advice for coming soon 36 gal corner planted discus tank

[baljnm]

ive already got the whole set up laid out. My water here is rather hard, so i have on order a Fluval 204 MSF that will have carbon in the bottom basket, fluval peat granules in the middle (for softening the water, lowering the pH and making it more like black water), and the bio media in the top basket. I have discus buffer powder to condition the water during setup and for periodic maintence. i will be getting some real african driftwood from DrFosters&Smith.com that is for black water tanks so that some of the plants i will eventually add can grow off of. I know i will be cycling the tank long before adding the fish using HOB filters off of my very successful 55 gal planted tank in the living room, as well as the 204.

I want to get the substrate correct right off the bat. I am heavily considering the EcoComplete substrate that is packed in amazon black water already, but would like to know how much to use in a 36 gallon tank. The EcoComplete comes in 20 pound bags, so is it like 1 pound of substrate per gallon of tank, or what?

Light may wind up becoming a problem, since the hood of the corner tank is kinda special, i cant just get a glass top and put a dual light strip over it like my 55 gal, so i may stick to low light plants like crypts and wysteria.

Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jason

 

[BrianNY]

Good move on the low light planted tank Jason. Please go back a few threads to My Planted Low Light 55g to see what can be done without having to get alot of high tech equipment.

I can tell you that misconceptions about discus and water conditions are rampant. Before I comment on the way you're planning your tank, I'd like to know a bit more about your water and your plans.

What is the KH & GH of your tap water? What is the pH both straight from the tap and then after standing for 24 hours? How many discus are you planning to house? Will you start with adults or try and grow juveniles? What, if any, tankmates are you considering?

Having all of this info will help me lead you in the right direction. BTW, I applaud the way you're planning this out.

 

[malkore]

I'll comment on the Eco-complete. You want 1 bag per 10gallons of 'normal' tank size. Since you have a corner tank, it should be a little taller, and have a little less surface area.
I think 3 bags of eco complete would give the proper depth for plants to root.

 

[lmw80]

Brian.....what's with the "hi dad, miss you, having a good time" in the picture??

 

[BrianNY]

LOL. These are some of the breeders that were supposed to be housed on a temporary basis. I sent that pic as an email to Frank just to show him his fish (now my fish), were doing well.

 

[lmw80]

oh! lol

 

[baljnm]

Thanks for the excellent replies. Im not sure of the general or carbonate hardness, i need to get a test kit for that. My barbs in my 55 gal never minded the hardness of the water. The pH from tap is right around 8 and never goes any lower. I do know that the Fluval Peat helps soften the water, as well as the discus buffer, and the EcoComplete has hetrotrophic microorganisms that also help soften the water and detoxify ammonia.

I plan on starting with a pair of discus, no real plans to breed them, just keep them because they are so beautiful. The tank might also see some neon tetras (up to 10 possibly), and possibly my male betta who hates his tiny 3 gal plastic plants tank. For cleaning duties, probably 4 Otos.

And are you sure on the 1-20lb bag per 10 gallons of aquarium?? That would be 60lbs of substrate. That just seems like a lot. I was figuring 1 or 2 bags (20-40lbs).

 

[malkore]

I have 2 bags of eco complete in my 20gallon tank. Planted tanks need deeper substrate than non-planted tanks...2.5"-3" is a good range.
You can use the substrate calculator: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/calcs2.php?type=sanddepth
Keep in mind it's for sand, but a 24"x12" (20gallon) tank wanting a 3" deep bed would need 49lbs of sand. Sand compacts more, so if you guesstimate 9lbs for compaction space, that's 40lbs...or 2bags of eco complete.

 

[BrianNY]

It's going to be a great looking tank. Bear in mind Jason, that you're going to be limited to not only low light plants, but plants that can cope with 83-86F temp range that discus require. Anubias, crypts, java fern, giant val and water sprite will do very well in that tank.

Neons prefer much cooler temps and while otos should work well, they won't give all the clean up required. Five cories or five kuhli loaches would be much better. A better choice for a schooling fish would be cardinals or rummy nose tetras.

HTH

 

[baljnm]

Ok, i just measured my GH and KH. Can this be right? I got a KH of 15 (very hard water indeed), but the GH is very low at around 2 or 3. Is it possible to have soft water with a lot of carbonate and bicarbonate in it that makes the KH that much higher? As i said before, my pH never changes, but i have never tried to soften the water or lower the pH at all, so my high pH indicates hard water. So would the Fluval peat and the discus buffer help out at all or will it just make the water more acidic while not affecting the KH? Im confused now.... I really thought that the GH and KH would be very very similar, but they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Anyone???

Thanks for the plant recommendations too, btw. I did know the tank will need to be around 86F, but i didnt think to look for plants that need that temp range. And speaking of, if neon tetras like the cooler aquarium, what about the cardinal tetras? I thought they were virtually identical fish. And i do have 1 rummynose in my 55 gal (his 2 brothers mysteriously dissappeared when they all lived with my beta in a completey CLOSED 3 gal....).

Jason

 

[BrianNY]

A different KH & GH are not unusual at all as they based on different elements. Your water probably contains alot of Mg and Ca but very little C compunds.

There is an excellent product on the market called chemipure. It comes in a mesh pouch and would be used in place of any carbon in your fluval. I would suggest using that to soften your water and avoid peat or any other buffers.