At the moment. I'm heavily feeding my Discus. So will wait to plant. So I'm not growing all algae like in the past. : (
But to confirm.
1. Flourish Regular for micro
2. Tetra Flora Pride for macro
3. Flourish Excel for organic carbon. (instead of CO2 unit)
And down the road a CO2 system when I can afford it : ).
Thanks for the link. Your tank is an inspiration!
Yep that covers it, you dont have to use the Tetra Flora Pride brand, but the reason I do is because Flourish only sells the macro Iron and Potassium as seperate bottles.... but the Flora Pride has both the macro Iron and Potassium in one bottle and it is a lot cheaper to buy one bottle of it than two of the ones made by Flourish.
As for dosing whenever you decide to get the plants... I use the Excel daily as recommended... I use the regular Flourish about every 4 days, and then "refill" the amount I take out when I do water changes... I use the Flora Pride as directed (once a moth dose) along with "refills" at water changes. This should give you a pretty constant nutrient level with a medium to large sized plant load, you can always under dose a little though if youre worried about algae. Lighting is something else I forgot... but pretty simply put, you want at least 2 watts per gallon with either 6500K bulbs or 10000K bulbs, or you can mix them half and half... its purely up to you and what you like as each one has a slightly different color... the 6500k bulbs give a little better growth as well. DO NOT use actinics though lol, they WILL cause algae in freshwater.
Thanks for the compliment =)
I'm planning on getting Discus (most likely the red dragon discus) in the near future, I'll probably get a mated pair and put them in a 65 to 70g high tank, one thats heavily planted of course lol.
Clinton I checked this morning I have 3 florescent bulbs that amounts to 96 watts. I guess that puts me at 1.74 per gal. for a 55 gal tank. Hmmm, will this be enough for low light plants? Also I've had these bulbs almost a year. Its maybe time to replace?
What are actinics?
A mated pair should be very happy in that size tank. But quite expensive to find a mated pair. Sometimes in the $400 range for real beauties. But that color will pop against a well planted tank. (being complementary colors)
That will be enough for low light plants, dose nutrients on the low side for low light plants too (they use less)
Bulbs, even if they still light up, should be replaced at least once a year.... otherwise they lose their output spectrum.
Actinics are a saltwater only bulb that looks blue.
I thought about that price too lol... but its hard to order just one little male and one little female when they are still young and cheap... Most places just ship you whatever they throw in the bag and you figure out what sex they are yourself lol.
I just lost all my typing. Arghhh.
Ok lets try again. . .
1. Looks like I need new bulbs. Do you think I can boost the lighting with just three bulbs?
2. About Discus. . .
Over the course of this last year I've done a ton of reading on Discus.
Apparently they can't be sexed as juveniles. All the breeders suggest getting 6 and see "what happens". Sometimes females bond with like. So unless you get a possible confirmed pair with eggs. You still aren't sure unless your male fertilizes. Hmmmm. That can be a very long wait.
I got mine roughly around Jan. They should be a year around Nov. I should have gotten them all at the same time but couldn't find any at lfs so I got an additonal 2 for mothers day. (lucky me) Long story short. They seem to get along better if you can get them all at the same time and same size and age. That way no one gets pushed away from the food and gets stunted. Be aware of buying young looking fish at LFS they could be stunted adults. If their eyes look oversized for their bodies. Its possible they're masquerading as juveniles but are really stunted adults. I've got a blue diamond that seems to have that issue.
There's a Breeder I like to visit (online) Sunrise Tropicals. They usually have beautiful looking fish. And check out their mated pairs. Even their sold ones. Breath taking.
I've copied a link of a clip on youtube of confirmed : ) pair. Really well photographed.
Enjoy!
1. Looks like I need new bulbs. Do you think I can boost the lighting with just three bulbs?
I think with new replacement bulbs of the proper spectrum that you should be fine with 96 watts... you really have less than 55 gallons in a 55g tank anyway. You have to substract the gravel and decor from the total gallons of water because they take up room that the water would occupy... in other words a 55g is measured for that amount when it is empty... so with a 3 inch or so gravel bed and some decor that take up some of the space, you probably end up with only 50g (give or take a little). So really at 96 watts you are right at the 2 watts per gallon mark =)
Thanks Clinton that's good news. I'm dosing with all those good plant foods and need to pickup new replacement bulbs. So that should do it. Can't wait to see plants thriving!
I just do a light gravel vac with my water changes, if you go too deep it can disturb the rooted plants. Yeah the banking is more for looks, I've always done that... I've also sometimes made little high and low spots just randomly spread out, I think it gives the tank more character than just being all smoothed out
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