As per the rules, a little about myself. Have had tanks in the past, but for various reasons (space, relocation, budget, etc), I got out of the game. Recently, one of the members caught the bug, and his passion and enthusiasm got to me. He ended up with a spare tank, and I thought why not. I've since purchased the tank, but am waiting on a friend to complete the stand. For now, the tank is empty. I have kept a large variety of fish ranging from the newbie tetras, guppies, etc. moved on to bigger fish, including an Arrowana. Favourites are Discus and Black Ghost Knives. I have not kept live plants, and do not like Cichlids/Malawis. Going forward, I plan on keeping Discus, Black Ghosts and Neons/Cardinals. Still fence sitting on the live plants though. It's going to be small steps going forward, but I know I'm going to enjoy it again. Iqbal
Welcome to APSA @Mohammed Iqbal Mia ... If you have a large enough tank to house discus, BGK and cardinals...it would look schweeeet with plants IMO. Fish just act more natural in a planted setup. Just make sure you keep your water quality up for those plate fish
Wa alaikum salaam Cor, Thanks Jax, I think the tank is big enough. Triangular corner tank +/- 350l (I think). Not planning on keeping too many, except maybe for the cardinals. Used to use a Peat substrate in my filter before. Discus used to love it. Water was never crystal clear as a result though. Used to have artificial plants with long blade leaves. Will assess the live plant scene. Don't want a high maintenance tank. Iqbal
Welcome to APSA Lots of low maintenance plants you can go for, such as Java Fern, anubias and bolbitis
Thanks everyone, @Linxie, When I did have a couple of live plants, the discus loved eating them. They were even eating one of the silk plants I had. Will still do some homework, before making a choice on it.
Hi Guys, So a bit of an update. After much patience, I finally have a stand. After some discussion, this is the spot I chose for the tank. Moved some furniture and a wall mounted speaker to achieve this: Put some hi density foam: Did some cleaning: Only to get told that it's a bad idea to have the foam AND polystyrene, so As originally mentioned, I plan on keeping discus, with some neons/cardinals and Black Ghost Knives. I was thinking of puting a carpet plant (HC) and some dragon rock or driftwood. Based on that, I was contemplating putting ADA Amazonia and ADA Powersand. Then I find out, not a good idea to try putting Amazonia in a filled tank. Daily water changes for 2 weeks thereafter. alternate day water changes for a further 2 weeks. Have to have CO2 for HC to flourish. Oh, and no one has stock of Amazonia. Maybe in a month's time. not to mention the cost. I am itching to get this tank started. I don't think I can wait another 2 months to put fish in this tank. New plan: Put some Flourite/Black sand Some Rocks or driftwood. Cycle the tank Get some neons as starter fish. This planted tank thing is too much schlepp right now. Was eager, but eish. Iqbal
It doesn't have to be complicated. Get some java ferns, Anubias, moss...Make the tank low tech. You don't need as much light or injected CO2. Ferts will be less... If your ultimate goal is discus then rather get Cardinals as they are better suited for the higher temps of discus.
Wood, ferns and anubias.. no moss.. will be too hot.. then add the fish.. some sand at the bottom.. leaf litter.. and you can have an awesome display