Our 155 gallon planted aquarium with AquaTerra 3D background.

[Herbicidal]

I found myself with a little free time last night so I set up the camera and took a bunch of pics. I whittled it down to these seven. This grouping of manzanita branches is overall not as thick as what I used previously. I think this grouping does a better job at providing the appearance of roots coming into the tank then the thicker stuff I used before.

Full tank shot, the aquarium is 6' long:


Partial night time almost full tank shot:


Left hand side:


Center:


Right hand side:


Slight angle to the left:


Slight angle to the right:

[MyMonkey]

I just read through the entire thread. Very impressive progression here. Love the Discus. You have inspired me to consider giving them a try! I do like plants as well though.

[Herbicidal]

Originally Posted by MyMonkey

I just read through the entire thread. Very impressive progression here. Love the Discus. You have inspired me to consider giving them a try! I do like plants as well though.

Thank you for taking the time to read through it all and for your comments. Discus are pretty cool fish, but I learned over time that they are the priority as far as the aquarium 'environment' and plants became secondary. Then ultimately, to make it easier on me, I dropped the plants entirely. I'm still in that "phase" with the plants.

If you decide to give Discus a try, make sure to do the research first on what plants will work with the higher temps that Discus require. A GREAT Discus website that I'm a member of as well is: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forum.php

[madness]

Stunning Discus.

Love the tank overall but those recent shots really show how much these Discus 'pop.'

[Herbicidal]

Originally Posted by madness

Stunning Discus.

Love the tank overall but those recent shots really show how much these Discus 'pop.'

Thank you very much! My little camera just isn't quite fast enough to "freeze" the fish with such low light levels. Shutter speed was like 1/5th of a second, so some blurs. I kept trying to time my shots for when they stopped moving for a fraction of a moment. Some cooperated, some did not.

[Minja]

Wow, I love the wood. I kinda put aside building a canopy, but now I think I will reconsider. Having a canopy really adds to the illusion. Keep them pics comming.

[Herbicidal]

Originally Posted by Minja

Wow, I love the wood. I kinda put aside building a canopy, but now I think I will reconsider. Having a canopy really adds to the illusion. Keep them pics comming.

Thanks! I'm lucky to be able to find such pieces only an hour away. With careful measuring and cutting I was able to position/wedge all the manzanita underneath the glass braces at the ends and in the middle of the tank or beneath the back half of the glass lids so I did not have to wait for them to become water logged. Nothing freaks out the fish faster than a piece of wood suddenly popping to the surface!

I agree regarding the canopy and the illusion.

[Herbicidal]

Hello everyone! Felt it was time for an update. Lost a couple of Discus over the last several months. Nothing I can really pin down. Sometimes they just stop eating and start to waste away. As soon as I notice they are not eating I will move them to Q/T. Usually I will see some white, stringy feces which tells me it’s most likely an internal parasite. I treat them with Metro per Kenny’s (of Kenny’s Discus) recommendations, elevate the heat, provide aeration, keep up on all the required water changes and yet I still have not successfully cured a single Discus. It seems like once they have lost the will to eat, I just cannot reverse it. I use only frozen, flake or pellet type foods. Nothing ‘live’. The other Discus are just fine and eating like pigs.

Anyway, enough with the sad news. On a lighter note, my female Virgin Red has become the queen of the tank! She has paired up with what I'm calling a 'Checkerboard' male and as of this morning have produced their 5th round of eggs in like 6 weeks! The 1st – 3rd set of eggs hatched, but were pretty much consumed once they became free swimming fry by the Rummy Nose and Black Neon Tetras. Neither parent was doing a very good job with the fry after they hatched. However, the 4th batch lasted much longer. This time they actually attached to the female and occasionally the male. In the end, the parents desire to eat at feeding time overwhelmed their desire to care for the fry and the fry were picked off by the Rummies and the Neons when the parents swooshed off to get some food. Oh well. To be expected in a community tank. With how prolific these two are, I’m thinking about putting them in their own 30 gallon tank with Manzanita branches and a sponge filter. This would also reduce the stress they are creating in the main tank by chasing away the other fish from their end of the tank each time they lay a new batch of eggs.

Tonight a friend is giving me a 30 gallon tank with a bunch of stuff for it. I'll need to check it out and determine if this will be a worthwhile home for the pair. Enough for now, here's some pictures!

Female with fry:


Male with fry:


Full tank shot:


Female Virgin Red 'cleaning' the wood in preparation for laying her eggs:


Random tank shots:

[habitat]

I am sorry to hear about your losses.
The rest of the discus look amazing and I really like your background!

[zzrguy]

That is and outstanding setup you have well thought out and executed .
Im loven those Discus

[plantbrain]

You might consider using LED lights to give the nicer color effect and sunlight like shimmer.

If you place these at a slight angle from the front towards the rear, they will reflect better off the fish and give the nicer colors.
They also come with dimmers and makes dialing in just the right light level for optimal color.

[l8nite]

Loved reading your thread. I'm getting ready to do a full-substrate change from gravel to flourite black sand in my 29G tank -- was happy to read some first-hand experience on making the change.

[Herbicidal]

Originally Posted by habitat

I am sorry to hear about your losses.
The rest of the discus look amazing and I really like your background!

Thank you. In spite of the periodic set backs I still plan to continue with Discus for the foreseeable future. Still learning! I appreciate your compliments!

Originally Posted by zzrguy

That is and outstanding setup you have well thought out and executed .
Im loven those Discus

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by plantbrain

You might consider using LED lights to give the nicer color effect and sunlight like shimmer.

If you place these at a slight angle from the front towards the rear, they will reflect better off the fish and give the nicer colors.
They also come with dimmers and makes dialing in just the right light level for optimal color.

Good call Tom. I'll have to do some research. With your experience in lighting, are there any brands that you prefer? Just to point me in the right direction.

Originally Posted by l8nite

Loved reading your thread. I'm getting ready to do a full-substrate change from gravel to flourite black sand in my 29G tank -- was happy to read some first-hand experience on making the change.

Thanks! That probably took you a little while to do, the reading of my thread. Good luck with your substrate swap.

[Herbicidal]

Just a few pictures showing some of the other fish that share their home with the Discus. I recently acquired another 25 Rummy Nose Tetras so I now have about 40. Makes for a very nice school! Sometimes the Black Neons get caught up in the action and school with the Rummy's. My camera just isn't fast enough to 'catch' the Rummy's so I didn't try. I also have two Salt and Pepper Cories, but they were camera shy, so no pictures of them.

3 Sterbai Cories. They seem to almost always hang out together.


A very small Panda cory below a young female Blue Diamond Discus. I have 3 of the Panda's too.


Two Panda's and a Sterbai.


Two "night time" shots: