to seeing it all covered up by plants roud:


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## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

I've got pretty much the exact same setup which is why I commented. My knowledge is gained via first hand experience and backed up with evidence all over this forum if you know where to look. But we are here for you no matter what you decide.


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## MlDukes (Nov 24, 2009)

tuffgong said:


> I've got pretty much the exact same setup which is why I commented. My knowledge is gained via first hand experience and backed up with evidence all over this forum if you know where to look. But we are here for you no matter what you decide.


+1 :thumbsup:


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

Thanks for the support guys. As far as top cover, I've always liked the look of lillies though I don't know if pfs could support it. 

I'm not in a rush to buy a bunch of plants. Just trying to take things slow and see how things develop. I have a pretty good idea of what I want out of this tank and there are some things I'm willing to give up if things don't work out as planned. 

Ideally, I would have a CO2 setup but if I'm going to do that, I want to do that whole willy nilly for a larger tank, with a sump full of ceramic rings in an easy to remove plastic tray, with my heater and a return pump in the sump as well. I would also add a separate canister filter with just filter pads to polish the water. Everything would have to be immaculate, where equipment in the tank is kept to a minimum. Obviously this set up would not have floaters considering the overflow. 

Besides, this tank is really just a learning platform for me to see what works best for my style and level of work. That's one of the reasons why I loved my 50 gallon reef, has large enough volume to make small mistakes or get lazy for a couple of weeks, but small enough so that maintenance isn't a pita. I'll be on the 2nd floor of my apt for a while and may have to move because of school and work, so I'm in no rush to invest a huge amount of money on a high tech set up that'll I'll have to break down and sell or try to move. I'll wait until I'm settled until I can take my tank to THE SHOW. lol. 

This 55G is really just to keep me sane since I love fish so much. It also impresses my girlfriend, which is an added bonus.  I can't wait to show off my discus to her when my tank is ready. lol.

I laugh at those 100K tanks featured in that NY times article. Sure they look nice, but they're all fish only with plastic corals *ahem cough--weak sauce*. If you're looking to look at some nice reef tanks, I suggest these videos (everyone in the reef hobby knows it's all about the corals, especially sps and lps):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2f3oemMbfM&feature=search
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsOtKiSYsWI&feature=search

These reef tanks, I'm sure has more than 100K worth of corals, easily. :hihi:


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## MlDukes (Nov 24, 2009)

Im really excited to have found season 6 episodes online. I watched episode 1-2 last night, epic! They are really steppin it up this time.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*Glosso out, Japonica in*

Here's a quick update with my Blyxa Japonica in.










The glosso melted away and started to rot so I took it out. I guess a carpet plant wasn't meant to be with this setup. Anyhoos, I think the Japonica looks great, plus I've read it's really easy to grow. I threw in a few root tablets in today so survival chances have improved. 

I could use some more Blyxa but I'll wait to see how things develop. 

Anyway can I rename this thread to "55 G Blyxa Japonica and drift wood build"? lol

I also received the my metricide 14 in the mail today. Now I have to find a mixing container/dispenser and get some distilled water. awesome


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Edit your first post, and choose the advanced options at the bottom- that will let you change your post title (believe me, it took me a while to figure that one out when I was updating my journal :icon_redf )

Good luck with the tank- I like Blyxa


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

thanks pal! :fish:


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*Fun with HTC EVO camera FX app*

Having fun with the fish eye lens from my new HTC EVO camera FX app :icon_mrgr


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*Just got my discus in from Hans Discus!! *

box arrives!!









so anxious!









exciting!









Discus getting their drip on, phase 1, when this filled up, I moved them to the larger 5 G bucket, I did a 1 and 1/2 hour drip, playing it safe 









And they're in the tank!! My GF named them Daisy (Blood Pigeon Blue) and Driver (Cobalt)









And lastly the FTS (lots has changed since last update!) I removed one of the bulbs from my fixture, now it's only 54Watts worth of lighting. 









Thanks for the plant packages for the folks who helped me!

Been doing 10% water changes daily, while dosing Excel and Flourish (2-3x/week) with root tabs. With more of my drift wood becoming water logged, I was able to remove a lot of the rocks I was using to anchor them. Woo-HOO!! win!


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*Some overhead human's eye images*

left









middle









right


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

I live like 20 minutes from you..... In the future i can give you away like 15 stems of blyxa japonica and other plants. Just PM if your interested. Discus look really nice!


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

Thanks Vadim! roud: I didn't want to be a bother and have you drive that far though it's only 20 minutes away. 

Thanks for the kind comments. I'm really happy with the overall experience with ordering from Discus Hans. Shipping wasn't too bad at all since they ship out of Baltimore, MD. I would recommend Discus Hans anytime.


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## cmabrey75 (Apr 15, 2010)

Great tank and fellow discus keeper. I am still in the process of redoing my tank after a few bad mistake. You might want to put a spnge over your intake of your filter and power head. Discus tend to spit sand when they feed off the bottom. I have sand on the bottom of my tank as well and that was a mistake I made. Came home and my pump on my fluval FX5 had locked up do to some aggressive feeding from my adult discus. Love the Blyxa might have to get some for my tank.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

Thanks cmabrey! Thanks for the tips, I'll prolly grab some sponges next time I have go to Petco.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*Discus starting to swim around and explore *



















Just wanted to share


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*Redid my aquascaping, plus some more discus pics *

Went with the concave look. I could use some long background plant for those two sides. 










The new tenants making themselves at home 










The Cobalt coloring up real nice










I can't wait for this Pigeon Blood Blue to fill in with its patterns :hihi:










Anyone know what the name of the background plant from this picture is (the long needle like plant)?


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Looks to me like jungle vals. Your tank looks real nice with the discus in there!


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

thanks Chad!


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## WeedCali (Jun 21, 2010)

Lookin good! vals make a great background plant but be warned, they are known to Melt when you dose Excel. some say its safe to do a half dose but idk.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

thanks! I also read that vals won't melt to excel if you keep dosing regularly. Anyone with Val/dosing excel experience?


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

ive been dosing excel at the normal rate and the vals are doing fine and have not melted.


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## xpistalpetex (May 12, 2008)

your discus hot as fire!!!

great looking fish!!!


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

thanks pete!


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*added some GBRs *










hopefully they color up as they get adjusted to the tank and mature some.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

If they grow up and breed, i would buy some off you.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

I've never bred any fish before :3 I just hope they survive. They've been through quite a trip to make it in my tank. 

I rolled the dice with priority shipping from MN to NY. I was so happy the postmen left the package on my doorstep, he typically leaves a note and requires me to pick up the package from the mailing center.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*Added some diy CO2age*

I couldn't resist, the things you can do with some water bottles, some sugar, some yeast, some superglue gel, some plastic tubing, a t-connector, and a diffuser. 

I used a aquafina and a gatoraid bottle, both I think are sturdy choices. 










See the tiny bubbles?


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*some updated tank pics and cool discus hans poster*

left side, as you can see, I'm trying to grow out the vals in the back










the middle










the right side, as you can see, I'm trying to grow out the hygro on the right side, nice patch of pennywort in the front










discus hans poster  sweet freebie with my discus hans order roud:


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

I also picked up a eheim 2213, currently running concurrently with the h.o.t. magnum, waiting for the eheim to establish it's bacterial colony before removing the magnum and selling that off. soo happy with the eheim, it's so silent!!!


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Finglonger,

The tall background plant you were asking about in the Amano pic is called Cyperus helferi. Amano uses this plant alot. I also have it in my tank . 

I like your fish alot. The whole DIY yeast & sugar CO2 in a bottle thing was fun. I think it's a rite of passage for all planted tank geeks (myself included of course). One day you'll be buying yourself a nice pressurized setup. Mark my words . 

MOAR plants!


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

tank looks great as well as your discus, be warned however that discus do not like to be in numbers less than 5. it is common thought that you should keep 2 discus only if they are a confirmed pair. they like a pretty large group and they set their pecking order that way. the good thing is that you do not have a dark background/substrate which makes their colors pop. if you had any black in there your pigeon would start to pepper, not a lot mind you since Hans fish are great (actually Stendker's) and have great genes. hope all turns out well.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

speedie408 said:


> Finglonger,
> 
> The tall background plant you were asking about in the Amano pic is called Cyperus helferi. Amano uses this plant alot. I also have it in my tank .
> 
> ...


I would *ahem* love to get some of that helferi :icon_cool Thanks for the kind comments about the fish!  Very nice tank BTW!!!

Yeah, I have no doubt I will be moving to a legit CO2 system, just not the right timing right now as I am in school still. This tank is just for kicks while I'm in grad school. :fish1: <--- no idea what this icon is, but have always wanted to use it.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

rickztahone said:


> tank looks great as well as your discus, be warned however that discus do not like to be in numbers less than 5. it is common thought that you should keep 2 discus only if they are a confirmed pair. they like a pretty large group and they set their pecking order that way. the good thing is that you do not have a dark background/substrate which makes their colors pop. if you had any black in there your pigeon would start to pepper, not a lot mind you since Hans fish are great (actually Stendker's) and have great genes. hope all turns out well.


Yes, I was on a bit of a budget with my discus purchase, would have love to buy 5. I am lucky with the 2 that I have, they've been inseparable. I've seen them display some mating behavior with some twitching and cleaning of this particular piece of driftwood. At least they have each other.

The weird thing is that the pigeon blood will only eat blood worms while the cobalt will only eat flakes. :icon_conf Though I'm happy they're eating, I would love to get them to get on a more varied diet. I tried introducing beef heart, but neither were interested.


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

The_Finglonger said:


> Yes, I was on a bit of a budget with my discus purchase, would have love to buy 5. I am lucky with the 2 that I have, they've been inseparable. I've seen them display some mating behavior with some twitching and cleaning of this particular piece of driftwood. At least they have each other.
> 
> The weird thing is that the pigeon blood will only eat blood worms while the cobalt will only eat flakes. :icon_conf Though I'm happy they're eating, I would love to get them to get on a more varied diet. I tried introducing beef heart, but neither were interested.


well, over at simply Eddie and I are considered cruel because we will starve discus until they eat what WE want them to eat. i tend to go 3 days without feeding them and then introduce the food i want them to eat early in the monring. if they still do not eat that then i siphon it out of the tank and extend the period. do you happen to know how old they are? i ask because they should not be showing mating behaviour so early on. usually if they stick together it might be because they are still adjusting to the tank and are merely hanging with each other because they are scared together. if you have strong light sometimes they get freaked about it and take a while to adjust. with regards to your budget, there are plenty of sponsors over there that can get you quality discus at a good price, one being Kenny Cheung. he carries 3" Blue diamonds sometimes for $22. again, be aware that growing discus in a planted tank is difficult, NOT impossible. using beefheart as your main staple food will be difficult in a planted tank since it makes a mess, especially if it's home-made. but anyway, pm if you'd like to ask more questions. i go by my same sn over at simply.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

rickztahone said:


> well, over at simply Eddie and I are considered cruel because we will starve discus until they eat what WE want them to eat. i tend to go 3 days without feeding them and then introduce the food i want them to eat early in the monring. if they still do not eat that then i siphon it out of the tank and extend the period. do you happen to know how old they are? i ask because they should not be showing mating behaviour so early on. usually if they stick together it might be because they are still adjusting to the tank and are merely hanging with each other because they are scared together. if you have strong light sometimes they get freaked about it and take a while to adjust. with regards to your budget, there are plenty of sponsors over there that can get you quality discus at a good price, one being Kenny Cheung. he carries 3" Blue diamonds sometimes for $22. again, be aware that growing discus in a planted tank is difficult, NOT impossible. using beefheart as your main staple food will be difficult in a planted tank since it makes a mess, especially if it's home-made. but anyway, pm if you'd like to ask more questions. i go by my same sn over at simply.


Thanks for the info! I chose discus Hans cus he ships from MD which is very close to NY, making the shipping very affordable. 

I've ready many things about keeping discus. I'm doing 10% water changes (RO/DI) every other day and plan on keeping it up. I don't plan on using beef heart as the staple food, just once a week before water changes. 

I'm not sure how old the discus are. I bought them as 3.5+ discus. I feed at the center of the tank where it's easy for me to vacuum uneaten food. I only have 55W of lighting w/ 7 hr photoperiods.


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

The_Finglonger said:


> Thanks for the info! I chose discus Hans cus he ships from MD which is very close to NY, making the shipping very affordable.
> 
> I've ready many things about keeping discus. I'm doing 10% water changes (RO/DI) every other day and plan on keeping it up. I don't plan on using beef heart as the staple food, just once a week before water changes.
> 
> I'm not sure how old the discus are. I bought them as 3.5+ discus. I feed at the center of the tank where it's easy for me to vacuum uneaten food. I only have 55W of lighting w/ 7 hr photoperiods.


Sounds great. Wrt the water changes, it really depends what you really want in this tank; healthy planted and/or discus. If you want some big discus then 10% wc wont get them that big. I'm aware that you are posting in the planted forum which leads me to believe that the discus are not the primary focal point. Those that have those large discus tend to do large wcs. At one point i was doing 90% daily wcs on my 125. Not fun...


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

rickztahone said:


> Sounds great. Wrt the water changes, it really depends what you really want in this tank; healthy planted and/or discus. If you want some big discus then 10% wc wont get them that big. I'm aware that you are posting in the planted forum which leads me to believe that the discus are not the primary focal point. Those that have those large discus tend to do large wcs. At one point i was doing 90% daily wcs on my 125. Not fun...


Yikes, that sounds like a lot of water! I'm not sure my landlord would appreciate that! lol :angel: Believe me, if I had the time and place, I would have a barebottom 40G grow out tank for 6 of these bad boys, do 50% water changes daily, while I grow out my display tank.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

One of my GBR pairs already mated! I thought it was weird that a couple of my GBRs were uncharacteristically aggressive to my discus fish! Then I expected the area they were being aggressive and low and behold some eggs!

Kind of hard to see the eggs, but they are the clear bumps on top of the rock. I wished I was there to see them do the dirty. :icon_surp


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

*Moved the tank, pics*

Moved the tank up against the wall, liking the white background, so much cleaner  I also stepped up my water changing regimen to 20% daily. :O




























Blyxa starting to color up nicely after introducing the diy co2 




































Cobalt still won't eat blood worms, he's on day 3 of protest. :icon_surp while the pigeon blood is pigging out :hihi:









Is it just me or is there a demonic looking face on this piece of drift wood?


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

That last pic is SCARY

Tank looks awesome


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