# plants for discus tank



## trevordnc (25 Jul 2007)

hi
i have a juwel.rio400ltr tank.with 7discus 12corys.i bought Â£30 of plants from greenline (discus collection) they seem to be doing fine i put the teabag type fert in and also got a sera co2 what you put tablets in.also some flourish excel that i put in every two days.my lighting is overtank luminaire t5 4.36watt tubes.i put plants in pots so i can keep b/b for ease of cleaning.i am a newbie to plants so any advice will be apreciated.
                     thank you trevordnc.


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (25 Jul 2007)

your probably going to struggle with tablet type co2, its goig to give very little on a water column that size.  If your going to go full planted, youd need to invest in pressurised CO2.  With co2 its important to do all or nothing, half way will cause you massive algae issues.

how much light did you have?


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## trevordnc (25 Jul 2007)

hi
thanks for reply will co2 hurt fish as you probably know discus are expensive.also what is cost for decent co2 setup.as you say i am already haveing algae probs.my lighting is arcadia luminaiere 4-T5 54WATT TUBES.i have all 4 on for 4hrs and 2 on for about 5hrs.if there is anything else i can do please advize as i said i am a newbie.
                                     thanks trevor


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (25 Jul 2007)

I would suggest doing the following:

1) read up on the estimative index method of dosing, its probable that your missing some important ferts.
2) get co2 sorted, and buy a drop checker to make sure your co2 is bang on (its the only way to tell)
3) your lighting is ok IF you were providing all of the above, if not, its way too much as your limiting your tank by an unknown factor.

the idea of doing EI is to know for sure that your providing everything you need on the fert front, this then only leaves you co2 to worry about, which can be addressed by a drop checker.  If youve not already, read the EI section on this site, or visit http://www.barrreport.com for more information on it.

let us know how it goes


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## trevordnc (25 Jul 2007)

*plants&co2*

hi 
if i go down co2 route which one wiould you recomend for my 400ltr tank.as i have no idea where to start looking for one.or any other things that go with it.
thanks trev


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (25 Jul 2007)

i would go for the aquamedic or jbl regulator, buy a fire extinguisher off ebay for your co2 tank, and buy a decent diffuser such as a rhinox 5000.. at some point youll need a solenoid, as you shouldnt be adding co2 at night, but you can manually turn it on/off to start with depending on what your funds are.


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## Dave Spencer (25 Jul 2007)

What you definitely need are:

A regulator with a needle valve.
A CO2 cylinder. You could look for a cheap fire extinguisher off eBay. 
A solenoid to shut off the CO2 off during lights out.
A non return valve.
A means of diffusion of the CO2 (ceramic disc or reactor).
A CO2 dropper to measure the CO2 levels (see Fishgeek`s beginner queries thread on this sub forum).
CO2 specific hose.

You could take a look here for a one stop purchase, if you are interested in the EI method:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Aquarianerversand

A few people have bought their kit from here and seem to be very happy with it.  

Like Matt says, fluctuating CO2 will be your worst enemy and algae`s best friend.

Dave.


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## trevordnc (26 Jul 2007)

*plants*

hi 
what is the difference in low tech&high tech planting
                           thanks trev


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (26 Jul 2007)

low tech uses no co2, low light and quite often soil substrates or even filter.. the grower relies on the biomass to act as the biological filter.

there are lots of different opinions as to what low tech is though. its pretty specialist, needing an extremely good understanding of the photosynthasis and nitrogen cycle, together with a good knowledge of which plants will suit and what their needs are.

high tech is what most of our tanks are, filters, high lighting, co2, ferts.


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## Dave Spencer (26 Jul 2007)

The main difference between high and low tech is about Â£20 per gallon.   

There is no clear distinction as such, but I tend to use the idea that once your lighting nears 2WPG (WPG is a very general rule), then you need stable CO2 and a fertiliser regime. When you upgrade your car engine, it comes to the point where you have to upgrade the brakes and suspension as well. Lighting is pretty much the engine for determining the speed at which your plants grow, followed by CO2.

What Matt was saying about the CO2 tablets is that there is no half way house. All the tablets will do is give your tank a brief burst of CO2 now and again. The fluctuating CO2 will be of negligible benefit to your plants, but provide algae with an opportunity to make the most of the instability. 

CO2 may well still be benificial to your tank, but unstable CO2 will result in more trouble than good. A lot of people use DIY CO2 very successfully, but that is generally in tanks a fair bit smaller than yours. 1.4WPG reperesents a reasonable amount in a large tank, and dosing Excel will be a big help, but you might want to ask yourself would you like to spend a bit more and dream of achieving a tank like this for your Discus:






Dave.


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (26 Jul 2007)

Dave mate, thats one stunning tank.. yours?


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## trevordnc (26 Jul 2007)

*planting*

hi
i would love to own a tank like that.but iwill have to learn about co2 also where in sheffield or surrounding area to go and buy what i need.there is also problem of cleaning.i am not very good at reading from books but when shown what to do i am ok.thanks trev


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## GreenNeedle (26 Jul 2007)

Sorry


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (26 Jul 2007)

for co2, just buy a 2nd hand fire extinguisher off ebay (about Â£20 full) then you can fill it at any fire extinguisher place. tell them whats its for, and you need pure co2.

cleaning wise, if your tank is running nicely, you should need to do more pruning than cleaning, getting critters like shrimps, snails and Otto's help alot in dirty tanks, theyre brilliant at keeping algae down off the glass etc.  Bristle nose pleco's are great too for keeping glass and stones clean, but make sure they dont dig up your plants, use heavy gravel that they cant get into on top of your substrate.

main thing is, take it slow, read alot and enjoy the hobby  its no race, some of the members here have been at it for years and years. the club has a great cross section of techy people, and artistic people.. people taht can help you on the science, and people that can help you learn to scape like that tank there.

its nice to be a part of it all  its a new hobby for the uk, and very exciting to see it growing.


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## Dave Spencer (26 Jul 2007)

Frolicsome_Flora said:
			
		

> Dave mate, thats one stunning tank.. yours?



Yes but, unfortunately,Takashi Amano has copied me and got one exactly the same.  

This tank and Discus are what I aspire to, and to think TA did it way back in 1992.

Dave.


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