converting to planted

[shanewbee]

wanting to change my aquarium to sand and planted. i just want to create the best atmosphere for my discus, any guidelines on what works the best for these guys.

i have 125 gallon tank, two pieces of driftwood and want to start with some beginner plants like the ones mentioned in plant forum.

what is best guideline for converting without stressing my fish?

i have t8 light fixtures and want to know the best suitable for discus/plant environment, my fish like darker light despite the many hiding places i give them.

thanks

[CrazedMichael]

Sounds good to me. You nEed to find a way of feeding the sand with nutrients via dosing or root tabs cos sand provides zilch. Personally I'm using soil under the gravel which will feed the plants.

I would be wary of the pleco with discus since I've heard they like to latch themselves onto the fish

[Lady Hobbs]

I would stick with larger swords and not little stem plants. Vals will grow decently in sand, as well. Also I agree with the root tabs which are really needed with swords, anyway.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Personally I'm using soil under the gravel which will feed the plants.

I would be wary of the pleco with discus since I've heard they like to latch themselves onto the fish

Soil under sand actually doesn't work too well. The if you place sand on top of soil, you will get areas of H2SO4 gas and it will erupt through the sand creating a nice mess.

The kind of pleco added will make a big difference. Commons are generally considered to be a bad idea, however ancistrus genus Plecs are generally safe. I personally kept a pair of common Bristlenose plecs in my Discus tanks without any issues.

[CrazedMichael]

Soil under sand actually doesn't work too well. The if you place sand on top of soil, you will get areas of H2SO4 gas and it will erupt through the sand creating a nice mess.

The kind of pleco added will make a big difference. Commons are generally considered to be a bad idea, however ancistrus genus Plecs are generally safe. I personally kept a pair of common Bristlenose plecs in my Discus tanks without any issues.

Thats true regarding the gas pockets, i hadn't thought of that.

LH - i have vals in a small office tank with a sand bed, and your right they do grow well. Lots of sister plants.

OP - Can you not buy a special aquarium sand for the plants that mimics actual sand?

[shanewbee]

thanks so much for your input. im jsut having hard time with discus adn i think they are unhappy despite the water cleaniness.

i have two fish that are emaciated and i am treating them now with metronidazole, if that doesnt work ill need to try something else because they arent eating well.

i love these fish!! and i really want to make them work. i thought creating more natural environment would help.

my pleco getting very big, he is a common but not messing with the other fish. he loves the drift wood too much hehe . he my only one in a 125 gal tank

do i need co2 for my plants if i dont choose to have very many?
my idea is mostly driftwood and some hiding places for the fish, thus few larger plants, but definitely wanting to keep to beginner plants.
moderate to low lighting

[CrazedMichael]

From my understanding, CO2 is not really necessary unless you have a high light aqaurium. For low to medium lighting CO2 comes mainly from the tank inhabitants. The reason people dose CO2 in high light tanks is to balance out the nutrients. Otherwise they will have an algae outbreak. There are LOADS of beautiful planted tanks across the internet that do fine without CO2. As long as you have adequate lighting (1-2wpg) and a good substrate, the plants should do fine.

[openbook]

I would like to add that any substrate will work, no need to swap out what you currently have unless you really want to change the look of the tank.
If you can afford to get a co2 system it would be well worth it. The co2 is pretty inexpensive but you can get really high tech with the set up. For example a system that uses a ph meter to monitor the ph and when the co2 is used up the ph of the water changes and the system turns on the co2.

Ferts I've heard of people using dosers to dose a tiny bit every day or else doing it manually daily. Root tabs are probably the way to go but seems like they really dirty the substrate.

Lighting is pretty important and probably as expensive as a basic co2 system.

Water flow I'm finding is also important. I'm using a couple power heads in my planted tank now and 1 has a sponge filter attached to it. It seems like when you don't have much water flow debris and algae can collect on plants.
I've also learned some planted tank keepers are using only power heads with filters on them for filtration. Probably 5-6 medium sized ones for a 120 gallon tank. That is a link for a quick filter I mentioned [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
They also said they buy their own filter fabric from a fabric store some kind of synthetic fabric. It gets weirder, they even said they feed baby fry the rinsate from the dirty fabric since it's loaded with bacteria and tiny bits of food. Fish people are a strange brood!

[CrazedMichael]

They also said they buy their own filter fabric from a fabric store some kind of synthetic fabric. It gets weirder, they even said they feed baby fry the rinsate from the dirty fabric since it's loaded with bacteria and tiny bits of food. Fish people are a strange brood!

Buying a cheap pillow and using the stuffing inside is a great alternative to the expensive filter media most LFS have

[openbook]

Yeah, I admitt I bought a bag of filter floss. Probably a year ago and still have 3/4 of the bag left.

[SamandAnne]

For the plants, if you want to keep the lighting low because your discus prefer it, you can also leave the light on for a longer period of time and use low light plants like java moss, java fern, and anubias. These also cannot be planted within the substrate, so the sand would be fine; they would sit on top (weighted slightly with something if needed). I have a little kit 3 gallon all-in-one tank, and these plants grow fine with the kit lighting and a longer photo period.