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Hi Bob,

Too bad I can't see the attached pics b/c need to be registered in the other forum (don't feel like it, yet). Any chance they can be attached here instead? (pretty please? )

I am, however, very interested in the fact that you only use Excel (no CO2) with that much light (3wpg). How much Excel are you adding (vs. recommended amount on the bottle) and how often (daily, etc.)? I am also dosing Excel (daily, recommended amount or a slight excess occasionally) on a couple of my non-CO2 tanks, but they all have significantly lower light than yours (<2wpg). I get slow but decent growth on most plants (a bit leggy on some stem plants due to the lack of light I believe), and no major algae issues (thanks to the Excel). I'm planning to upgraded all my lights (to 2-3wpg) next year but would like to keep with the non-CO2, Excel approach if possible. The fact that you've done that gives me some hope.

Last edited by upikabu at 08-Dec-2005 19:42

-P

I apologize! I didn't realize that the forum required membership to view the pictures. The first photo is a shot of the tank...

bob wesolowski attached this image:
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The tank has three pieces of driftwood and Eco as the substrate. Filtration is an Eheim Thermofilter Pro II with an AC 500. Plantings are c. balansae, nymphea red, b. carolinia, h. difformis, c. wendtii green and c. wendtii red. Recent additions are e. bleheri and e. rangeri that have just rooted and begun new leaves. Dwarf sag has not yet rooted.

Livestock is 7 adult and 3 juvenile discus, a half doaen r. mikrogeophagus with a like number of corydoras and 2 bristlenose ancistrus as the clean-up crew.

Light is a Coralife 384W compact fluorescent with moonlight leds. Bulbs are 6700K on for 10 hours. I do not have CO2 but I do dose Excel per directions, KNO3 is added daily in solution. AP Pond Plant Tabs are used bi-weekly for the crypts and swords.



Last edited by Bob Wesolowski at 09-Dec-2005 06:54

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

The second picture is the nymphea red...
mmm, too large, I will resize the picture!

Last edited by Bob Wesolowski at 09-Dec-2005 06:57

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Much better! This is the nymphea red that is positioned in front of the central driftwood. I trim any stems that attempt to rise to the surface. I took a two week vacation to find 10 lily pads on the surface and immersed vegetation dying off.

bob wesolowski attached this image:
[/font]

Other plants visible in the picture are anubias, the recently planted dwarf sag, a sprig of difformis, e. bleheri on the right and wendtii red in the background with bacopa. I have found the nymphea to be a heavy root feeder.



Last edited by Bob Wesolowski at 09-Dec-2005 07:03

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Next tank shot is the right hand side without flash. One of the discus was curious as to what I was doing...

Bob Wesolowski attached this image:
[/font]

The discus is 14 months old and 6 inches in total length. Plants visible are anubias, bacopa, difformis and e. rangeri with c. balansae in the background.

Last edited by Bob Wesolowski at 09-Dec-2005 07:09

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Next shot is two of the curious discus on the right side of the tank. The photo is with flash. I prefer the coloration without flash...



Bob Wesolowski attached this image:
[/font]

Upikabu, I use Excel at the recommended dosage on the bottle. Since I have relaxed my water change routine to 50%, twice a week, I am using a little less Excel. After following posts here and on other sites, I decided to give estimative dosing a try. Seems to work as I have virtually no algae after initial brushes with brown, brush and cyano. Even green spot rarely appears. Bristlenose are subsisting on spinach and zucchini treats with algae tabs.



Last edited by Bob Wesolowski at 09-Dec-2005 07:17

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

I set up my 125 last November. Just posted new pictures at http://discusasahobby.com/forum/index.php?topic=1142.msg57451#msg57451]http://discusasahobby.com/forum/index.php?topic=1142.msg57451#msg57451[/link][link=http://null,

I have just trimmed the center p. difformis to nothing and added dwarf sag. I need to trim and replant the bacopa. Anyone in or around Kalamazoo interested in some clippings?

Tank has 384w of light, dosed with Excel and KNO3. No algae... take heart TetraTech.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Well done Bob just proves what can be done with a little thought and good planing. Excellent photos of a well layed out tank.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/profile.asp?userid=6741" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for my tank info

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tanks]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Domesticated discus types or names are IMO strictly descriptive. The curious fish are blue turqoise, I have several that are pigeon blood based, a blue snakeskin and a couple or "rescued fish that may be cobalts or a cross.

The Stendker discus site has a very nice display of discus colorations - http://www.diskuszucht-stendker.de/

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

The 'Curious' discus pic is my fave. Very like the type I want, dominantly blue, with red markings, and very little to no fading of color in the middle.. SWEET.

Turquoise ?

And Happy Anniversary ! Must have been interesting to see this tank progress from the get to.

The Amazon Nut...

Hi Bob !

Your planted tank and discus are REALLY nice.
What strain are your discus ? Good luck with the breeding ! I've been highly interested in discus lately myself too, but have to learn the ropes with my other SA friends first. Then move somewhere where I can get at least ONE rack of tanks happening. Then can see about some discus...



The Amazon Nut...

Upi,

The plant tabs are 20-10-5. With:
7% Water soluble nitrogen (N)
13% Water insoluble nitrogen (N)
10% Phosphate (P2O5)
5% Potash (K2O)
1.8% Calcium (Ca)
0.5% Magnesium (Mg)
2% Sulfur (S)
.02% Boron (B)
.05% Copper (Cu)
0.5% Water soluble iron (Fe)
.05% Water soluble manganese (Mg)
.05% Water soluble zinc (Zn)

The directions say feed twice each month using one tablet for every gallon of soil. I use 4 tabs on the 15th and 1st of each month, pressing the tabs about 3 inches deep into the substrate and 3 inches from a plant or plant grouping.

Matt,

Although the water pH is 7.6, the eggs do not fungus and appear viable. A couple of spawns have gone to the wriggler stage. Unfortunately, I have one female that has a caviar appettite either for her own spawn or for other discus spawn. It's a noted problem with female discus.

Last edited by Bob Wesolowski at 09-Dec-2005 16:43

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Plants and discus both look very healthy, congrats on such a successful 1 year, I hope it keeps going well for you. I'm also nearing my 1 year anniversary on my planted tank. I hope to be algae free by then(january) because I'm having a bit of a problem since I upgrade the lighting. Things have been looking a bit better since I've further restricted the duration of light.

You said you have 3 established pairs, do you ever get any fry, or try to raise them?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Very nice, Bob! Thanks for sharing those pics. I wish I could get c. balansae here in Australia (very hard to find). I tried bacopa caroliniana once but with my low light I got really leggy growth. Hence the high light upgrade plan next year.

You mentioned using EI, but you don't dose phosphate? Do you have phosphate from the tap? I find that I can get away with adding nitrate once a week, but without regular phosphate dosing I get a lot of green spot algae. I suppose you get enough micros from the twice a week H2O changes too. Interesting.

ETA: sorry, I just saw you adding the plant tabs.

Last edited by upikabu at 09-Dec-2005 16:13

-P

Wings,

Just give me a call. As you can see the bacopa is growing out of the tank, I'll trim it when you come over if you want clippings.

I picked up the discus from an importer in LA, a hobbyist in Chicago, MVPets and a hobbyist in Grand Rapids. I generally buy small fish and grow them out.

Despite the pH, I have three established pairs.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Ingo,

I used an interior latex paint for the background. As you can see it has a blue tinge. I am not very happy with the results. The prblems are:

1. Surface is easily scratched. Not a big problem unless I want to clean the AC.

2. Inconsistent depth or adhesion. Although I thought that I had thoroughly cleaned the glass, the roller still "skipped" and paint went down unevenly.

3. Bleeding under the rim. I taped the plastic at the top of the tank and, again, I thought that I had taped the airspace between the decorative trim and the glass. Next time, I will remove the plastic trim at the top of the tank, then paint.

Once upon a time, there was a product that created a crystal display on glass after it was applied. The temperature and application thickness governed the crystal size. Once it cured, it was a great background although the fumes were fairly nasty as it dried. It came in a wide variety of colors. I checked local stores, hobby shops and the internet without finding the product. I wonder what it was called and whether people still make it.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Wow..thats a nice looking tank and lovely Discus
Soon i will get a 125g or a 150g tank and those pictures gave me some ideas of what to have in it like the plants and driftwood set up.
Your Discus are really nice and they look really big too.
Great photos.

Robby

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

Bob,

Pretty nice looking tank. I will give you a call sometime next week to see if we can pull something off. Wednesday is probably going to be my best bet being that I don't work that day.

Are those Discus from Steve? They look huge in your tank!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Bob,

It looks wonderful. The first thing that struck me was your light colored background. I am currently experimenting with it on my 20G tank after I have seen many of the Amano tanks use an almost white background.

These discus are big, just a few of them seem to fill the 125G with ease.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club