Rock Set Up

[roshan2946]

Guys,

I am going set my discus fish tank as "Rock Styled Set Up" but i saw in this forum many places that keeping the tank empty is the way to go. Having said that, if the PH and other water parameters remains where it exactly needs to be. Then is it alright for me to go ahead with it...? Waiting for responses.....

[roshan2946]

Nobody wants to help on this............

[Crispy]

I've seen many aquascaped discus tanks, driftwood is usually preferred since it lowers ph, and somewhat keeps ph buffered. People have bare tanks because it's easier to maintain. Discus need very frequent water changes to thrive. You 'could' do rocks, but certain rocks contain minerals or metals that could possibly be harmful to such sensitive fish.

[Spardas]

What kind of rocks are we talking about here?

Also, never use rocks with sharp edges either. Discus are easily spooked by vibration and quick/sudden movement and may end up injuring themselves if they make a quick dash without looking at the rock layout.

[roshan2946]

Guys,

The rocks what i am going to put in the has been bought from a aquarium shop and it looks to a very white colored rock and don't know the name of it. But, can somebody explain me here how can i find out if the rocks i have has minerals or metals in it. What should be the easiest and best way to find it out. Also, do i have to boil the rocks before i place then in the tank...?

Your inputs will be highly regarded here.....

thanks again

[promise]

Pour Vinegar on it and see if it fizzes.

[lobsternoob]

Don't ever boil rocks, it can result in the rocks cracking or splitting with some force. Yes, believe it or not they can "explode". Thoroughly washing them with warm water (no soap) is a good idea though. like Promise said, pour vinegar on the rocks, if they fizz, you don't really want to use them. As Spardas said, no sharp edges (a good idea for most any fish) on the rocks. If the rocks are from an aquarium shop, chances are they are fine, but, if the place sells other animals like reptiles, etc there are often a lot of stones and decorative things sold at those types of places that you wouldn't want to use in most any fishtank. So if that's the case there's a higher chance they aren't appropriate

does it look like this?
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or like this? (the orange and white one on the bottom)
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EDIT (oops, I forgot what I meant to say and said the wrong thing!)If it closely matches the second one of those, then your likely fine. The first one is limestone, often called holy rock, it will raise your ph, and it will fizz in the vinegar test. I would still do the vinegar test though either way, its fast and easy.

someone correct me if I'm wrong about the second one, orange and whitish type of rock with holes in them. I used to have some of those and by my memory they didn't fizz, or noticeably leech anything that messed with chemistry.

[roshan2946]

Thanks everyone for their inputs.

I am planning to do the vinegar test and inshallah i hope that it will not fizz as i like those rocks so very much and are very expensive. Just take a look at this video on youtube and this is the kind of rock i bought and i have got the same type of gravel as well. The sand kinds fine white sand. Just take a look at it and tell me more about it.

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[sailor]

From the looks of that video that tank is set up more for the human eye than for discus comfort. A discus tank should be well planted with drift wood for the tannins and ph qualities. Most successful discus tanks are set up like that or bare bottom for raising of juvies. IMO setting up like in the video is asking for difficulties. As stated in previous post discus are easily spooked and could be badly injured with rock like that.
Do a google search for discus set ups and you will find more properly set up discus environments.

[Crispy]

agreed. those discus are gorgeous, but those rocks are just not for them. some larger pieces of driftwood or round river stones would be much better for their future care.

[Alex_discus]

I have been told using white gravel is not always the best choice for a fish since it tends to blind the fish with the reflection of the light and gets them more stressed.

The more I read in this forum the more I find that the person i speak to in the aquatic section gives me the wrong information all the time.

Sells me plants for wrong temp tanks, tells me boil your rocks and that'll be fine..

Personally i would go for driftwood as i had the same problem as you roshan,
I wanted the rocky look but then thought that i want my fish to look their best and that would be in a habitat that looks closer to where they're from.

So I choose driftwood and now i am loving the rustic look i have. Not to mention if you find a good place where they sell loads of it, it's usually pretty cheap for a piece.

[roshan2946]

Dear Alez,

Thanks for the info and i would also start with piece of wood and i have uploaded the photo of that wood.take a look and tell me how is it.

Regards

[WhiteDevil]

Ditch the rocks, sand bed and driftwood is what you need.

[lobsternoob]

Aye! that looks like a real nice piece of driftwood! I don't know my wood types well, but that looks like a pretty hard wood, so it's probly pretty heavy and will sink real easy for ya.

[roshan2946]

Well, my piece of wood was in our previous community fish tank for about nearly 10 years and once we teared the tank up we had to put it aside for some time. now the wood is inside a huge barrel with full of water to get the hardness going. So hopefully by the time i am ready for my discus tank by December it should be heavy enough to sink in well.

you guys stay well

[Alex_discus]

That is a nice piece of wood. Like I said, I love the whole "trying to make their habitat" It's nice to see a fish in a tank that resembles where they're froom.

Here is my tank.

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In the second picture you see I have a Angel fish. I had to put him in my tank since my other tank was getting to small for him. Still I find he get my discus less shy since he is always going everywhere and my discus are SUPER shy and like to stick in the back.