My New Discus Planted Tank - What do you think ?

[BrianNY]

Your equipment looks terrific africamonk . I believe you can position the spray bars form your eheims under the water to avoid CO2 gas out and maximize circulation.

The thing about high light and CO2 injection is they must be done at the same time. Or, the CO2 should be done first. I made the same mistake when I set up my planted 125g. Throwing that much light in the tank will produce so much hair algae, that it will block the light. Even with CO2 you're going to have to find the correct nutrient dosing to keep your plants growing and the algae down. It's a balancing act that most planted tank keepers go through.

I suggest doing alot of reading in the planted tank section.

 

[africamonk]

the outlets are part of the overflow kit, they go directly out from the eheims to the outlet bar of the kit, so i don't even use the spray bars provided from the eheims..... as you can see in the pic ...... guess lots more reading for me ...... ...... trial and error ....

 

[greenmaji]

you new stocking plan might be a little much bio-load for the discus.. when Brian says so many discus, I assume he is referring to adult discus only...lol. I could be wrong, I dont know how much bio-load the tetras will add.. halving the normal 1 in per gallon rule might be the best way to go, Brian comment on that please!.LOL... I figured that your overflows are full because you dont have a sump and they will go down to let air in if you dont keep the tank topped off well...

 

[africamonk]

wow

6 discus
2 plecos
12 corys
15 cardinals

thats still too much ?? .... never thought a 120 gallon would not be able to handle that ........
maybe time for another new tank ........

 

[greenmaji]

6 adult discus 48 inches
2 adult plecos up to 48 inches depends on the pleco..
12 adult corrys somewere around 24-30 inches
15 adult cardinal tetras 30 inches

thats up to 156 inches of fish in a 120 gallon tank.. thats still alot of fish.. there should be no need for 12 corrys.. if your using them as a cleanup crew.. and you can get smaller plecos.. but in general this is overstocking.. and your are leading us to good news MTS..

 

[africamonk]

well, guess i'll try with smaller plecos first .... since my gf loves corys, and i need to put them in to keep her quiet !! guess imma cut down on the cardinals too ..... as for MTS .... i think i need a bigger apartment already .... LOL .....

 

[greenmaji]

If you need to keep the tank up to around 1 inch per gallon dont get discus.. the bio-load will be too much for them... angelfish could be a option and they dont get as big..

 

[czcz]

Are you planning on completing the biotope/theme with SA plants? Just curious, but if not you should because that would be sweet

Nice tank.

 

[africamonk]

discus, corys and 2 plecos are a def .... the rest i can live without, so mostly will end up having to cut down the numbers on them .......
i ordered the plants from aquariumplants.com, in their "warm water/ discus section"

http://www.aquariumplants.com/cgi-b...s/op=eq/ml=25/tf=description.html?id=XtJUaj8a

thanks for all the compliments ....

 

[Toirtis]

I would go with the discus, 2 bristlenose plecos (total of 5" each), a school of 9-13 Corydoras sterbai (very pretty corys and they will be happy in the warmer water discus prefer...most other cory species do better in cooler water.), and the cardinals.

 

[Toirtis]

i ordered the plants from aquariumplants.com, in their "warm water/ discus section"

Which did you order, and how many of each?

 

[greenmaji]

I would go with the discus, 2 bristlenose plecos (total of 5" each), a school of 9-13 Corydoras sterbai (very pretty corys and they will be happy in the warmer water discus prefer...most other cory species do better in cooler water.), and the cardinals.

how many discus and cardinals are you talking about Toirtis?

 

[Toirtis]

how many discus and cardinals are you talking about Toirtis?

No more than 8 and 21, respectively.

 

[greenmaji]

8 discus? thats 64 inches of fish.. eventually

 

[Toirtis]

8 discus? thats 64 inches of fish.. eventually

1) It is a 120 gallon tank.

2) I said 'no more than'...personally, I would probably go about 6.

 

[greenmaji]

Its not just the discus that concerns me.. its the total
6 discus - 48 inches
2 bristlenose plecos - 10 inches
9-12 Corydoras sterbai - 27-36 inches
21 cardinals 42 inches

thats a total of 127-136 total inches in a 120 gallon aquarium.. from what Ive been told discus need low bio-load conditions to do well.. this stocking suggestion seems to be a just a little above a normal bio-load. im not trying to argue here.. am I completely wrong? 8O

 

[Toirtis]

They do, but in a 120, overfiltered and heavily planted, it should be fine...lord knows I have seen it done many times before...besides, where are you seeing 2" cardinal tetras? 3cm/1.15" maximum on those guys, and its very rare to see a Corydoras sterbai over 1 1/4".

So:

8 Discus = 48"
2 BN = 10"
9 Corys = 11"
19 cardinals = 22"

91" total.

 

[greenmaji]

ive seen big fish because I under stock my tanks... ive had angels get around 5 1/2-6 inches long.. and 2 inch tetras.. and 91 inches is deffinatly not as bad..

 

[Toirtis]

ive seen big fish because I under stock my tanks... ive had angels get around 5 1/2-6 inches long..

Those are small...properly kept, a wild-caught or F1 angel can easily hit 7"-8".

... and 2 inch tetras..

if those were cardinals, then you have succeeded growing them almost a full inch past the largest ever scientifically recorded size for the species.

 

[greenmaji]

LOL.. no Im sure it wasnt cardinals.. and its been over 10 years since I had those fish.. it was a rough guess and I gave them to the people when I moved out.. Im sure they were not done growing.. I only had them for maybe 6-8 months.. Ill keep that in mind before I buy any more though.. I didnt know they could get 8 inches normaly.. thats as long as a discus..ack!