90g high-tech planted discus tank

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chris_todd
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90g high-tech planted discus tank

Post by chris_todd »

Well, the 90g high-tech setup I bought from Aaron has been up and running for about a month now, and I've finally gotten around to planting all the stuff I got at aquafest, so I thought it was about time for pictures!

It's not really aquascaped, I just kind of planted stuff where it seemed to fit. One thing I've learned about aquascaping (not that I've been able to apply it, mind you) is that you need to be able to visualize what a fully grown version of a plant is going to look like before you plant it. Well, I've never kept most of the plants in this tank, so I had to guess based on descriptions online. I already know I'll need to move some things around; for example, the lagenandra meeboldi is sitting behind a flame sword that completely hides it. Doh! And I might remove the macrandra and ludwigias, since I was really going for a low-maintenance tank (swords and crypts), and given all the reds I'm getting from the swords I got at Aquafest, I really won't need red stem plants! I put them in there in part to see how they would do, and in part to try to out-compete the algae (which is only partially successful at the moment, as you'll see below).

Oh, and just in case anyone was wondering - high tech kicks butt! I am totally loving watching oxygen bubbles drift up from plants. Having tried high tech, I'm not sure I'll be able to to back to low tech. Every single plant looks great and is growing quickly, and I'm finally realizing why all the crypts in my low tech tanks are green, while other people get interesting browns and almost reds from theirs.

Well, enough of my gabbing, on to the pics! (I apologize in advance for their quality, I'm still learning how to get my stupid point-n-shoot to do what I want)

First, the full-front shot:
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The left side:
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The center:
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The right side:
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The apistogramma cacatuoides "orange flash" male checking out the little love shack I put in there for him and his girl (that is the suspected C. ciliata right in front of the shack, and the C. nevillii just to the right):
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He seems to like it!
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The male ramirezi:
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The echinodorus horemanii 'red' and one of the rams. The almost black-leaved plant in the back left is the E. 'aflame':
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The female ramirezi:
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The apistogramma cactuoides male:
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The female ram and some of the sterbai cories:
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Here's the complete list of flora and fauna:
Three discus (who have been skittish and were hiding during this photo shoot)
Six sterbai cories
Two german blue rams
Two apistogramma cacatuoides 'orange flash'

I'll be picking up two long-finned bristlenose plecos from Rachel O'Leary at the CCA meeting, and sometime soon, we hope to add four or five more Discus from Hans.

Moving from left to right and front to back in the full tank shot, the plants are:
Cryptocoryne spiralis
C. usteriana x walkeri (Thanks, Ghazanfar! Cool plant)
Crinum calamistratum
Staurogyne sp. 'Bihar'
Echinodorus horemanii 'red' (This thing looks just awesome!)
E. 'aflame' (The leaves are so red, they're almost black)
Rotala macrandra (I got this for a dollar at the carniverous plants meeting, and nearly killed it in my low-tech 20 high)
E. 'Rose'
E. 'Red flame'
Lagenandra meeboldi sp. 'Pink' (Thanks, Kris! I was able to get it to root, and it has since thrown up three new leaves - and they really are Pink!)
E. 'Ozelot' (rescued from my 20 high low-tech)
E. Uruguayensis
Ludwigia arcuata and Ludwigia repens x arcuata (I've been surprised these don't look that much better in the high-tech than they do in the low-tech)
C. ciliata (I think - that's what I paid for, anyway; I'm not sure that's what I got, LOL)
C. nevillii (I think - that's what I paid for, but it might be C. x willissi)
E. 'Tricolor'
E. palaefolius (I'm really hoping these will emerge from the tank and flower)
Another E. 'Red flame'
C. moehlmannii (this time, I did not put C. pontederiifolia in the tank as well, so I *know* it's actually moehlmannii! :)
Limnophila aromatica (cool plant! Purpleish undersides and reddish tops)
Cyperus helferi
E. amazonicus (two)
Eleocharis vivipara was planted across the back of the tank;hopefully it will form a "grass wall", but we'll see.
C. wendtii is planted in various places throughout the tank as well.

And interspersed throughout the tank (much to my chagrin), najas grass. :evil: Oh, and of course no tank in our house is complete without duckweed. :lol:
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ddavila06
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Post by ddavila06 »

that looks awesome! those swords are just neat looking! im might need to switch back... :roll:
Damian Davila
"Fishes-up, chill, Plants too"
"so many plants, so little space!"
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ddavila06
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Post by ddavila06 »

hold on one sec!! i just realized (from looking and looking at the pics, is just an awesome set up 8) ) there is no wood nor rocks in there! :shock: are you planning on adding any? and yes!, i agree on the bubbles, i enjoy seeing that by the time i get back from work, sooo kool... :mrgreen:
Damian Davila
"Fishes-up, chill, Plants too"
"so many plants, so little space!"
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chris_todd
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Post by chris_todd »

ddavila06 wrote:hold on one sec!! i just realized (from looking and looking at the pics, is just an awesome set up 8) ) there is no wood nor rocks in there! :shock: are you planning on adding any?
Nope, no hardscape at all, unless you count the terra cotta pots, LOL. I originally had a few pieces of driftwood and rocks in there, but then I came home from aquafest with too many plants, and had to remove the hardscape so I had room for the plants. I think that's a sign I've over-planted, LOL.
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PaulS
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Post by PaulS »

Awesome setup Chris and a wide variety of plants. Be sure to time your trims to the GWAPA meetings! :lol:
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Aaron
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Post by Aaron »

Thanks for sharing pics Chris. I"m glad to see it being enjoyed still. :D
Mark F.
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Post by Mark F. »

Hey, Chris - everything looks great ... have you done any thinning out or rescaping yet? I especially love the pic of the A. cacatuoides 'orange flash' poking his face out of the hole in the terra cotta pot - though I'm loathe to anthropomorphize, and know fish don't really have facial expressions, there's definitely something expressive about that fish's posture - he looks like he's thinking "yo, man - what you lookin' at? if you see this pot a-rockin', then don't come a-knockin!" :mrgreen: ... on that note, any sign of spawning yet?

Yeah, yeah, I know: it's been over a month since you posted these pics ... I'm sorry I've been outta the loop for a while, but - as I'm sure you and Amy both know - sometimes hobbies take a back-seat to parental responsibilities (just you wait till your kids are are teenagers!).
Mark F.
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Location: Rockville

Post by Mark F. »

Oh, yeah - one more thing I meant to mention: just for the record, it ain't just high-tech tanks that enjoy the beauty of pearling oxygenation. I've had plants pump out beautiful streams of oxygen bubbles in low-tech tanks. I'm not knockin' the high-tech route; to borrow an expression from today's youth, 'I'm just sayin'!' :wink:
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chris_todd
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Post by chris_todd »

Mark, you know I was going to post an update tonight. I just spent about 15 minutes examining the 90g and our 75g and thought "I should really take some pictures". :D

The cacatuoides not only spawned, but fry have been free-swimming for a week or maybe two. They're hard to count because they hide so well in the stems around the base of the Saturogyne sp. 'Bihar', but I think there are 6-10. They never did like the planting pot I put in there, so I took it out.

Our two Discus may be getting ready to spawn as well - all the signs I've read about (darkened color, mucus production, shimmying, etc.) are being displayed. Jen, you recently spawned Discus, right? Any words of advice?

And the plants have absolutely gone nuts, particularly the swords. Some of the leaves are to the top of the tank and up to 8" wide, and two of the swords have thrown up flower stalks (actually, is that what you call them?), both of which broke the surface a couple of days ago, and I just noticed one of the flowers was starting to open.

I'll probably send some of the S. sp 'Bihar' to the auction, and I think I'll yank the Eleocharis vivipara I have in the right front, because it looks messy. And I could probably trim the Limnophila aromatica, or more likely yank an entire stem - it's actually growing and branching so much, it's shading one of my swords!

The algae is starting to abate, though the BBA claimed the Cyperus helferi, which was a shame because it was gorgeous. I may yank out the second Amazon sword in the back right because it also has BBA. The green dust algae on the glass is slowly getting better. I added two long-finned bristlenose plecos a couple of weeks ago, and added 12 otocinclus and 10 amano shrimp last week. The otos are thriving, but I can't find any amanos - they may have become Discus snacks (maybe the live food conditioned them for spawning? :lol:), though the tank is heavily planted and they are good at hiding.

All in all, the tank is doing splendidly, and we couldn't be happier. Well, we could, if all the algae would go away! :lol:

I'm going to go take some pictures, and hopefully be able to post them later tonight.
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chris_todd
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Post by chris_todd »

Mark F. wrote:Oh, yeah - one more thing I meant to mention: just for the record, it ain't just high-tech tanks that enjoy the beauty of pearling oxygenation. I've had plants pump out beautiful streams of oxygen bubbles in low-tech tanks. I'm not knockin' the high-tech route; to borrow an expression from today's youth, 'I'm just sayin'!' :wink:
Yes, I've seen that, too, usually right after a water change. Just not in such quantities, and not from *every* plant in the tank.
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