Hi all-
Ok, I've finally decided that I'm going to go for a discus tank this time around. It's only a 54g tank so I need to be careful, and it will take a while to establish the tank before I can even consider putting discus in there. With such a small tank, maybe just one pair could work, a a few juveniles and rearrange later.
I have kept/bred discus before, although it was 20 years ago
Now the substrate:
- ok, I keep hearing that dark substrate will cause the colors to darken/pepper/suffer in the discus. I always used black substrate in the past because it looks so striking, but this actually makes sense to me so I will consider something lighter
- using PFS or just something very white seems a little much to me, especially since this tank is going to be very lightly planted (some anubias and wood) and the background is a sort of light grey. With a white substrate, it's going to be quite bright in there.
I'm wondering about going for a 'middle of the road' solution. Maybe something light, but not TOO light. Like, the classic reddish Flourite which I've had good luck with. But, I'm not really going to plant stems or go for ground cover, so it doens't need to be a planted-friendly substrate.
I'm also not sure about the substrates that claim to stabilize or alter the water parameters. For whatever reason, the water here in Denver has always been stable right out of the tap and very cichlid friendly, so I'm tempted to go for stability (and low maintenance) instead of trying to get fancy.
Can anyone share any thoughts on what might fit the bill? Any thoughts much appreciated!
thanks, Dave