lmhicks101 Posted May 10, 2022 Share Posted May 10, 2022 Asking for a friend as I have no experience with discus tanks. He has a 75 gallon with discus and he’s dowsing easy green 9 pumps and no nitrates in the water after 24 hours. Changes water 40% every week. FX6 filter marine programable blue and white light Easy green liquid fert - dosed once a week Easy Root tabs - 6-8 weeks Tanks about 5-6 months old. Full Pea gravel substrate Feeds them beef heart and flake foods that take over 10 minutes to eat once a day I already told him he needs to switch over to sand or aqua soil but checking if anyone can recommend something for the lack of nitrates. I’m thinking cut back the filter but want a second opinion before having him rescape and remove some filter media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancing Matt Posted May 10, 2022 Share Posted May 10, 2022 I personally would not change substrate, sand does not work in my experience (well for plants) and gravel should be fine. Does the filter have anything besides sponge or media like a carbon or phosphate pad? If there is a lack of nitrates theoretically he could change less water or less frequently... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted May 10, 2022 Share Posted May 10, 2022 If I remember correctly maybe part of the problem with discus tanks is temperature and SOME plants- but I know some are tolerant. @Fish Folkhas a beautiful Discus tank... Maybe it's just a matter of what plants. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted May 10, 2022 Share Posted May 10, 2022 On 5/10/2022 at 4:57 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: If I remember correctly maybe part of the problem with discus tanks is temperature and SOME plants- but I know some are tolerant. @Fish Folkhas a beautiful Discus tank... Maybe it's just a matter of what plants. It's a problem of dissolved gasses in high temperature. There's a reason why so many Discus tanks are _not_ planted. Add air stones -- I use two sponge filters already for filtration, and I add additional air. Here's a video... 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmhicks101 Posted May 10, 2022 Author Share Posted May 10, 2022 On 5/10/2022 at 4:57 PM, Dancing Matt said: I personally would not change substrate, sand does not work in my experience (well for plants) and gravel should be fine. Does the filter have anything besides sponge or media like a carbon or phosphate pad? If there is a lack of nitrates theoretically he could change less water or less frequently... He has them mostly filled with media balls and he’s gonna try out a different substrate in another tank and see how it goes. Hth doesn’t compact and is cheap but he may switch over to Stratum if he likes how this goes. He only just started doing plants. Thank you @xXInkedPhoenixX and @Fish Folk he’ll try that and see if lowering temps and possibly switching filters or lowering the media will help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted May 10, 2022 Share Posted May 10, 2022 Honestly @lmhicks101 I'd have him try the simplest thing first- add an airstone- (maybe even a wall bubbler- those can be cool looking) like @Fish Folk mentioned. That seems like it would do the trick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmhicks101 Posted May 10, 2022 Author Share Posted May 10, 2022 This is his sword now and the light he uses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted May 10, 2022 Share Posted May 10, 2022 If you guys have your hearts set on using an aquasoil remember those that are like ADA and Stratum will release some ammonia, he could put bags of it in another tank and let that dissolve the ammonia out then put it in or go with Brightwell Rio Oscuro which does not leach any ammonia. I would put root tabs in rather than change the substrate personally. That sword is just begging for nutrients at the roots. Gravel and pebbles can work fine just have to put nutrients into the soil. With such a powerful filter and circulation the limited mulm on the surface in that pic makes me think you get a couple bottles of root tabs and just add half the bottle to the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmhicks101 Posted May 11, 2022 Author Share Posted May 11, 2022 We’ve talked more about it and possibility of just adding some soil or sand to the spots he wants rooted plant but he needs to slowly transition from 88-89° down to 80°, add air stones, and then switch to the sponges. He just put root tabs in the other day. So yeah gonna have him dump some root tabs in while he slowly lowers the temps of a week or so and adds air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenja Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 He's using a light meant for salt water, that is probably part of the issue for his plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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