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Rolla's 118G Journal - Discus Heavy!

12K views 86 replies 16 participants last post by  RollaPrime 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm not sure where to begin with this.

Truth be told, I've been out of the hobby for a while and although I have a firm hold of the basics, I find myself leaning more towards "hopeful" than I am "confident" about this build. According to google my tank dimensions of L151 W51 H66 cm puts me at 118.87 US gallons. To date this is largest aquarium I've ever owned. Prior to this I had a 46gal which went down hill due to life/work changes resulting in me not being able to put in the time needed for maintenance...

In many ways I'm in new territory and I believe that navigating my way through it has been made possible via the information this site holds and it's helpful members. And it's on that note that I want to take a moment to acknowledge a few of this sites members...
@SueD For stocking suggestions that set me on a species only binge watch on youtube. @Greggz and @Immortal1 For your kind words of encouragement and inspiration. @Colin Wrexam For going above and beyond to help me with a plant list. Everyone in this Betta Splenden community thread: https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/21-fish/1277659-betta-splendens-part-community-tank.html for chewing the fat with me and exploring the possibilities. @swarleyfor your hardscape guidance.' @PlantedRich for pointing out a glaring rookie mistake that would have set me back several days without your assistance. @TheDude1 for your enthusiasm @Mike! @chayos00 and @Discusluv for your journals. Grobbins48 for your help... I should stop there because I can't possibly @Everyone and I I'll undoubtedly miss a lot more than a few of you. In short, thank you.

Stats

Tank
Juwel Rio 450L

Filtration & Circulation
Fluval FX6
Hydor Koralia 5000
Eheim Skim 350

Light
2x31W LED DAY - 1800 K
2x31W LED NATURE - 1300 K

Fish/Inverts
2X amano shrimp

CO2
3.15kg pressurized cylinder
Regulator: TBA

Ferts
ProFito


Plants
Alternanthera Reineckii ''Mini'
Anubias Barteri
Anubias Nana Bonsai
Anubias Nana 'Mini'
Anubias Nana Pangolino
Anubias Nana Pinto
Bucephalandra Biblis
Bucephalandra Crisped Leaves
Bucephalandra Deep Purple
Bucephalandra Lamandau Mini Red
Bucephalandra Wavy Green
Cryptocoryne Balansae
Cryptocoryne species*
Hygrophila “Araguaia”
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Hygrophila Salicifolia
Hydrocotyle tripartita Japan
Lagenandra meeboldii 'Red'
Limnophila aromatica
Lobelia sp. Mini
Ludwigia Arcuata
Ludwigia Glandulosa
Ludwigia mesakana
Ludwigia ovalis
Ludwigia sp. Mini
Marsilea Crenata*
Micranthemum 'Monte-Carlo*
Red Tiger Lotus Bulb*
Rotala 'Bonsai'

*A few caveats*

I "lost" the Lotus bulb inside the aquarium. It's planted but I'm not exactly sure where :|

I'm undecided between the Marsilea Crenata and Micranthemum 'Monte-Carlo' as my main carpeting plant.
I bought several Cryptocoryne species at my LFS but don't remember the exact names.

As it stands although planted the aquarium is quite a mess. I have a huge algae bloom due to dechlorinated water and an uncycled FX6 filter. I'll be seeding the filter tomorrow with cycled media which will get rid of the bac bloom. The tank itself looks smaller in this pic..




Other pics





I have a decent DSLR camera but I'm still getting to grips with the settings menu, which is both vast and daunting. I will update once the bloom clears with some decent pics.
 
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#66 ·
I have used New Life Spectrum for many years- the discus specific food is excellent. Actually, all my fish get New Life Spectrum because its one of the best prepared foods on the market: nutritionally balanced, highest quality ingredients and utilizes a low-fat protein for cichlids like discus that need it specifically for healthy growth and building of immune system. No ammonia spikes detected, but, then again, when I grow out discus that are your size I do daily water changes so dont bother with testing water.

But, that said, my discus are not fed this exclusively. I also feed a mixture of frozen and freeze-dried foods in combination with prepared.
 
#68 ·
Indeed. It's a food I swear by. It transformed the colour of all my apistos. I had 3 pairs at the time and despite them all being several years old within 2 weeks of introducing it they damn near sparkled. Taking your earlier advice in the discus thread I wanted to include the food as part of their diet. The NLS Thera A and NLS discus all go down a treat but for whatever reason, they don't seem to be digesting "The NLS Flake" in the same way.



The spike, as annoying as they were, didn't worry me too much because they were never sustained. It'd show up and then leave within 2 hours. My theory is that the juveniles are just not used to it and it passes through them partially digested. Akin to me adding food to the tank that just sits there.
 
#69 ·
So it looks like I'm going to have to address this peppering "issue." To begin with it wasn't an issue for me but I've seen that as they grow older it distorts their coloration completely so I'm going to have to address it. Problem is I'm not sure what to do and my background is spray painted black.

: (
 
#70 ·
Problem is I'm not sure what to do and my background is spray painted black.
A razor blade takes the paint off the back very easily on a glass tank. My first paint job on the back of my tank had a bit of a leak and bubbled the paint, so I had to redo it.
 
#73 ·
I don't think I've ever had this much fun in the hobby. My journey with apistos started shortly after I started to understand the biology of a planted tank. To me, they were so full of personality but they pale in comparison to discus. I'm in absolute awe to the point where they actually featured, briefly, in a dream I had recently :grin2:

The downside is that they don't seem to like my neons. They actively hunt and bite them. In a month I've lost between 8-10 cardinals which is annoying because I was told cardinals are good dithers for discus but they're slowly eliminating the school. I caught some of this on camera...





It's been over a week. She bullies every other discus who dares go near it while she's there. Being as experienced as you are with this species, the following will probably sound weird to you, that said, I think she's practicing spawning. Not the actual act of spawning more so keeping others away from her designated leafs of choice. Again, it's only around this specific plant that she displays the aggression.
 
#82 · (Edited)
Nowadays my main aim is to lower Nitrates. I'm currently down to 10ppm via two api liquid tests. It's a balancing act and I think the secrete might be leaning heavy into java fern. This is not an update. I'm just trying to get the camera settings correct so that I can get my inner @Greggz esq photography on. Once I get the right settings, I should be able to do a full update. I have learned a ton and have a lot more to share.

These are my eight "Blue Diamonad I" Stendker. The irony is that they are more peach/pink with a splash of yellow more so than they are "Blue." But again I'll be able to show that once I get the camera settings right.



@Discusluv and @discuspaul I'm not sure how to measure them but each has grown significantly since I got them.
 
#83 ·
Looking good-- good job! The colors are very pretty. Move from icy blue to pinkish- yellow. But, this could just be the lighting in photo.
Also, looks like a couple are quite a bit bigger than the others. If so, totally normal. The dominate fish will normally put on more weight sooner than the subordinate fish.
What have been your procedures?

Feedings daily?
What feeding?
Water changes volume and frequency?
What have you noticed about interactions between discus? Hierarchy established? Any one fish bullied more then another or are subordinate aggression dispersed throughout group?
Noticed any early pairing behavior ( not necessary breeding pairs)? Juveniles and sub-adults will often take a liking to one another regardless of sex.
 
#84 ·
I appreciate the feedback @Discusluv

They were bought at different sizes. 6-8cm and 4-6cm. One refused to eat for 17 days and another for 4 weeks. Feedings are twice a day, Stendker good beefheart mix and a fish mix recipe I made myself. I would feed 3 times a day but the nitrates build up way to fast that way So I reduced it to twice with a couple of Cory wafers which they go mad for an hour or so before lights out. My tank... Well in terms of parameters it's unbalanced. Ammonia and Nitrite are both 0ppm constantly, but my tap water is 10ppm in nitrate. With 6/9 feedings of meat every 3 days Nitrate jump to 20ppm but coming from the planted aspect of the hobby I'm using plants to keep it at a constant 10ppm.

Water changes are:
Wednesday and Saturday 120L / 31G
Sunday 200L / 51G

Interactions: A lot of sparring. Lots and lots and lots of sparring. They're being as true to the teenage/juvi/unruly stage I've read about. There is a "Boss" of the tank. We call him "Bulla" but the most eager to fight is smaller male we call "Starscream" because his focus is Bulla's Alpha/top position but his approach is always underhanded. Attack from the side or behind as opposed to but head on. Face to face, he's unwilling to stand his ground. The sparring is the reason for the Manzi wood in the tank. Comprised of three separate pieces it allows any of the eight to escape any unwanted aggression if they're not in the mood. A quick twist to the left and a turn to the right and the pursuit comes to an end.

I took some snaps just now but the colour is still not being fully represented because of the camera settings. Speaking of colour... I've noticed that the older they get the more different colours are coming through, One example is that their faces are becoming orange... Truth be told I don't think "Blue Diamond I" is a good description when only 30% of their body looks blue.

Oh and despite the debate around determining a discus' sex, I really confident that chichlids telegraph their sex once they reach a certain age. But I'll get to that when I update properly.

I have been learning a lot. Way more than I expected too. Anyways here's Bulla:

 
#86 ·
Aquarium is still chugging along. Wanted to share some growth in the discus because these pics are ok and my photography skills are still lacking. Also the white dots in the cadual are not white spot / ich. From what I'm seeing they appear to be nodes in the tail. As they appeared and then disappeared with 24 hours while the tails get slightly larger, seemingly overnight.











 
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