Roy's 30 Gallon Red Spot Green Discus F1

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

Last weekend I tore down my 30 gallon to make room for a new species (for me). The this will be the first time I have kept the species and from doing some reading, research, and talking with the breeder I am doing a set-up I have not done before.

2020/07/19
Here is my old (15+ years) 30 gallon tank (36"X12.5"X16.75" high). Note the scratches on the glass showing years of use! Thank goodness most of those scratches disappear when water is added.

After cleaning the heater and canister filter I added four (4) Osmocote Plus "00" root tabs. Based upon my experience with the 45 gallon which showed residual ammonia for about 2 months when I used one root tab per 2 gallons I decided to go stingy this time. There will be some species of plants in this tank but the fish will be the primary consideration.

I covered the four tabs with a handful of sand substrate to keep them from shifting and added the rest of the sand substrate.

This is the first time I have used sand as a substrate in a tank and I went with HTH Pool Filter sand which is made from crushed quartz, contains no shells to effect water hardness, and is definitely white! I am not a fan of white substrates because they can show all the detritus and other stuff but I want to keep this tank clean and pristine as possible.

I put in a total of 50# of sand which is one bag. It cost me $9 including tax. This gave me sufficient for 2-1/2 inches in the back of the tank sloping to 1.5 inches in the front of the tank; an average depth of 2 inches. I did not wash or rinse the sand first, it went straight from the bag into the tank.

2020/07/20
Next come the filling. I could have done the three (3) gallon bucket and made eight or nine trips up and down the stairs but I chose to use my weekly water change hose instead. I put down wax paper and a dinner plate to minimize disturbing the substrate during filling and added the water slowly.

This is how it looked when filled before turning on the filter.

I set the heater for 83 degrees and took some tap water readings for a benchmark, then called it a day.

Tap Water
pH = 7.0 (degassed 24 hrs)
dKH = 2.0
dGH = 3.0
Ca = 20 ppm
Mg = 0.9 ppm
NH3 = 0.00
NO2 = 0.00
NO3 = 0.00

And here is the equipment list:
Aqueon 30 gallon aquarium
Aqueon glass top
Fluval 2.0 LED fixture (36"-48")
Marineland C-220 canister filter (two sponges; filter floss; bio-balls X2 trays; Purigen)
50# HTH Pool Filter Sand (crushed quartz) 2-1/2” back / 1-1/2” front
Osmocote Plus root tabs ( 4 each “00” size)
Inline CO2 diffuser
Fluval CO2 drop checker with 4.0 dKH indicator solution

 

[Betty]

Looking forward to seeing what will be kept in the tank.
I have pool filter sand in all of my tanks and like the look.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Thank you @Betty


2020/07/20
The tank is currently at 85 degrees and the water had started to clear. The drop checker is medium green and with 4.0 dKH indicator solution that means I should have about 30 ppm of CO2.

I decided to add a few plants that came out of the previous 30 gallon set-up. I added two pieces of Malaysian driftwood to the tank. One piece had an established thicket of Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov' and the other had a not fully established thicket of Microsorum pteropus 'Trident'. I also added 17 plants of Eriocaulon sp. 'Vietnam' to the center area. How are these plants going to do in 85 degree temperatures? I guess we will find out!

30 gallon 24 hours after filling

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

2020/07/24
So with a temperature of 85 degrees this is definitely a warm water tank. Did you ever wonder what species would do well at a temperature in the mid-80's? How about with high temperatures and very, very lean dosing of nutrients? I did so I grabbed a bunch of plants from my emersed plant bank and one species from another tank and planted them along the back of the 30 gallon. This is what they looked like when I planted them.

All of the plants are cuttings without roots, so what did I plant?

1) Persicaria sp. 'Kawagoeanum' (from stems growing submerged in another tank)
2) Myriophyllum sp. 'Guyana' (cuttings from emersed growth in plant bank)
3) Hygrophila serpyllum (cuttings from emersed growth in plant bank)
4) Oldenlandia salzmannii (cuttings from emersed growth in plant bank)
5) Limnophila rugosa (cuttings from emersed growth in plant bank)
6) Ludwigia sp 'Red' (cuttings from emersed growth in plant bank)

I am curious to see what species can adapt to the 85 degree temperature and which ones will not. The light level measured at the substrate (through an Aqueon Versatop) is PAR@50 measured with an Apogee MQ-510 PAR Meter.

Here is one of the shelves of my 'plant bank', just a bunch of species I grow emersed because I don't have enough tanks to grow them submerged. Many are 'uncommon' (i.e. not common in a LFS) and not always available on the forums.

 

[lloyd378]

I enjoy planted tanks even though I don’t typically keep them ( my cichlids for destroy them unfortunately).......

I am very interested to see how these plants do in this higher than normal temps..... my initial thought was they would grow extremely fast ( based on my vegetables in my garden) but then I could also see them cooking them at the same time

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi @lloyd378,

That is certainly a possibility, stewed plants!

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

2020-07-25
When I started the tank I seeded the Marineland C-220 filter with some detritus from one of my HOB filters on another tank to kick-start the nitrogen cycle. Today I added a couple more plant species and three (3) fish to ensure the nitrogen cycle starts and maintains well. I added an Otocinclus, a Siamese Algae Eater (aka SAE / Crossocheilus oblongus), and a 'runt of the litter' Corydoras aeneus. The Otocinclus will eat any diatoms which seems to be fairly common with out soft water. The SAE will eat any hair algae that seems to show up in my tanks during the ammonia portion of the nitrogen cycle, and the Corydoras will stir up any detritus so the canister filter can remove it. If they get hungry I'll add 1/4 of an algae wafer just before lights out.

SAE and Corydoras

I checked the PAR level today, with the water clearing even more the light intensity is PAR@48. I am running the Fluval 3.0 on a split photoperiod of 09:00 - 11:00 and 19:00 - 21:30 for a total of 4 -1/2 hours of light per day.

I also added a Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Green Gecko' from the previous 30 gallon set-up and some Bacopa colorata from my emersed plant bank.

 

[fishguy1978]

Hi All,

2020/07/24
So with a temperature of 85 degrees this is definitely a warm water tank. Did you ever wonder what species would do well at a temperature in the mid-80's? How about with high temperatures and very, very lean dosing of nutrients? I did so I grabbed a bunch of plants from my emersed plant bank and one species from another tank and planted them along the back of the 30 gallon. This is what they looked like when I planted them.

All of the plants are cuttings without roots, so what did I plant?

1) Persicaria sp. 'Kawagoeanum' (from stems growing submerged in another tank)
2) Myriophyllum sp. 'Guyana' (cuttings from emersed growth in plant bank)
3) Hygrophila serpyllum (cuttings from emersed growth in plant bank)
4) Oldenlandia salzmannii (cuttings from emersed growth in plant bank)
5) Limnophila rugosa (cuttings from emersed growth in plant bank)
6) Ludwigia sp 'Red' (cuttings from emersed growth in plant bank)

I am curious to see what species can adapt to the 85 degree temperature and which ones will not. The light level measured at the substrate (through an Aqueon Versatop) is PAR@50 measured with an Apogee MQ-510 PAR Meter.

Here is one of the shelves of my 'plant bank', just a bunch of species I grow emersed because I don't have enough tanks to grow them submerged. Many are 'uncommon' (i.e. not common in a LFS) and not always available on the forums.

Love the emersed plant garden. Are those trimmed 2 liter bottles?

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi @fishguy1978,

Yes, they are Coke product 2 liter bottles. Because of the shape the top portion nests better into the base portion better than Pepsi bottles.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

2020-07-30
Well it has been a week since the last update. The fish are doing fine as are the plants. The tanks is clear and the PAR level increased to PAR@50 now that the cloudiness is gone. I did a 33% water change this week, dosed 4.5 ml of Seachem Comprehensive twice and glutaradehyde (Excel strength) Initial Dose (4 tsp) once. The water parameters after the water change were:
pH = 7.6
dKH = 2.0
dGH = 2.0
Ca = 15 ppm
Mg = 0 ppm
NH3 = 0.25 ppm
NO2 = 0.0 ppm
NO3 = 0.0 - 5.0 ppm

I don't know why my pH climbed this week, my CO2 is actually higher (about 40 ppm) is it possible the HTH sand is not totally inert? I added 2.0 ml of Muriatic Acid to the tank and that dropped the pH to 6.4 after 24 hours. I will monitor the pH for the next couple of weeks and see if it creeps back up. The fish didn't show any signs of distress.

It looks like the species fish will be arriving soon. In the meantime the plants seem to have settled in fine. The Persicaria sp. 'Kawagoeanum' has a couple of new leaves showing good color. The Myriophyllum sp. 'Guyana' seems to be a slow grower but there is one new leaf and it seems to be larger than the emersed grown leaves. I added some Eleocharis sp (possibly robbinsii?) to the tank that was growing submerged in my 75 gallon and I trimmed down. The other emersed grown stems I added a week or so ago are also showing new growth and looking healthy. The Ludwigia sp. 'Red' isn't showing any red coloration but with PAR@50 it may not show color until it gets very near the surface (if at all).

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

2020-08-03
I know it is not time for my weekly update on how the tank is progressing however the species arrived yesterday afternoon with a few friends. I drip acclimated them for about an hour, waited an additional 1/2 hour, and the introduced them into the tank. They even brought some friends with them that they grew up with, three (3) Corydoras sterbai. For the first couple of hours they huddled together in a corner and then they started to explore the tank. I lightly fed them some frozen bloodworms about an hour before 'lights out' and they all seemed to eat.

Today they are much more active and bravely exploring the tank so I grabbed this picture. I know that the 30 gallon is just temporary for these seven fish and in the future they will become the inhabitants of my 75 gallon. -Roy

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

2020-08-03
Here they are eating their third (3rd) cube of FB Tubifex Worms!

 

[sir_keith]

Super cool! That tank is going to be awesome!

 

[Betty]

I've always wanted to try discus!

How do you have the plants attached to the wood pieces? When they were getting established on the wood.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi Betty, I attach plants to hardscape the same way whether the hardscape is stone or wood. I use Loctite Super Glue Gel. It drys quickly and stays put because it is a gel and not a liquid. I prefer Loctite brand because the container reseals better than most and I can same the unused portion for later.

I can attach the smallest pieces of rhizome without difficulty. If you look in the very front (foreground) of the picture below you can see where I have attached some java fern 'Trident' (Microsorum pteropus 'Trident') to a piece of Malaysian driftwood. The small white spot is one to two locations I secured the long rhizome to the wood. Superglue (cyanoacrylate) is inert in water.

 

[fishguy1978]

Hi Betty, I attach plants to hardscape the same way whether the hardscape is stone or wood. I use Loctite Super Glue Gel. It drys quickly and stays put because it is a gel and not a liquid. I prefer Loctite brand because the container reseals better than most and I can same the unused portion for later.

I can attach the smallest pieces of rhizome without difficulty. If you look in the very front (foreground) of the picture below you can see where I have attached some java fern 'Trident' (Microsorum pteropus 'Trident') to a piece of Malaysian driftwood. The small white spot is one to two locations I secured the long rhizome to the wood. Superglue (cyanoacrylate) is inert in water.

I do the same but use dollar store glue as it is the same composition but a dollar for 3. IIRC

 

[sir_keith]

... I use Loctite Super Glue Gel. It drys quickly and stays put because it is a gel and not a liquid. I prefer Loctite brand because the container reseals better than most and I can same the unused portion for later. I can attach the smallest pieces of rhizome without difficulty...

Same here. These Anubias are all attached to rocks with Super Glue gel. It doesn't take them long to put roots down into the substrate, and some of the exposed roots are as pretty as the plants themselves. This is a super-low-tech setup as far as the plants are concerned, but they've been growing well for quite some time, and serve as effective visual barriers between territories for these kinds of fishes.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

Well the discus have settled in for a week now and so far no surprises or issues. My only concern is that these guys may eat me out of house and home!

 

[lloyd378]

What are they currently being fed?

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi @lloyd378

That is a cube of San Francisco Bay Brand freeze dried tubifex worms inside one of my DIY feeding bells (if you remember the '60's when FD food was first introduced to the hobby by Miracle Products (a division of TFH) they made a feeding bell that was very similar. I like the SF Brand because it is irradiated to kill bacteria and disease organisms.