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125 Planted Discus Tank

Discussion in 'Freshwater Aquariums & Fish Photos' started by LemonDiscus, Jan 31, 2009.

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  1. California Cowgirl

    California Cowgirl New Member

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    Saw som discus at the LFS yesterday lol reminded me of you and your discus' their was probably 6 different colored ones all huddled in a corner in a 5 gallon tank. They sure are pretty in person
     
    California Cowgirl, Oct 5, 2009
    #221
  2. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    That sad they are in a tank that small! Yes they are VERY pretty in person! Pictures dont do these fish justice at all!
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 5, 2009
    #222
  3. California Cowgirl

    California Cowgirl New Member

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    Yea I only took a quick glance but they were the red and blue kind
     
    California Cowgirl, Oct 5, 2009
    #223
  4. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Odd thing today.... I wake up every morning and usually the fish in this tank are asleep.. .they kind of are dark and in their corners. In the mornings I dont have my lights set to come on...

    Well anyhow, we had the light over the tank (not in the hood but over our dining room table next to the tank) on and the discus were swimming around active like they do when the tank lights are on..

    Well as I have said I have been in an algae battle now for some time... I KNOW as way to fix it but have been to nervous to do til today...

    Well, I fed the fish with the lights off and they behaved EXACTLY as they do with the lights on.... Also Heckel Discus are a deeper water discus... Along came an idea... what if I just left the lights out... MAYBE they might be more apt to spawning and I SHOULD if done long enough manage to kill ALL the algae at once leaving nothing but some dead algae and light starved plants that will get over it.

    Since the fish ate in the dark and did well, I pulled the plug on my hood... Let the games begin! :)

    I will keep posted on how this works... I am thinking for display purposes putting 2 of those candle lights (like a few watts each) into the hood just so make FAINT lighting so I can see in the evenings what they are doing... we will see...
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 7, 2009
    #224
  5. cooltow1

    cooltow1 Member

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    When I raised cichlids most didn't seem to care one way or the other if the tank light was ON or OFF as long as there was ambient light in the room, they were fine. They did better when guarding eggs and raising fry with the light off and the tank in a low traffic area.

    How some specie (goldfish) are photo sensitive,lengthening days and warming water is what triggers spawning.

    Rick
     
    cooltow1, Oct 7, 2009
    #225
  6. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Just curious Rick, I cant find any info on this either but BBA and other types of hair algae in the freshwater tank... no lights... how long will it take them to die off? As this is a mixed purpose getting rid of the lights?

    I know that most plants can go a month or so no light and assume that algae would die off sooner... do you know what that timeframe is?

    I do know that with Heckel Discus nobody has really got a spawn worth anything off of them... I know Cardinal Tetras are photosensitive... I dont think Heckels are but maybe... who knows I am probably wrong but I want this algae gone!
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 7, 2009
    #226
  7. cooltow1

    cooltow1 Member

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    Last time I used this method it took about 3 week with the tank light off to kill it out a pretty bad case of green hair algae.

    Rick
     
    cooltow1, Oct 7, 2009
    #227
  8. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Wow.... I had that feeling....

    Day 2..... :) Again, at least the fish eat in the dark... that still surprises me!
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 8, 2009
    #228
  9. kwheeler91

    kwheeler91 New Member

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    i had green hair algae in my twenty... all i did was reduce the lighting a little, and went to a split photoperiod, 4hrs on-4hrs off-4hrs on. almost all of it died off and there was A LOT
     
    kwheeler91, Oct 9, 2009
    #229
  10. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Well... the fish seem more comfortable at the time in the dark tank... so I am going to leave it like this for a bit...

    When the system comes back on fully I think I am going to run the split photoperiod as well... I pretty much decided on that yesterday when I was debating my plans...
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 9, 2009
    #230
  11. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    The algae seems to be dieing back some... The fish still dont seem to mind and most of my plants still look OK... Some of the swords are getting a yellowing of some of the leaves... thats expected for no light though.

    I recently purchased a string of 60 blue LED lights and stapled them into my hood... MOONLIGHT! Looks GREAT!
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 21, 2009
    #231
  12. cooltow1

    cooltow1 Member

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    Tell me how it works out
    I thought of trying that in the fish room to cut down on the watts in there.
    I allready run a short photo cycle in the summer to control the heat

    Rick
     
    cooltow1, Oct 21, 2009
    #232
  13. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Ive had it on Rick for about 4-5 days.... the lighting looks good and works well... It does not light the tank up much but it does light it up enough..... again its meant in my purpose to be a nighttime setting (it almost looks like I have a blacklight on the tank).

    The LEDs I picked because they are a bit brighter than the regular lights and last much longer... Im happy with it. I still have not set my whole tank to its new settings with the fluorescent lights on yet...

    The fish seem to really like the blue lights on at night as they can continue to do their business and they dont just hide when the lights in the living room go out... they stay semi-active all day and night... also the cardinal tetras dont loose color and "sleep" either...

    Im happy.... The fish are happy... Odd thing is the Heckel Discus seem to be lighter with the lights off and are showing their colors better... I think they like the darkness and subtle light...
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 22, 2009
    #233
  14. cooltow1

    cooltow1 Member

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    I just want them so I can see in the tanks without turning on all those tank lights
    There are no windows in that room so it's black dark with the lights off

    Rick
     
    cooltow1, Oct 22, 2009
    #234
  15. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    If you did the white LED lights they should work fine for you...
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 22, 2009
    #235
  16. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    I restarted my lighting.... still have a break to put into it when I get a second so my lights are not on for as long as they are now but my algae growth has been knocked back to only less than 10% of what I had before I turned off the lights....

    Its getting there!
     
    LemonDiscus, Nov 2, 2009
    #236
  17. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Experimentation is back...

    I shut the lights down because for the month it was off I was getting more pairing behavior than with the lights left on.... I still cant get how well these fish can see in the dark tank... my domestics want to go "to sleep" when the lights are off and cannot find food... these Heckels are hunting and about even in almost total darkness... Heckels though are deepwater discus much like the altum angels.... so I would guess that there is not much light down at the bottom of the river (blackwater) and probably no roots leaving on rocks on the bottom for them to spawn on and rarely any light...

    I also took that big slate on the right side and laid it down... I have a feeling that might produce more of a shot for them to spawn... what if they are horizontal spawners...

    Also I caged the fish in with a egg-crate divider that I think are the pair... I am almost 100% sure...

    We shall see... it cant hurt.... I still doubt it though... I think I am going to re-peatmoss my filters and get my ph down as low as I can get it... (around 5 or so like I accidentally did before....) That means less water changes...

    Let the games begin... I now am attempting to breed 3 different sets of unproven pairs... which will be first to spawn? :)
     
    LemonDiscus, Nov 4, 2009
    #237
  18. cooltow1

    cooltow1 Member

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    I say they all spawn on the same day and you end up with 500 fry to feed

    Rick
     
    cooltow1, Nov 4, 2009
    #238
  19. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Wouldnt that be nice! I am ready for it! :) Bring it on!
     
    LemonDiscus, Nov 4, 2009
    #239
  20. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Ok, this tank is back up and stocked again.... well... I have 5 in the tank at the time... I am getting ready to shut all tanks but this one down and start over... Hopefully somebody will take my Marlboro Reds off of my hands so I can do this...
     
    LemonDiscus, Nov 15, 2009
    #240
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