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gravel_digger

gravel_digger

Members
i am looking to do a planted tank with angels and maybe some discus for my wife. as you can see by my signature block i have no experience with anything outside of the monster realm... any advice on doing the plant thing will be greatly appreciated.
 
DiscusnAfricans

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
Don't try to get fancy with it, start out with the hardy/common stuff and see how it does. Potted plants are easy because you don't have to worry about them being uprooted. Anubias, most crypts, java fern/moss are all easy to grow and should be readily available in some forms.

Red/purple plants need high light to keep their color, so keep that in mind when looking at pictures online. PVAS and GWAPA usually have good selections at meetings, but a few show up in CCA auctions as well.
 
rich_one

rich_one

Members
Well, one thing that immediately comes to mind for me would be that juvie discus, imo, are very difficult to growout in a planted tank. So if you are determined to discus in a planted tank, I'd highly recommend you start with full size adults. My two cents.

-Rich
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
rich_one said:
Well, one thing that immediately comes to mind for me would be that juvie discus, imo, are very difficult to growout in a planted tank. So if you are determined to discus in a planted tank, I'd highly recommend you start with full size adults. My two cents.

-Rich
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Interesting post Rich. I have absolutely no experience with discus, so why do you think it is hard to grow out in a planted tank?
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
jonclark96 said:
Interesting post Rich. I have absolutely no experience with discus, so why do you think it is hard to grow out in a planted tank?
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Cool this topic came up. I was about to start a discus thread as well.

I was reading up on them and many folks suggest growing them out in bare-bottom, bare tanks. This helps with water quality as well as feeding. Some folks even recommend wiping down the tank's glass weekly/bi-weekly because of the slime buildup. Is this necessary?

Feeding-wise, I think that it's because food like blackworms will easily drop to the bottom and burrow before the discus can get to them.

Any thoughts? I too, would prefer to keep my guys in an established planted tank (that has a coarse gravel substrate)...
 
rich_one

rich_one

Members
jonclark96 said:
Interesting post Rich. I have absolutely no experience with discus, so why do you think it is hard to grow out in a planted tank?
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Hey Jon,

I actually don't have much scientific data on it, on my end. Combination of my experience with it, and many, many threads I have sifted through on Simply Discus.

But in truth, I should be more accurate. It is not impossible. There are certainly plenty of folks that have done so. But if you are inexperienced with the fish, I'm not so sure going planted with juvies is the best idea. Just my opinion. It is rather easy to stunt their growth, it seems. Perhaps because planted tanks... especially heavily planted ones... are a bit more difficult to siphon solids off the bottom for, without to much disruption?

-Rich
 
Cnkbradford

Cnkbradford

Members
My one experience with discus was in a decorated (substrate, rock and fake plants) tank. I did 50% water changes about every 3rd day. The replacement water always needed to age overnight and be at perfect temperature. I had a dozen fish that were 4" - 6" in size in a 75 gallon tank. I thought that it would be crowded but discus love company and mine seemed to do better as I built the number from 6 to 12 fish. I had good success with them but found that the water changes were just too much of a pain....the right setup for water storage, preparation and water change could make it a really great fish to keep. I bought mine and learned from a guy here in Dallas that bred and sold all over the U.S. He has since quit, but I learned its not a species to get into lightly from a maintenance perspective. They LOVE water changes and really thrive if you do them frequently.


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Cnkbradford

Cnkbradford

Members
Oh yeah...the guy I learned from always kept his fish in bare bottom tanks, sponge filter and heater...that's it. Pretty lean, but his fish were spectacular and the healthiest discus I've ever seen. Lots of pet store discus, even in specialty shops are pinched and shy. These guys charged the glass and had true Cichlid personalities.


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
fishman13

fishman13

Members
I agree. Start out with easy plants. Then go on to the big dadies of the plant hobby and make the tank burst with greens,reds,blues,oranges,
 
gravel_digger

gravel_digger

Members
Thanks for all the input so far.. I think I might just start out with the angels before doing the discus. I love the different coloration of the discus and thougth they would be a nice tank mate for the angels initially. can any angel expert recommend good tank mates for them?????
 
verbal

verbal

CCA Members
gravel_digger said:
Thanks for all the input so far.. I think I might just start out with the angels before doing the discus. I love the different coloration of the discus and thougth they would be a nice tank mate for the angels initially. can any angel expert recommend good tank mates for them?????
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Assuming you start with fish that are suitable for most community tanks there are two potential issues to watch with angel tankmates: avoid fish small enough to be eaten and avoid fin nippers.

Tetras that aren't fin nippers are a little more than livebearers as tankmates, but if you water conditions are moderate you can probably keep both together without issues.

Most catfish or loaches of reasonable size should work with angels.
 
S

samsmobb

Members
ive kept everything from shrimp to small cardinals and neons with angels and angels really arent as aggressive as they are thought to be unless they spawn.

there are many reasons why experienced discus keepers choose to keep discus fry in BB(bare bottom) tanks until they are sub adults.
-discus fry need many many feedings per day which makes tanks get dirty with waste/left over food/ organics breaking down etc
-many many water changes
-the pecking order between discus will cause the lowest in the chain to have a hard time getting food, when you have a planted tank or many decorations in it, he may go an hide which makes it difficult for him to ever eat
-BB tanks make cleaning so much easy, dont have to go through all the gravel just any waste laying on the bottom

those are just some of the reason i can think of off the top of my head

i, however, am in the same dilemma i have a 75 planted with small plants so far and want discus but dont have a grow out tank to set up. i MAY attempt to keep discus but it is unsure atm
 
S

samsmobb

Members
youll have more look if you start out in your 20 bb and make sure everything is eating well then after you see you have conditioned them well you can probably move them to your bigger set up
 
mdlnewman

mdlnewman

Members
Our discus are doing fine in the planted tank. Now they don't grow spectacularly fast. I only feed them 2 times a day and change water weekly. If you want them to grow up to be really big, really fast you have to feed multiple times per day and change water more often.
 
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