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Eventually, not quite a year after I first planned a new 3ft planted discus tank, I am finally starting it - except it is now a 7ft. It's small for a 7ft, only holding 138G (523L).

Hardware
84"L x19"W x 20"H)
Rear wall painted black
Aqualina Compact PC 4 x 96Watts (combo 10K & Plant growth tubes)plus moon light
Eheim Pro II 2028 X 2
Pressurised C02 with pH controller
Rhinox 5000 Co2 diffuser x 2
Cal-Aqua Lily pipes
Pentair AquaStep Ultraviolet Sterilizer 25w

Substrate
ADA powersand special
ADA aquasoil amazonia
Tourmaline BC, Penac P, Penac W, Bacter 100, Clear Super
ADA Bright Sand

Hardscape
Driftwood & rocks

Plants
TBA

There will be two planted sections (islands) plus a beach section in the middle & across the front.

Driftwood is bigger than I thought & doesn't fit laying down. I don't want to cut/break it so (at least at the beginning) this is how I will have it. I hope it will look nice when there are anubias on the lower sections. I won't be using moss, as I don't really like it. I have a smaller & lower piece of driftwood for the right island area, but it's still in the current discus setup, so not shown here.

The rock border will be mainly covered in substrate and overhanging plants, so won't be too prominent (I hope).

This won't be a weekly log (as I don't play around with my tanks enough for that to be very interesting). More likely, I will post heaps in the beginning as I set it up & after all is done, only occasionally as an update.

Basic Layout


Sealing up the Gaps
Right Island - started blocking up the gaps, using aquarium safe silicon & gravel. Hoping this will help keep the 2 substrates separate.


That's all for now

Cheers
TW

thats a great idea and a nice large tank like that should allow your discus lots of playing area... hope they do well! cant wait to see this progrees into a large and beautiful peice of aquatic art!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Robyn .. Fantastic ...I'm so jealous ..I really wanted a longer tank .. not enough room unfortunatley .Should be great fun ...looking forward to the photos when you've finished scaping .


Good Luck .


Garry

Hardscape is your friend. You need more hardscape. LoL, j/k, I just like hardscape because it doesn't die.

So will those rock islands be like terraces or like fences? What I mean is whether the substrate inside the rock islands be higher than the substrate outside.

I can't wait to see how it progresses, this has good potential.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

maybe its just me but with that much money and a tank that nice id go reef!

i like feesh

Thanks for stopping by brandeeno & for the kind words

Garry, my tank may be longer - but sadly much smaller capacity than yours My mistake was with the nearby African tank. Originally ordered it 24"tall, then to reduce costs dropped it to only 20"tall. (Short on cash then, as I got the divided breeding tank at the same time & it was 24"tall). African & this tank almost meet each other in a corner & hubby insisted they be equal height Result, I only have 138G you have around 240G. I am glad it's long though.

Hi Shinigami

You need more hardscape

Probably right, but it's all so expensive The driftwood you see plus the rocks & plants are as far as my wallet will stretch right now I'll be transferring driftwood across from the 43G, but there are no major pieces in that tank - only small.

So will those rock islands be like terraces or like fences? What I mean is whether the substrate inside the rock islands be higher than the substrate outside.

Substrate will be highest at the rear, sloping until it's equal in height to the rock barrier. Sand on the other side will also meet height of rock barrier. Initially, this means you will see the rock tops only. I have other smaller matching rock pieces & plan to attach riccia to these. These riccia covered rocks will sit on top of some of the rock barrier. Other parts of the rock barrier wil be covered by overhanging plants. This will take time to achieve, as I probably only have enough riccia to cover a few rocks at the mo, but as my riccia grows & I havest more, more rocks will be covered.

Initially, I expect the rock barrier will be an eyesore, but I hope in a month or two, you will only catch glimpses of it.

That's the plan - fingers crossed it works out

Cheers
TW

Robyn, ya know its all about the rocks right now, your scape is looking good, i wish i had your ideas LOL... anyways sorry i dont get to pop in much but keep us up to date k???

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Thanks for popping in JBennett181

maybe its just me but with that much money and a tank that nice id go reef

Naa, marine is not my "cup of tea". Hubby has a 3ft marine tank, but I much prefer planted tanks & totally love discus. Each to their own 'n all

Hi fishmonster, glad you made it to this thread Thanks for the nice comments.

The planning & preparation of rocks is taking longer than thought. Played around with the layout a little, though mightn't be obvious in the pics. The planting areas (islands) have been enlarged & the beach area decreased. It's taking a while to dam up the gaps in the rocks, which I'm doing with silicone & gravel (will not seen in the finished product).

Shinigami has got to me. Plan on looking for some more driftwood. Want something that will resemble tree roots sunken into the substrate. If I can't find just the right pieces, may go ahead without the extra though.

Just a few pics - not that different, so not very interesting to visitors. More a record for me.

Full Tank


Left Side


Right Side


I hope I might start putting the substrate in tomorrow.

Cheers
TW

I think it's awesome! Kinda reminds me a bit of a tank I saw on another forum where the guy made a beach and had "water" on the unplanted areas I just love ideas like that where there's something really neat and somewhat unusual(at least as far as a "normal" planted tank has) in the tank!

[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/bNFR][/url]

Hi Gilraen

reminds me a bit of a tank I saw on another forum where the guy made a beach and had "water" on the unplanted areas

How did he make the unplanted area look "water". Mabye painted the underneath side of the glass blue - otherwise you will see the foam under the glass. Sounds interesting. Can you post a link, if you remember where you saw it, pls?

Bought a few more pieces of driftwood & tried to arrange so they look a little like tree roots growing out of substrate. Didn't works so well, but I'm reasonably happy.

As they need to be buried a little in the substrate, I will probably need to soak them before the substrate goes in. Sand is in now. About to test if the driftwood floats or not. Updated pics follow.

full tank - with sand


Left Hand Side - with sand


Right Hand Side - with sand


that's it for now.

Cheers
TW

Robyn... love that piece of Driftwood on the left hand end ..looks like an old Gum tree ..interesting planting job ...the other piece looks more like a mangrove coming from above ...should give very different looks to the 2 Islands .

Like the Sand as well ...is that the ADA Bright sand ?
Look forward to the next installment ...Exciting yes


Garry

Looks like a good start TW.
The tank with the sea area:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquascaping/50945-blue-bay-mahahual.html

Desiredusername got it. That's the link

[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/bNFR][/url]

Got around to doing a little more today. Both substrates are in & the HC & anubia are planted. Some crypts are in, more yet to be planted tomorrow. Some riccia rocks are in, but not finished yet. I have a little more riccia on hand, but maybe not enough to finish the job.

The next few weeks, this will run as a terrarium, so no other variety of plant will go in, until I'm ready to fill it. That won't be until the HC has taken root.

It hard to take a full front shot of a 7ft tank, as you have to get a far way back, but here it is anyway

Front shot


Left Side


Middle


Right


That's it for now

Cheers
TW

TW,

I have been meaning to post in your thread for quite a while now but for one reason or another I haven't made it happen until now.

To be honest I wasn't overly impressed with the set up in the first few photos but now with the wood,plants, substrate in place things are looking pretty sweet.

I really like the idea of letting some of the plants establish themselves before adding water to the tank. Maybe one of these days I will try it.

What are your plans for fish. Just discus?

I am glad there are still a few of us still around doing cool planted things. I think it has been almost 2 months since LF has been around.

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

Hi Robyn,

I'm totally a fan of this tank already

"Plan on looking for some more driftwood. Want something that will resemble tree roots sunken into the substrate"

I have a hard time finding branchy, twisty or tree root pieces in any fishstore around here. Which sucks because that's my favorite look. I got some small pieces at the beach recently but not quite what I was hoping to find.

Looking forward to more pics of this as you progress !
Da

The Amazon Nut...

hey Wings - thanks for popping in

To be honest I wasn't overly impressed with the set up in the first few photos but now with the wood,plants, substrate in place things are looking pretty sweet.

Well, there wasn't much to be impressed with - just a bunch of rocks to start with LOL, so I don't blame you. Those pics were just part of the process. It's still not much to see. A few minor changes since the above photos. Added a few rocks to planted areas, to create some mounds (trying to bring a 3D feel into the tank). I struggle with these things though. Suspect my "mounds" may collapse when I finally add water. Also, more crypts planted - but that's it until I fill it.

I really like the idea of letting some of the plants establish themselves before adding water to the tank. Maybe one of these days I will try it.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. According to Tom Barr, I should get less of the traditional problems of a new tank (eg algae) & end up with a cycled tank. My 2 filters have been cycling on another tank, so I'm not too worried about that issue. Another attractive feature of the waterless method is my laziness re: the HC. This way, it's just laid out on the substrate - no individual planting. Plant I'm less sure of like the terrarium setup is riccia. How do you think it will go? Do you think it will dry out too much?

What are your plans for fish. Just discus?

Everything in the 43G will make it to the new tank:-
2 Harlequin Rasboras (last ones left from a larger school)
3-5 Corydoras sterbai & 3-5 Corydoras caudimaculatus
5 otos - my originals still
1 Fire Ruby Discus (striated) (aka - red turk)
1 Red Alenquer Discus
1 Red Alencer (note spelling difference) or Rose Red Discus - no-one's really sure what he is
1 Albino
1 Blue Diamond Discus
1 Wild Caught Royal Blue Discus
3 Wild Caught Heckel Discus
2 of my krib babies (all grown up)
various apistos pairs (a.baenschi, a.macmasteri & a.cac)

Would like to add a group of rummy nose or cardinal tetras - but these days with such expensive fish at risk (the discus - especially the wild caught) I hesitate. Anything to be added to the discus community must be quarantined for a couple of months & currently, both QT's are are full of fish "doing their time", so it may be a while before new fish. I'd like to add a couple of wild caught Green discus, if ever they become available - but again, QT space is an issue right now.

Hi DaMossMan - glad you found my new tank.

I'm totally a fan of this tank already

That's really nice of you. It's hard to find the right driftwood. Not much help to you, but the shop that makes my tanks usually can be counted on for having nice, out of the ordinary pieces - but pricey That's great you found some at the beach - free finds are always good

Cheers
TW

Wow that was quite the response!

I have also read the thing about T. Barr. It seems to make since to me. I would also be tempted to run a small amount of CO2 into the system.

In one of my college biology classes we had to do plant projects. My groups experiment was to enrich the plant's environment with CO2. The plants we were growing were terrestrial and we placed them in a rubber made container to hold the CO2 and injected CO2 in via a DIY system. The growth was much faster than control plants with the regular amount of CO2 from the atmosphere. I would thing that it would be worth a try.

As for the riccia, I am not sure. It is grown as a floating plant so some exposer to the air cant be too bad. I am guessing you will want to keep the whole thing pretty moist so I am guessing it should work.

Are you worried about your Apistos cross breeding?

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

Yup I love hunting down driftwood at the beach, want to eliminate the algae before adding any

Signed,
Professional Algae Grower

The Amazon Nut...

Wow that was quite the response!

Sorry, if I'd said "Discus - various" instead of naming them, 6 lines would have disappeared

injected CO2 in via a DIY system. The growth was much faster than control plants with the regular amount of CO2 from the atmosphere. I would thing that it would be worth a try.

I asked Tom Barr about that & he said it wasn't necessary - though I think you're right - especially since you tested it. BUT, I'm too lazy to set up DIY plus I need the real deal churning away on current discus tank until shut down. It looks after the plants & keeps pH low for the apistos & discus.

Are you worried about your Apistos cross breeding?

No fry will survive in the community tank - too many hungry bods. If I want to breed them, I'll swap them over to the breeding tank (I can recognise which female is which)

The apistos won't cross breed, but the discus will.

Hi DaMossMan, most domestic strains of discus are hybrids - that's why wilds ones are so different looking. Crossing discus & selective breeding is how new strains are created. You will find none of my discus in the wild - other than the Heckels & Royal Blue. Every one of the other types listed are basically hybrids line bred to create a strain. This should only be done by keepers who've researched & know the likely outcomes of the strains they're crossing. But non issue in this tank. My turk & blue diamond lay eggs regularly, but nothing comes of it. Even if they hatched in community tank, it's likely fry would quickly get lost & not be able to latch onto their parents. Discus fry instinctively go for the darkest thing in the tank - which should be the parents who darken up at this time. The fry swarm on the parents to feed on discus "milk" from their bodies). In my community tank - they'd be drawn to the rear black wall or dark substrate & quickly die from not getting the milk or else get eaten.

Having said all that - I have grown to prefer the Wilds, but they are really hard to find in Aus & cost 3 times more.

Thanks for positive comments. I'll post new pictures if I get any significant HC growth to show you.

Sorry wings - a bit on the long side again

Cheers
TW