320l Discus tank, becoming planted !

[samc]

i missed the updates on this! the new scape is gonna look awsome when filled in. great tank

 

[glenn]

how do you have that left had peice of wood held up?
looking good now that blyax forest! has had a trim lol

 

[Steve Smith]

That looks so much more complete now mate! I really like it!

 

[Stu Worrall]

didnt spot this update, tanks looking great tony. I think the U would look really good in there

 

[TBRO]

So much nicer with the wood on both sides, like a little side channel off the Amazon ! Do the discus stick to the wood or do they venture out into the open space? Gonna look great when the moss grows in, great work - Tom

 

[bazz]

hi tonser,
i'm in awe of this tank, and dream of one day having a planted discus tank. i'm not nit-picking or anything, however the more i looked at it the more i couldn't get my head around the fact that it is only 320l, it looks so much bigger. i have a 300l tank albeit a corner one, but would never dream of putting discus in it, just too small. eventually my curiosity got the better of me and i calculated (metric equivalent) and concluded that it holds 405l. i know you now have a few lumps of wood in there, but those early shots show a fairly empty tank with regards to scaping and substrate.
i'm sure there is a valid reason for this (probably my mathematics) but would love to know!
cheers and take care,
bazz!

 

[Tony Swinney]

Its been a while...

Thanks Dan, Mark, Jase, Sam, Glenn, Steve, Stu, TBRO and Bazz 😀 😀 😀

how do you have that left had peice of wood held up?

Hi Glenn, I screw 1 x 1 battons across the 'trunks' of the redmoors, and then hang them across the top of the tank braces.

Do the discus stick to the wood or do they venture out into the open space?

They venture out most of the time TBRO, particularly at feeding time, when they hand feed in the middle of the tank 😀 If theres sudden motion that scares them they'll retreat to the branches, but soon come out to play again.

eventually my curiosity got the better of me and i calculated (metric equivalent) and concluded that it holds 405l

Hi Bazz. The actual water area is 150cm wide x 50cm high and 45cm tall, giving a volume of 337 litres, then I take a bit off for the redmoor braches and ended up with the 320l figure 😀


Sine the last 'rescape' I had a massive outbreak of spirogyra, which I think was caused by an ammonia spike from moving all the sand around - that sand hadnt really been shifted for about 2 years !

I've been trying to find the time to do a full blackout for a few days, but with the new baby and all that hasnt happened. Having said that, I reduced the fert dosing by half, increased my excel dosing by 50% and reduced the photo period by 1 hour and its really helped eliminate it. I think in another couple of weeks it will be all clear. The only downside is that the blyxa has really suffered with alot of it melting, but I'm focusing on clearing the algae then I'll get back on to loking after the plants 😀

Tony

 

[andyh]

Firstly let me say i think that this is the best Discus scaped tank i have seen!

I have a question though, how are you having such success with the plants when your substrate is silver sand?
Have i missed a section in this journal where that's explained? Or are simply just dosing Ferts.

I ask as i am planning on a Corydoras setup soon, and had been looking at silver sand for a beach section, but still wanted to have lots of nice plants. i suppose what i am saying is i didn't think it was possible to have such success with a sand substrate?

keep the pics coming!

 

[Tony Swinney]

Firstly let me say i think that this is the best Discus scaped tank i have seen!

Thanks Andy, its going to get better too 😉 😀

I have a question though, how are you having such success with the plants when your substrate is silver sand?
Have i missed a section in this journal where that's explained? Or are simply just dosing Ferts.

Errr, I'm not sure to be honest ! I doe all in one ferts daily to the water column, and there are lots of TPN capsules buried in the sand, but other than that its just silver sand. To be honest the only really strong growers are the blyxa and was the vallis before I pulled it. The cyperus helferi and crypts survive OK but dont thrive. There seems to be a correlation between discus tanks and successful Blyxa - myself, Dan (TDI-Line) and James (james3200) have all had great growth in our discus tanks - perhaps its the amount of waste they produce ? Its interesting that having moved all the sand around last month, which caused an ammonia spike and the spyragyra outbreak, the blyxa has really struggled to take a hold.

Tony

 

[chilled84]

That is what i call takeing it to the exstreme! O my god! Very nice thou. Dont blame ya. God all out if thats what you like. You only live once.

 

[andyh]

Firstly let me say i think that this is the best Discus scaped tank i have seen!

Thanks Andy, its going to get better too 😉 😀

I have a question though, how are you having such success with the plants when your substrate is silver sand?
Have i missed a section in this journal where that's explained? Or are simply just dosing Ferts.

Errr, I'm not sure to be honest ! I doe all in one ferts daily to the water column, and there are lots of TPN capsules buried in the sand, but other than that its just silver sand. To be honest the only really strong growers are the blyxa and was the vallis before I pulled it. The cyperus helferi and crypts survive OK but dont thrive. There seems to be a correlation between discus tanks and successful Blyxa - myself, Dan (TDI-Line) and James (james3200) have all had great growth in our discus tanks - perhaps its the amount of waste they produce ? Its interesting that having moved all the sand around last month, which caused an ammonia spike and the spyragyra outbreak, the blyxa has really struggled to take a hold.

Tony

Tony with ref to the Dan aka TDI-line's tank, i was round at his house purchasing some bits the other day and all i saw was a very impressive 7ft empty tank! I not sure i believe he grew stuff! (Andy sits waiting for the torrent of abuse!)

 

[Tony Swinney]

I got some time to spend on this tank this afternoon, so had it had a little rearrangement, some trimming and a bit of cleanup too.

The last few trims I've done have involved pulling all the blyxa, trimming it all down and then replanting it. However the last time i did that it disturbed the sand so much that I had a horrible spyragyra outbreak for weeks. So this time I've added some rocks infront of the blyxa to hide the leggy bits I've replanted a few crypts,and some blyxa stems around the rocks to bed them in a little, and have also added some narrow leaf java ferns.

The peacock moss on the left hand branch is doing really well, but I pulled it apart a bit today and tied it back over alot more of the branch than it had been covering. Its going to look crappy for a couple of weeks until it grows its shape back.

For the first time in a long time, I'm actually liking how this tank is looking, and with some more growth in the right places it should look good. A few quick pics from this evening.

Tony











I guess the discus liked the maintenance, as within an hour of finishing they'd laid...

 

[viktorlantos]

beaty shots. the first photo looks amazing. so much vivid colors.
and the scape rearangement looks good too. well done mate

 

[rawr]

This must be an amazing tank to just sit and watch (when you get time of course, I know you're a busy guy lately )! I didn't realise you had that many Discus in there.

 

[samc]

its looking better very time i see it 😀

good to see you about again too

 

[Mark Webb]

This is looking really marvellous. You have some beautiful Discus there. Outstanding Tony

 

[flygja]

Absolutely stunning! I've been dreaming of a discus tank for years but I haven't quite got the right combination of elements to ensure success. Don't your discus snack on your Yamato shrimps though?

 

[zigur]

Wow.Its Amazing!I love this thank and the last picture is fantastic!Please share with us how to grow up a discus fry!Im very excited!

 

[Tony Swinney]

beaty shots. the first photo looks amazing. so much vivid colors.
and the scape rearrangement looks good too. well done mate

Thanks Victor, I feel its getting somewhere now 😀

This must be an amazing tank to just sit and watch (when you get time of course, I know you're a busy guy lately )! I didn't realise you had that many Discus in there.

Thanks Thomas. It certainly is a nice tank to watch, and luckily Liberty is mesmerised by it too, so I can watch it with her 😀

its looking better very time i see it 😀 good to see you about again too

Cheers Sam, its good to be back looking after the tanks again - the optiwhite is next for an update 😀

This is looking really marvellous. You have some beautiful Discus there. Outstanding Tony

Cheers Mark. I'm tempted to move the discus on and rescape it as an Altums tank, but its rapidly becoming apparent that Liberty likes the bright colours of the discus

Absolutely stunning! I've been dreaming of a discus tank for years but I haven't quite got the right combination of elements to ensure success. Don't your discus snack on your Yamato shrimps though?

Hi flygja. What do you mean by the right combination of elements ? If you have a steady supply of good consistent water, and have time to do regular water changes you should be OK. The yamatos are OK, but before the tank was heavily planted I did lose a few cherries to the discus 😳

Wow.Its Amazing!I love this thank and the last picture is fantastic!Please share with us how to grow up a discus fry!Im very excited!

Thanks zigur, I'm afraid I dont 'grow' the discus fry. As they re in a community tank the eggs get eaten by the other fish. If I were to breed them I would have to place the pairs into separate tanks.

 

[bazz]

stunning!!!