# planted aquarium discus substrate



## superdave18 (Sep 2, 2009)

i trying to find the right substrate for my aquarium needs and im not sure as of yet what to purchase. i am running a 120 gallon planted aquarium with co2 and t5 lighting,cannister filtration, there will be discus in the aquarium.im assuming that gravel sweeps are a must with the discus in the aquarium? can i use a product like eco complete tropical plant substrate? will fert tabs and water column dosing still be necessary?can this product be gravel swept?not sure how to proceed forward , any advice is appreciated


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I have heard that discus tanks should be done with sand substrate because the discus like to eat off the floor and with sand there aren't any crevices for the food to get into and rot. 

That being said, eco is pretty fine grained so I think it would be ok. It doesn't really have any nutrients in it that plants can use so you will need to water column fertilize. Don't add too many nutrients since high levels like above 10 ppm nitrate stress out discus.

Yes you can gravel vac eco, and sand substrates (as long as they aren't too small).


----------



## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

2mm to 3mm sand are the best don't get smaller than that.


----------



## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I have Turface in my Discus tank. Mine do not eat off the bottom. Turface is not vacuumable without making a LOT of cloudy water. I just barely touch the top of it to pick up debris. This works without clouding the water. 

I have sand, 3M Colorquartz and Eco Complete in other tanks, and they are all about the same for cleaning. I can do a pretty good job just barely touching the top of the substrate. 
3M Colorquartz is the heaviest, and will tolerate deeper vacuuming better than sand, so if this is the particle size you want, look at the 3M web site. This product will not hold fertilizer, though. Essentially you are planting in very fine gravel or coarse sand. 

EC would be a good Discus substrate, or Flourite. Either one is dense enough to hold the debris on the surface.


----------



## superdave18 (Sep 2, 2009)

ty diana, i went with the eco complete and i really like it so far


----------



## bradac56 (May 9, 2007)

I use allot of SMS/Turface for all my tanks plus my 55gal discus tanks and I don't have any problems vacuuming it. You just can't jamb the tube down into the substrate but that goes for nearly every commercial substrate. You have to gently move the vacuum above the substrate about a quarter of an inch, just enough to pick the crude up but not enough to disturb it.

- Brad


----------



## Hassles (Feb 15, 2008)

About 18 months ago I set-up a 1200x500x500 with Eco Complete and heavily panted it out to the point where vacuuming is not possible over ther bulk of the aquarium bed. Discus have since been housed Discus in this tank and they have no trouble feeding from the substrate. A school of 8 dwarf loaches work as a clean-up crew. No fertilisation of any kind is added and I never have nitrates. A Red Sea substrate heating system is also employed and I believe this assist drawing the fish feaces down into the substrate where it may be utilised by the plants. Yeah, I like Eco.

take care


----------

