The Diary of the Bathi's Discus Planted Tank

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Bathi, check to see if your sand source is inert. If yes then it will not affect your Ph.
Pat

[Iminit]

Well the sand is from a lake so I doubt it’s inert. Lot going on here and a lot of new stuff in the tank. Not a good idea to chase the ph. Better to find out why it’s rising? This being a new tank it may still be cycling. Dead material inthe sand may have caused some sort of bubble of bad air coming out of the sand and killing the fish. Next in all pics your discus are showing their stress bars. They don’t look happy. If it was just figuring out who’s in charge some wouldn’t have had lines. Tank looks great but you’ve got a lot of sand and dead spaces. Not good in discus tanks.

As to your plants. They were grown emersed. Roots in water leaves above. This is what seller’s do. They look nicer this way. The give away is the round leaves. Once submerged these leaves will die off for long straight leaves. This will take time. Swords are huge root eaters. So root tabs do help. But again now that’s something else added to that tank. Best to grow these out in another tank or look to buy submerged ones already.

I wouldn’t start adding those leaves till you get the tank stable. You’re heading to a dark water tank. People usually have this type of tank stable before adding discus. Discus are known to need clean water not fluctuating water. May be best now to pull your discus into your qt tank and get this main tank stabilized.

[Bathi]

Hi Bathi, check to see if your sand source is inert. If yes then it will not affect your Ph.
Pat

Sand collected from a lake. I'm not 100% sure if the pH is rising due to the sand. It will take a week to increase from 6.5 to 7.0

[Bathi]

Well the sand is from a lake so I doubt it’s inert. Lot going on here and a lot of new stuff in the tank. Not a good idea to chase the ph. Better to find out why it’s rising? This being a new tank it may still be cycling. Dead material inthe sand may have caused some sort of bubble of bad air coming out of the sand and killing the fish. Next in all pics your discus are showing their stress bars. They don’t look happy. If it was just figuring out who’s in charge some wouldn’t have had lines. Tank looks great but you’ve got a lot of sand and dead spaces. Not good in discus tanks.

Thanks for the honest comment.

Yes, a lot of new things have been added to the tank, so it's hard to determine why the pH is rising. Normally, I believe driftwood is supposed to reduce the pH. Therefore, I suspect that the sand is causing the rise. With a 50% water change per week, I can lower the pH back to 6.5. Also, I don't think pH 7 is the issue. I believe the 6.5 range is more comfortable for them. The purpose of this tank is not the weekly water change.

Yes, the tank is still cycling. I think it will take at least 6 months for a tank like this with driftwood and sand.

I think my discus are now stable in the tank. They are laying eggs and establishing the pecking order.

I agree about dead spaces. If we are going to add rooting plants, there are definitely dead spaces. I'm going to try to maintain a minimum of dead spaces. It looks like you have had bad experiences with planted discus tanks!

I agree about the 'not good in a discus tank' comment too. But I still believe we can blend discus and a planted tank together. I'm trying to figure out my chances and overcome the issues based on the experiences of people in this forum.

Anyway, if this is not successful, I will change the discus and add different fish varieties to this tank. Because the first priority is maintaining the tank, which helps to relax my mind. Only natural lookig setups are going to help.

[Bathi]

As to your plants. They were grown emersed. Roots in water leaves above. This is what seller’s do. They look nicer this way. The give away is the round leaves. Once submerged these leaves will die off for long straight leaves. This will take time. Swords are huge root eaters. So root tabs do help. But again now that’s something else added to that tank. Best to grow these out in another tank or look to buy submerged ones already.

I wouldn’t start adding those leaves till you get the tank stable. You’re heading to a dark water tank. People usually have this type of tank stable before adding discus. Discus are known to need clean water not fluctuating water. It may be best now to pull your discus into your qt tank and get this main tank stabilized.

It's hard to find submerged Echinodorus varieties. Normally, I cut the emersed leaves for fast adaptability. But for these plants, I didn't cut the leaves. I believe it's more suitable this time to adapt to the environment over a longer period.

I'm not going to add a lot of leaves and create a dark water tank. My purpose is to add a light yellow color to the tank and maintain a pH of 6.5 without increasing it. I'm a lazy person when it comes to moving fish tank to tank. Catching discus from this tank is a nightmare.

[bluelagoon]

If you want to see if the substrate has lime, calcium or other causing an increase in PH. Use can use vinegar. Put a tsp. of substrate in a jar of vinegar and if you see micro bubbles or frizzing on it, then you have alkaline material in the substrate.

[Bathi]

If you want to see if the substrate has lime, calcium or other causing an increase in PH. Use can use vinegar. Put a tsp. of substrate in a jar of vinegar and if you see micro bubbles or frizzing on it, then you have alkaline material in the substrate.

Thanks for the valuable tips.

[Bathi]

Chapter 10 - Three-Month Update.

During the past 3 months, I have faced a lot of issues stabilizing the tank. I lost two of my favorite fish, dealt with plant growth issues, and faced algae problems. This is the current look of my tank.

Also thanks to this forum, I saw other members sharing their tank videos from YouTube. So, I decided to share my tank videos as well using YouTube. It also helps free up some of my google drive memory.

You guys can compare the Chapter 1 picture with the current look.

https://youtube.com/shorts/u_6uo4XJv...qtxbY43KiBd3D5

[Iminit]

Ok Bathi on the utube video if you remove the s on the https the video show directly here. Next hard to tell cause the video is very dark but are you discus black? I can see one is blue but the pets look black and that could be a problem.

[Bathi]

Ok Bathi on the utube video if you remove the s on the https the video show directly here.

Thank you.
I tried. But its not working. I clicked the video button and enter the url with http. But its not going to play in here

Next hard to tell cause the video is very dark but are you discus black? I can see one is blue but the pets look black and that could be a problem.

No. They are not black. Its because lights are pointing to the middle and back of the tank. So front glass is shadow area.

[Bathi]

Finally..

[brewmaster15]

Finally..

BATHI, You made a really nice video here. Very peaceful. Nicely done!

[Bathi]

BATHI, You made a really nice video here. Very peaceful. Nicely done!

Thank You so much. Now i know how hard it is to capture the proper video.

[Bathi]

Been busy these past weeks, so updates slipped my mind. Dropped by today to post, only to find the contest nearly over. Anyway, I'm hoping to share my updates from time to time. Because planted tanks need over 6 months to stabilize and unveil their final beauty. I hope this thread stays open!

Chapter 11 - "Now, there's something for Diary about my hobby to reveal."

As i mentioned Chapter 1, my participation here aims to give something back to this community that taught me much about discus.
As a Buddhist, I value karma—the belief that good deeds yield positive returns. I'm convinced I've already been rewarded for my intentions.

Thanks to this thread, my world's expanded beyond discus and planted tanks. I've dived into YouTube, video editing, and videography, mastering new skills. Months in, I'm truly content with my progress.

If you're keen on my hobby updates, these links will guide you

Intagram - bathis.aquariums
YouTube - BathisAquariums

[brewmaster15]

HI Bathi, we will definitely not be closing any of these threads and encourage you to post your continuing story ..
Thanks for participating!

Al