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37g Discus, planted, harscaped "Appalachian Allure"

15K views 87 replies 26 participants last post by  bsmith 
#1 ·
I am very excited about this layout. This tank has gone through a few different iterations but I believe this will be the final, most natural and ultimately the scape that I transfer to the large rimless aquarim that will centerpiece my collection when I am able do it.

As I type I am in the midst of speaking with Rod Salyers who is the owner/operator/harbinger of hardscape for thedriftwoodstore.com. We have spoken about this scape on a few different occasions because both he and I are very particular about setting things up correctly from the start with the design goal, rock shape/size/texture/feel and ensuring that I (the customer) am going to get exactly the right rock/wood for the job. This includes verbal and photo sharing through our phones. I will post up some pics of this efforts below. Its quite refreshing in this day and age of "pay me then we can talk mentality"! Wonderful service and I suggest ANYONE who is thinking about hardscaping their tank give them a shot.

The landscape from which the hardscape was born.


Currently the tank has 3 discus and 4 or so Ottocinclus. The plants are Syngonanthus madiera, Ludwigia Pantanal, Echinodorus Aflame, Eriocaulon Austraila II and Polygonum Sao Paulo.

The hardscape will entail North Fork Stones and Appalachian Root Wood which has a contorted shape due to the rocky terrain and a dark reddish brown color given from the high Iron content of the soils, neither of which I have ever seen implemented in a tank before. They were harvested in their entirety, legally and with all proper permits from the watersheds in the higher elevations of the Southern Appalachian mountains and from the streams/rivers of Eastern Tennessee with Rod's own hands. I wish I could have been there!

Everything should be arriving mid week but here are some shots he sent of a very nice mock up of the tank that were done with the dimensions I sent him.


A few sample pics of the materials/


 
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#41 ·
This is the irony that I love so much. I am jealous of your floor space and you are intrigued by the height that I posses. It is a blessing and a curse. It is nice to be able to grow some height but unless you have a lot of light until the plants get a bit taller they can suffer from lack of light and become deformed and ugly. So its a balancing act.
 
#46 ·
Thanks, I really want some more Discus and Cardinals but you wouldn't believe the prices of the Cards here in STL and also the prices that some of the stores try to charge for some of the most sub par discus you have ever seen. If I see one that I like and think has potential the is either going to end one of two ways. I'm going to get the fish for what I feel its really worth or I end up telling the owner/clerk at that specific time go (expletive) off and why that would be a great benefit to the hobby in out area! :D

Depending on how much energy I have after packing up a large quantity of some Kens food I may just have to slightly re scape and snap some pics. I finally got rid of yet another batch of GW.

On a side note, does anyone else have any experience with UV sterilizers and if the way you have them plugged in reverses the on/off switch that controls the UV light? I had never seen this before but this time I plugged it in not thinking anything of it and put the UV ballast to the 0 position which I thought was the universal sign for ON. Well after about a week of the GW not thinning one bit (IN past times it was completely gone in about 3-4 days from a green pea soup like appearance) so I thought that this Chinese made sterilizer that I had traded for (and that has worked wonderfully for 2 or so years) may have finally bit the bucket. SO I went to the cabinet to check things out (see if I actually DID plug it in) and after seeing that I certainly had plugged it in and that the switch was in the 0 position I flipped the power plug and it turned on!

Is this weird, a little strange or completely normal and I had just been very lucky with plugging aquarium equipment in the right way for the past 20 years?
 
#59 ·
Thanks, I really want some more Discus and Cardinals but you wouldn't believe the prices of the Cards here in STL and also the prices that some of the stores try to charge for some of the most sub par discus you have ever seen. If I see one that I like and think has potential the is either going to end one of two ways. I'm going to get the fish for what I feel its really worth or I end up telling the owner/clerk at that specific time go (expletive) off and why that would be a great benefit to the hobby in out area! :D

Depending on how much energy I have after packing up a large quantity of some Kens food I may just have to slightly re scape and snap some pics. I finally got rid of yet another batch of GW.

On a side note, does anyone else have any experience with UV sterilizers and if the way you have them plugged in reverses the on/off switch that controls the UV light? I had never seen this before but this time I plugged it in not thinking anything of it and put the UV ballast to the 0 position which I thought was the universal sign for ON. Well after about a week of the GW not thinning one bit (IN past times it was completely gone in about 3-4 days from a green pea soup like appearance) so I thought that this Chinese made sterilizer that I had traded for (and that has worked wonderfully for 2 or so years) may have finally bit the bucket. SO I went to the cabinet to check things out (see if I actually DID plug it in) and after seeing that I certainly had plugged it in and that the switch was in the 0 position I flipped the power plug and it turned on!

Is this weird, a little strange or completely normal and I had just been very lucky with plugging aquarium equipment in the right way for the past 20 years?

Ah yeah, I only know this because I work on computers for a living, but it's binary, 0 = off, 1 or |= on for any electronics that have the switch ;)

Nice tank as usual btw!
 
#49 ·
Here are some crappy photos I just took. I trimmed the tank and am awaiting it to grow out.

Enjoy!




One of my all time favorites, Polygonum Sao Paulo.





Ludwiagia Palustris x Glandulosa. A rarer stem that produces a uncanny bright red top when in high light and is very happy. These were not close to the top and you can see the difference in coloration in comparison to the stems that were lower before the trim.


My Echinodorus Aflame/Purple Knight



Finally the fish!


 
#55 ·
You could keep 2-3 but one of them may get bullied and eventually die. Thats why 4-5 is recommended to evenly distribute the aggression, if any at all.

Rummynose, cardinal and neon tetras are a good match with discus because they come from the same region in nature and can handle the high temps and softer water discus appreciate.
 
#63 ·
I like the plants too. I try my hardest to keep collectoritis at bay.

The discus will be in there indefinitely or until I get my 120-p. You see these Discus were (what I like to call) rescued from a LFS where they are kept in half a##ed conditions and are practically on there last leg when I pick them up. Which is for practically nothing since the ppl who work there can at least tell when a fish is about to expire.

The June pics are sweet, really want to see the new hardscape.
I am currently uploading them to photobucket. They will be posted in the next 15-21 minutes. :D
 
#65 ·
I feel that 4-5 discus can be kept in a ~40g tank as long as water changes are done diligently (I do 50% wc's weekly with RO) and they are fed properly. They will not get dinnerplate sized but they were already so stunted from how they were kept at the FS that wouldn't be possible in a bare bottomed tank with 4x WC daily andmultiple feedings anyway.

I have a soft spot for sick fish. :)
 
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