Troy McClure

I'm going to put a few young discus in this tank until they get too big, then they'll be moved into my 85gal. I spent a few hours last night setting up the hardscape and wanted to get some opinions on it. I'm happy with it, but I'm open to suggestions on making it better. This originally wasn't going to be a planted tank, so the gravel in the front is less than 1/2" deep. Actually, it's only about one layer deep. I wanted something that will look nice but also be very easy for me to clean since the discus are teen-age slobs and I want them to get used to having more things in their environment than just a glass bottom and a plastic plant

Oh, and of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone...I will be adding plants to this tank. Nothing fancy - just fast growers to keep the water clean. Lighting will be a Coralife 2x18 T5 fixture (which I'm in love with) and filtration is an XP3 with lots of fine filter floss, bio media, and Purigen. Water temp is 85*. Plants will most likely be angustifolia and sunset hygros, e. tennellus, java fern and moss.

So....how does this look so far? The gravel and the stones are almost too perfect because there is little contrast between the two, at least until I get some plants in there! There are five stones in there, two to the left of the largest and two to the right...

Anti-Pjerrot

Untill i know how you wanna use thouse plants, it s hard to imagine how it would look like. I see alot of potential. Just go for it

Robert Hudson

I like it Erik. Are you planning to keep the plants trimmed low to make th wood stand out?

ed seeley

Think this can look really great with a bold stand of stems behind the wood and rocks and to the right (as you look at it) and then a big foreground of carpetting plants all around the front and left hand side. Maybe some moss on the wood and java fern towards the base of the wood to add a focus there. Your discus will love it!

goalcreas

those Oceanic 50 gallons sure are a great sized tank for planting / scaping.
They have several over at my local PetSmarts that they are clearencing for like $300, tank - stand - light (not that you keep that light) but a good deal IMO - just they sold the one with the white / natural wood cabinet, only have black left and I don't have any room for black furnature, it just doesn't look right with my natural Maple woods and the furnature in my house.
But if it goes down any further, then I might have to put it upstairs, no maple wood up there.

And I love the coralife fixtures, I am running them on 3 tanks, one 29 gallon combined with a 65 watt PC then I have two 20 longs and one on each.
I am thinking of adding one more to each 20 long as I have pressurized Co2 and want a little more even distribution of the light, on those short tanks, it just doesn't get the front and rear and all 4 corners by itself.

I like your wood and substrate, can't wait to see you going for it.

carb850

OT:
Sorry for the thread hi-jack, but does the 50G Oceanic tank have center bracing on the top?

Troy McClure

Thanks everyone.

carb850 - There's no center brace.
ed - I would love to do a foreground but there just isn't enough substrate there to do it. This tank was never intended to be heavily planted, but I will be planting heavily behind the wood and amongst the rock where there is enough substrate to do so. My only option would be moss or riccia mats. But again, that's if I decide to make the tank completely planted, and for now my plans are just for the mounded area.

I have some nice narrow leaf java ferns that will be super-glued to the wood. I will be using moss on the branches, though it will be sparce because of all the moss I have, the species I have the least of is the only one that attaches itself. MatPat is going to supply me with some Hygros - angustifolia and 'sunset.' Those will go in the back right and center. davis.1841 has some E. tennellus that will be planted amongst the rocks. That's about as far as I can go without adding more substrate to the front and resetting the hardscape. Everything will be treated with potassium permanganate to prevent ANY snails or eggs getting into this tank.

houseofcards

Troy,
Looks really good. Simple but very effective. Is that one piece of wood, if so with Discus you might have to clean the wood. Is it removable?

I was going to suggest the ricca too, but I don't know if the lighting would support that. Looks like a pretty deep tank. I don't think moss would give you enough contrast.

Look forward to seeing it planted

Troy McClure

Thank HoC! I've had this piece of wood sitting in my spare bedroom for a year now, so any creepies that were in there were long dried out. It was dusty if anything else. I think I boiled it when I first got it, but I can't remember. Underwater now, it's taken on some nice dark red and brown coloration. I'm very happy with it. I would love to use Japanese riccia in the tank, but I probably would need a second fixture, or "borrow" the 150W HQI from my parents. I didn't want things to get this complicated, but it seems like it's all or nothing with me. Does anybody know if the discus would be bothered too much by an HQI? I know they have sensative eyes but with an HQI, it's a gradual start, so that might be easier on the little monsters. Hmm...maybe I'll put Craig Tarvin's DIY HQI thread into action.

I just filled the tank and got the filtration running. My extra XP3 is doing surprisingly well. There's the occasional bubble that gets smashed by the impellor, but other than that, it's being much more quiet than I remember it ever being so I probably won't order an Eheim. Now I'm considering some lily pipes...

Troy McClure

Yes, they are a great size for 'scapes. 30" L x 18" W. Can't beat that! I went with the black tank with a Perfecto stand because the wood grain on the Perfecto stand matched my room so much better than the Oceanic stand. There's some pictures of the whole tank in this thread - http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...-new-tank.html