dvc_r

Oh I forgot to tell you I lost both of my juvenile angelfish and now the two adults are sick I think it is gill flukes I just wished I knew that sooner then maybe I could have saved the little ones. I'm started a new treatment I will let you know what happens. Wish me luck. I sure hope this works.

Hello
How are you? I love your video of your tank. It looks awesome. The fish are so healthy and happy looking.
Where did you get your mini compact light for your 33 hex? Just curious I might in the furture decide on one. Have a good night. Talk to you later. Take care

They worked out great in my daughters new tank. She loves being able to watch her fish at night, it makes her feel like she has compnay. The fish do well with it. Some of them are more active after we turn off the main light. Placing the LED over the filter flow makes a neat dappled effect. I am now getting them for my older tank. It has always bothered me that the fish go from bright light to pitch dark in an instant.

I saw your other post on my page. I have been trying to find the wisteria and the pennyworts in real looking plastic plants but I haven't had any luck at the local pet stores. I might have to order them off line. Do you know of any that look real that are not? That I can find on line? I'm going to wait on getting anymore live plants until I learn some more and get my fish healthy again and find out what caused them to get sick in the first place. I'm pretty sure it was something that came in on the plants.I will talk to you soon. Bye

When you say mini compact is it another light fixture that fits on the lid? If my math is correct I figured about 66 watts of light which was a 1.52 watts per gallon.But I never was good at math. I could be wrong this is how I did it. My light is a 6700.00k so I divided that by 44 gallons and came up with the 1.52 watts per gallon. Then I times the 1.52 with 44. Which came up with the 66 watts of light. Is that right?
My pH stays around 7.0 to 7.2. I have hard water the last time I checked it I don't remember the number I will have to buy a new kit for that the other one got old and I threw it out. Now I guess I will have to pay more attention to that with live plants.
Yea I know about Ph problems. When I first got my angelfish the pet store was telling me to get the ph down for the angelfish so I started trying a lot of different things which just made everything worse so I done some research and I found out that it was better to leave the Ph alone. But in your case a crash is dangerous. Mine was not crashing the pet store was just telling me it was too high for angelfish. Anyway when I just left it along everything got alright.
I use Flourish by Seachem liquid for the jave fern I use almost a cup full every week but I think that might be too much because my fish where gasping at the top even after I turned up the air in the tank. I read somewhere that could be a sign of using to much. It calls for 1 capful for each 60 gallons. I also use the the Flourish tabs that you put in the gravel once every 3 months for the sword plant. I only have two live plants the rest are plastic.
I vacuum everytime I change the water once a week. The reason I was doing so much vacuuming is I had these little white thread like worms in the tank and I was trying to get rid of them. It got them except only a couple I also tried not feeding them as much. The reason I was thinking my tank could be off balance is I have had alot of trouble with my 44 gallon since I got the live plants. Some of my fish got sick and I lost one as you know and the other one I don't think is going to make it either she hasn't ate anything in over 2 weeks. But the big adult in the tank is alright so far.
I just have a 6700k Life-Glo 2 that fits in the original lid that came with the tank. The blub is about 17 inches.
Learning curve I never would have came to that conclusion by looking at your tanks. I thought you had least 2-3 yrs under your belt. Wow. There is just way to much stuff to learn about fish. I'm still learning and have been in it around 20 yrs. But I have never had the time to learn about live plants but that is something I'm interested in learning all I can. I want to make some time for it because I love the natural look in a tank. It is awesome.
Well, I have to go. Thanks for your help. Take care. Talk to you soon.

I had the same problem with my hex. How large is the light? Mine was originally only 20 watts so I bought the mini compact and place it behind the Lifeglo and run both. You should be shooting for 2-3 watts per gal (times 44 gals=88-132 watts of light). Also what is your PH and KH? You should be around 6-10 KH and your ph around 6.5-7.5, mine is too low (6.4) because I run an RO unit. That's a hole nother blog, mixing some tap, and Seachem equalibrium. I have problems with ph crashes because my ph is so low.

Which Flourish product do you use? I put 10 ml of "excel" liquid CO2 every other day and their plant suplement once a mont (during water changes).
How often do you vacuum? The plants need that decomposing "stuff. That's one of the pros of plants, less vacuuming!
Other than that everything else you wrote seems to be OK (to me). But than again I'm in my learning curve like you. I've only been in the hobby for a year and a half. I just went a"all-out" and spend most my time doing this. My wife is happy because she thinks it's my mid life crisis... and it could be worse-ha-ha.

I hope I helped.

Hey Dvc r please
How is it going? Could I ask you some questions about your live plants. I just love your tanks the plants are so awesome. All of your hard work has paid off. I'm new to live plants but not to freshwater fish. This is my 44 hex set up. I'm using a 6700 k Life-Glo 2
high intensity lamp bulb. I only have two live plants a amazon sword plant and a java fern. I also put in Flourish once a week. My java fern is doing o.k but my amazon sword plant is doing o.k. too no brown leaves or anything but it just is not growing much at all. I leave the light on for 12 hrs a day. Does everything sound o.k to you? Oh I'm not running a co2 either. I was told I didn't need it but I'm not sure. I also use Flourish tabs in the gravel for the sword plant. I also can't keep the brown green algae at bay either. It is driving me crazy. How do you know if the tank is balanced or not. I do a 30% water change every week and I vacuum out the gravel and use Prime as my conditioner. I would love some help. I tried to find some info on the net but everybody is using a co2 with a whole tank full of live plants which I know nothing about and I just need some help with the basics. I would really appreciate your help. Thanks so much. Have a good one.

Hey Dvc r
I'm sorry also that you lost facha brute. I have never had a bristle nose and they are pretty ugly but I heard they are really good little guys to have and they have sweet personalities. I thought about one myself but I would love to have a zebra pleco but they are really expensive. I don't think my other angelfish is going to make it either because she will not eat and it has been three weeks the other one had went a month and 4 days without eating and she died. I have tried dried shrimp,flake food,blood worms and she will not eat any of them. I thought about live food but I'm afraid they might carry in another disease and that would surely do her in. Talk to you soon. Take care.

Hi dvc r,
With your drift wood and plants growing, will give the discus "shade". I have my lights on a timer. They're on for 10-12 hours. (I like looking at my fish when I get home from work)
I saw your special lights, they look like the ones used on saltwater tanks. I have 3 48" bulbs. Gosh if I can remember what kind they are. I think they put me into the low-mid range for plant light. Are you using Co2 for your plant growth. The new plants you got would benefit from it. The DIY systems are possible but sound messy to me.
So happy to see another Discus enthusiast on this forum. Oh one thing I was going to mention to you. Have you considered that you will want to keep your temp around 84 degrees and which plants will tolerate this? Its one of the limiting factors for discus keeping. I saw your new post. I have what I think is an Italian Val. its pretty hardy in these conditions. (planted in a pot for now)
I've heard so many good things about the Seachem Flourite Plant Substrate. I know its a bit pricey. But when I set up again I'm going to use it.
I'm a big fan of the Amano tanks. : ) Incredibly beautiful if you haven't seen them you should check them out. Its my dream to have one like that.
Take care,
Jess

Hi dvc-r,
I've had a chance to look over your album. Great images! I think you're going to enjoy the challenge of Discus. My discus tank is barebottom. I did this to grow out my discus as I was heavily feeding to try and get them to size up. I have one large plant in a pot to allow hiding spaces for cardinals and I love the way the plant sways in the water. My goal is to get a 90 or 110 gal set up and planted. I have to reinforce my floors below in the basement before this happens. Right now I'm working on installing an RO unit as I think it will help solve the frustration of algae growth. Plus I believe the discus will benefit from it. If you have any suggestions for the RO, any tips I would be grateful for your help.
Not that you've asked, but if I were going to do it again and purchase new discus. . . I would consider buying a mated pair already grown to size, it seems that the tank would be a happier place. From the 6 that I bought two seem interested in each other and the others squabble or bicker. Nothing serious I think its normal. But a mated pair would have a more calming effect on the tank. But note they would be expensive.
Please feel free to ask any questions. Although from the looks of your planted tanks, I think you are the fellow whom we should be watching and asking questions.
Thanks,
Jess