# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Evolution of the 75 gallon Discus tank



## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Aug 13 03









Oct 12 03
The beginning of the greenwater crisis









Jan 01 04
Photo was taken after a major trimming to the back and middle part of the tank.

As a size comparison, the large platy is approx 2.5" from the mouth to the tip of the tail.










72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 12 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 3 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.75
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Aug 13 03









Oct 12 03
The beginning of the greenwater crisis









Jan 01 04
Photo was taken after a major trimming to the back and middle part of the tank.

As a size comparison, the large platy is approx 2.5" from the mouth to the tip of the tail.










72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 12 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 3 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.75
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

EDGE,

That's gorgeous! Can I use some pictures over on Simplydiscus for the plant forum there?

Best,
Phil


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Sure thing, Phil.

72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 12 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 3 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## qbal18 (Jul 19, 2004)

its looking better then it has in a long time. i also like it more acually with out the star grass.

50g, 3.8wpg PC 11hr, presserized CO2 PH 6.4-6 KH75ppm,


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## imported_jules (Oct 10, 2003)

Looks excellent and the Discus have nice full tummies. What is your floating plant called? I gave my Rainbow Platies away because they were snacking on the plants.


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

The floating plant on the right is Hydrocotyle leucocephala mix into the tiger val

The stargrass is still growing in the back. So are the red and green cabombas. I trim it really far down and the discus cover the part that is showing above the wood.

I added .35 ppm of phosphate in the last couple of weeks. The increase dosage helped reduce the green water.

If you look closely at the crinum bulb, you can see a small crinum developing

72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 12 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 3 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Redflame Sword










72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 12 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 3 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Hi Edge,
I would say that looks a little more like Echinodorus 'Ozelot'?

Very nice Crinum!

Good job!

Regards,
Mike Morrissey

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*My Digital Gallery*


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Thanks Ekim

It was tag by tropica as 'redflame'. I picked it up from bigals.

72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 12 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 3 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## falcon (Aug 2, 2005)

Beautiful plants and discus. I am trying to go the same route. I have a question re water changes. How often and how much water do you change? This is a much debated topic and people seem to be doing different things. Plus, what temp do you keep?

Thanks.

Falcon


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## Justin Fournier (Jan 27, 2004)

Looks good!

Ozelots look very similar to Red Flames, in the mature leaves. IME the Red Flame has more speckling. The red flame also has much different young leaves. If your curious, they look nothing like the Red Special.


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Thanks Falcon,

I keep the temp at 82f with a variation of 0-5f colder water from the tap. usually 0-3f different. The end result is around 80f after a complete fill up.

I put my finger under the tap and approx the temperature as close as possible to the tank temperature. If it is too cold then I adjust it some more.

I do between 50%-75% water change varying from every 2nd day to 5 days. I redose micro and po4 after each water change or when I notice the plants aren't pearling as much.

72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 12 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 3 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Did you get any red special in the last shipment? I wouldn't mine seeing what they look like. I want to replace the hidden redflame on the right with a different sword.

'Indian red' sword looks nice too. I wouldn't mine getting one of those.

72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 12 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 3 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## Kevin Jones (Apr 4, 2004)

the red specials are nothing too impressive IMO, they looked great when they came in with all their emergent growth. but since diving under water completely, they have lost alot of what attracted me to the plant initially (they look like a mini x barthii when submerged) I think we have one more red special in the store at this point. 

Out of curiousity edge, how big has your red flame grown to be? Mines topping out at about 26" in height and for comparison, I'd like to know what point yours is at.


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

The one shown in the picture is around 12-14". The height given is the different between adding gravel and no gravel in the calulation. The hidden one shrink from the shading of the tiger vals. That one is around 6-8".

Both of them get partially shaded.

Apprently, I still have jobes stick from 4-5 months ago. I pulled out a plant with a 1/2" spike stuck to it

The red special is just a red leave plant? Can you put a picture of it up?

72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 12 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 3 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website

[This message was edited by EDGE on Sun January 04 2004 at 10:57 AM.]


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## Kevin Jones (Apr 4, 2004)

I just tore apart the tank the red special was in and repalced the substrate with Eco Complete. Consequently the red special was trimmed down to 3 leaves :S I'll snap a pic of it once it has grown in a little more


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Where did you get the eco complete from? Did you guys get any more L. inclinata in?

72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 12 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 3 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## Kevin Jones (Apr 4, 2004)

I got the eco complete from work, and no we didnt get anymore L. inclinata but we had some Ludwigia glandulosa (''perennis'') in if i recall correctly


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

I am looking for a non red plant with rounder leaves. Something beside bacopa

72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 12 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 3 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## Kevin Jones (Apr 4, 2004)

try Micranthemum umbrosum, it's a little finicky about lighting, and slow to get going but it can form a nice hedge if you give it what it needs


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## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

is that cryptocoryne wendtii red on the right side?


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Crypt wendtii tropica. It just look like that because of the high light.

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My 75 Gallon

A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

the regular crypt wendtii's don't get that big right???


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## Kevin Jones (Apr 4, 2004)

actually edge, 'tropica' grows nearly flat under high light, looks like you have 'mi oya' there if those are the crypts you inherited from me


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

I got those as a pot from tropica. It came with a tag wendtii 'tropica'.

I have had those crypt for 2+ year now. I also have green, and mi oya in there. mi oya is really slow growing. I can never get it to grow densly. The 'green' took 1/2 year just to get to a decent size.

Wendtii variety tends to grow flat if there is nothing around it to keep it from growing flat. It is noted on the tropica website as well. Just look under crypt wendtii 'green' on their website.

I can't figure out why they are humongous. It is only suppose to reach 5-10 cm in height as stated on their webpage. Some of the leaves you see there reached 6-7" long.

Back in my really old setup, they were place at the opposite end of the tank to prevent from mixing.

The 'green' never did took off back then. The roots didn't even reach the bottom of the tank.

The crypt lucen(?) Jonezay gave me is really prolific. They send out tonnes of runner and some of them fuse together to form a large plug. The leaves are HUGE too. longest leaves from gravel were 8+" in height. The large leaves melted in the move to the new tank though.

---------------------------
My 75 Gallon

A Canadian's Plant Traders website

[This message was edited by EDGE on Mon February 02 2004 at 11:08 PM.]


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## Kevin Jones (Apr 4, 2004)

I'm willing to bet that it isn't "tropica" the leaf shape/colour is nearly identical to the stand of 'mi oya' that i have, or at least what it looked like before I started juggling tanks a few weeks ago.


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Kind of impossible that it would have gotten mix up in my really old setup. The mi oya didn't grow in my tank, and it was place at the other end of the tank as well.

Mi Oya in the tank. It still have the green top and red underside of a true mi oya.










Tropica in the tank










I moved some of the smaller cutting of 'tropica' to a really low light tank. The plant stay brownnish under low light. If it was mi oya, it should have turn green with red under side.

---------------------------
My 75 Gallon

A Canadian's Plant Traders website

[This message was edited by EDGE on Tue February 03 2004 at 10:16 AM.]


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

I also got 'mi oya' and 'green' in a tropica pot.

The only plant I got from you were the lucens(?) and petchii(?).

petchii(?) is kept in a really low light 20 gallon. I didn't want to start mixing plant up not knowing exactly what they are.

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My 75 Gallon

A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## Kevin Jones (Apr 4, 2004)

Tropica, even under lower lighting and shade wont get taller than 3 or 4 inches MAX. the leaves are much more hammered as well, with more of a tan appearance, I would be shocked if that was in reality 'tropica'. 

Just my experience with the plant (3+ years) has shown me that the plant stays relatively similar in shape and size in everything under about 4wpg or intense metal halide (say 3wpg with less than 15" or so of water to penetrate.

I'd be interested in obtaining a cutting and placing it side by side with some of my tropica to see the differences, if any.


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

I will let the new setup settle down first. There is a decent amount of leaves in the melting stage.

---------------------------
My 75 Gallon

A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Photo taken on Feb 2, 2004 right after replacing the faulty tank.


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Here is a quick update before this weekend pruning.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

That's gorgeous EDGE! What a nice tank. Now go make some room for your fish!!!!!!!









Best,
Phil

BTW, everyone at SDW liked your pic.


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## imported_jules (Oct 10, 2003)

Very very nice Tank.
Do the Discus snack on the Platie fry?


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Thanks

I am going to use more glosso to give it more room. It is too dense for the discus right now.

As weird as it may seem, The discus did not bother the platy at all. It was the platies and cardinals that ate the fry when they were small.


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## Stevenl (Mar 31, 2004)

Very nice!









How do you fertilize the root feeding plants in your tank?


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

1/3 piece jobes stick + 1 Fe tab + 1 Flourish Tab every couple of months under the heavy root feeders. 

1 Fe tab + 1 Flourish tab under heavy micro nutrient feeders.

water column dosage: 
Dose after water change and a couple days later.
1.4 ppm of po4 
5-6 ppm of no3
15 ml of flourish/plantex = bad hair algae 

I am going to use 15 ml of botanica micro in replacement of flourish/plantex when it comes in from the store.

I have really high Fe in the water from beefheart feeding

50-75% water change every 4 days


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## imported_jules (Oct 10, 2003)

I also use the Flourish Tabs - do you find that when vacuuming the substrate alot of the substance from the tab gets siphoned up?


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

I don't vacumn the substrate. I can't get to the gravel when it is densely planted. I do run the gravel cleaner through the leaves to vacumn up any lose waste.

EDIT:

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