Comments/feedback on my new 4x2x2 aquascape planning!!

[David Moses Heng]

thanks for the offer bro, i'm putting a hold on my tank for now...the stupid discus went all skittish after i put them back into the tank and are continually destroying my hairgrass lawn.

very frustrated at the moment and i can't even replant as they destroy it again after replanting, so i'm just leaving it be for awhile. i'm actually hoping that they all die mysteriously for what they did to my lawn then i'd just replace them with altums...angels seem less destructive =P

correction. Altums also has the habit of plucking hairgrass. Ask wackytpt and he'll tell you. If you are thinking of murdering your discus, i don't mind having them

[illumnae]

mine didn't pluck the hairgrass out. mine thrashed about and whacked up the entire substrate! =P

i thought you wanted altums in your tank? heheh

[David Moses Heng]

mine didn't pluck the hairgrass out. mine thrashed about and whacked up the entire substrate! =P

i thought you wanted altums in your tank? heheh

yes but i'm not having hair grass. also, i won't be putting in fish until the plants are firmly rooted so for a while, the tank will just be purely plants and just shrimps wth otos. the fishes are going in only next year.

[bryan]

Your discus are being spooked. They should leave the plants alone when they manage to calm down.

[illumnae]

yup they're finally leaving the substrate alone after 2 days of digging...i'm losing a number of them though, probably to stress.

one thing i'm noticing after adding the fish in is that my plants stopped bubbling even though the CO2 bps and fertilization regime stays the same...does anyone know why?

[illumnae]

Latest update. Fauna's in but the plants have stopped bubbling...hope this doesn't mean they've stopped growing. green spot algae has also set in...any way i can prevent this via dosing or lighting? or is this an algae that just comes without being the result of a nutrient/co2 deficiency? the sturosimas don't seem to be as good as otos in clearing gsa.

[bryan]

Looks like alot of fish. No wonder the discus are stressed. Do monitor the water conditions. Looks like too many fish too soon.

[illumnae]

i tried to stagger the bioload increase by reintroducing the fish back in stages after the tank was cycled (i used a mature filter + 3 weeks of cycling)...lost a few discus already though, probably partially to stress and partially to high bioload.

prior to the rescape, i had easily double the number of fish currently in the tank living fine though

[yeoyl87]

bubbling occurs when the oxygen level is saturated. I think the "bubbling effect" stopped because of the large number of fauna you got. Oxygen in water is no longer saturated thus no bubbling

[illumnae]

oh ok phew...so my plants are still growing fine?

[illumnae]

latest update:

Extremely explosive growth especially on the right side. Tomorrow i'm going to trim the hairgrass...can anyone tell me how to trim the lotus? do i cut off the whole stem or just the leaf?

the bottom front glass has some algae...does anyone know if it's brown diatom, green dust or green spot, and what the cause of it is? I put in a few Sturisoma spp. in, but t hey don't seem to be doing a good job...i hardly ever see them as they're always hiding in the lotus/wendtii bush area...don't even know if they're still alive sometimes

[bryan]

Cut the stem for lotus. Whiptails can be rather shy especially juveniles. Credit cards or membership cards are most effective for algae on glass.

[Shadow]

you have to cut the whole stem, as close as to gravel, because it will melt.

[StanChung]

Hi ilumnae,
For lotus, just trim the old leaves and floating leaves.
Consider investing in a surface skimmer, you'll love the clear water surface.
I'd halve the amount of discus. Your size tank ecosystem will be struggling with more than 8 discus for both tank & fish to thrive.
The brown algae can be scraped or eaten by otocinclus. I'd do both and get 6 otos. Not more as once the algae run out, they will start pestering your discus.
Fertilization looks a little under. Crypt leaves are curling in unpleasant way.
What's tank temp like?

[illumnae]

Tank temp is rather warm as I have no fans or chiller set up. Fertilization wise, I'm running on EI dosing 1.5 tsp of KNO3 and 0.5 tsp of KH2PO4 3 times a week and Seachem Flourish Trace + API Leaf Zone (for K+ and Fe) 3 times a week. I also dose Seachem Equilibrium at every water change.

Fauna wise, my hands are quite tied as I did inform my dad that we should get rid of half of the discus, but he refuses to listen and doesn't want to get rid of even a single one, so I have no choice but to leave them as they are.

I was hesitent to introduce otos as I've heard bad reports from discus keepers about them developing a taste for discus slime coat and as such invested in 5 3 inch sturisoma catfish. They don't seem to be doing a good job though and spend most of the time hiding away in the bush. I'm considering transferring 1-2 otos from my apisto tanks over into this tank to take care of the brown algae. A little worried for the sturisomas as well as if they're not eating the algae, what are they feeding on?

I'll head down to C328 to take a look at surface skimmers. How do they work exactly? Do i connect them to the inlet portion of my Eheim 2028 or do they run independently?

Thanks for your advice...greatly appreciate it!

[StanChung]

Hi Illumnae,

In that case, I'd try to remove the smaller ones as they will not thrive in environment where there are much bigger discus. This is true whether for planted or bare tanks. You may want to reduce the amount of tetras as well to keep the bioload down.

Typical surface skimmer
Connect it to your inlet of your 2028. The middle 'prod' is for you to adjust the in-flow priority from either the top or bottom. Not too much from the top as you will find the suction power pulls the movable floating element down from water surface.
You may want to cover the bottom part with netting if you've baby shrimp.

Sturisomas do swish unrooted stuff up. They are nocturnal if I'm not mistaken.

[illumnae]

Hi Illumnae,

In that case, I'd try to remove the smaller ones as they will not thrive in environment where there are much bigger discus. This is true whether for planted or bare tanks. You may want to reduce the amount of tetras as well to keep the bioload down.

I'll try to talk to my dad again about removing some of the fish...he's quite stubborn about it, we've been arguing about it for almost a month already, since I redid the tank.

with the 3 sturisoma in there, should i still be adding otos to get rid of the brown algae? otos seem to be alot more efficient...my fiancee's 2.5 ft tank was awash in brown algae, but 2 otos in cleared it all up in 24 hours...my sturisomas have been in for a few weeks already but they seem to be eating nothing!

[StanChung]

No point arguing with your dad, either you just do it or leave it be.

You probably have too much brown algae for the sturis to cope or they have internal problems, thus have no appetite. Keep an eye on them.

[Jungle-mania]

I'd be more extreme and remove all the tetras and the other fishes. Just keep the discus and 2 otos and some yamatos.

[Shadow]

I prefer less number of Discuss, maybe 5. Too much big fish will make the tank look over crowded. That is my preference anyway.