# Killies Import > Planted Tanks >  Rand's Tank

## RRG

I finally got comfortable sharing my tank  :Very Happy: . I would love to thank KL, Freddy and Chris for the mosses. The mosses in the driftwood from top to bottom are: top--(java moss?), originally a strand of moss when I bough a plant from my LFS, midfrom left to right are a fissidens species, next is an unknown moss (it has a soft texture) and then Taiwan Moss all of them are from Chris, the bottom are the same (java moss?) on the right and the rest is Spiky Moss from KL/Freddy. 

Im still unsatisfied with this tank; I need to take out some species of plant to be replaced by a better looking plant. Right now, the black mollies are transferred, the tonina plant is brown and I have a mild case of blue algae or cynobacteria, I think, where the sand meets the glass. I stopped using DIY CO2; I got very busy, and started using CO2 again this pass weeks. The discus has to be transferred once its full grown. 

I would like to place a Bolbitis heudelotii in the right side of the aquarium to hide the hagen ladder and filter tube, and Pogostemon helferi or downoi in the foreground; but it is said that downoi is a very sensitive plant to water changes, I change 90% of the water twice a week, and that would not be feasiblethey still quite expensive, too, and a waste if they die on me. 

Thank you again Chris (tundrafour), Freddy (fc) and KL (timebomb) for the mosses! 








Even though there is a barrier beneath the sand, the hairgrass still are able to "jump" it.


Spiky Moss and Curious Discus

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## Piscesgirl

You have done a good job. The tank looks nice, green and healthy too!

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## timebomb

That's a nice tank, Randall. Your plants look healthy but the Discus seems undernourished though. I'm quite surprised to hear that you change 90% of your water twice a week. Is there any special reason for such massive and frequent water changes? 

Loh K L

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## wks

> That's a nice tank, Randall. Your plants look healthy but the Discus seems undernourished though. I'm quite surprised to hear that you change 90% of your water twice a week. Is there any special reason for such massive and frequent water changes? 
> 
> Loh K L


Its a common problem of undernourished discus in a community tank like this. Usually the smaller fishes like tetras finish up the food faster than the slow swimming discus and it doesn't help when these fellows are fussy eaters too. 
I had similar experience, no matter how much I fed, the discus in my planted tank did not have enough to eat and all eventually died of starvation. Only then I realised that the previous owner fed them exclusively with beefheart, so they refused to take in dry food.

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## RRG

Thank you for the compliments!

When I took that picture, the discus was new to the tank. I should have research more about what to look for or a guide when buying discus before I bought it. Currently, I feed the discus frozen bloodworm, brine shrimp, shrimp, and shrimp with spinach; I rotate the type of food the fishes eat regularly. I once feed the discus dry food, but since I introduced the frozen food to its diet it stop feeding on the dry food. 

As for the water changes, my HOB filter is not a good debris filter; if I forget to change the water I'll have Green Water (the opacity of the green color depends of how long the water has been changed). Since I feed a lot, the fishes produce a lot of waste. The one kuhli loach I have doesnt' help either--the loach love to disturb the substrate creating a cloud of detritus once in a while. Although it does disturb the substrate, I don't mind the kuhli disturbing the sand. It's quite interesting and amusing, really, how it shift the sand and creating a mound of it. The water changes are also a tedious laboring task, so why not change most of the water. The waste water also waters the terrestrial plants. 

I said that I do two massive water changes weekly, but sometimes I get a bit lazy  :Opps: . So usually most of the time it is twice weekly.

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## FC

Randall,

I used to keep discus too. However, when I was told that they were under-fed, I felt guilty. Since then, I stopped keeping them.

With heavy feeding, you are likely have to content with weekly water change. That's something I am getting lazy on. I had lower fish load now, about 150 Green Neons (Cardinals) and some Rams as main fishes. I need not change water till my next major plant relocations when I disturb the substrate a fair bit. This happens once every 2~3 months.

As regards to water-bourne bacterias and algae issues, I find the UV light particularly useful. UV light is most effective when used immediately after a near 100% water change and turn on 24 hrs till you are convinced all problems are eredicated. If you ever consider one, get the one with 13 watts and above. Any lower powered UV light will not be effective because such PL's UV light grow intensely at 10 watts and above. Water flow through it has to be slow enough (typically not exceeding 1000 l/hr) to allow time for UV to act on the targets. The best thing about UV is that it does not alter the chemistry of the water column.

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## t4.

Randall,

You have a beautiful tank. I'm glad to see that the mosses I sent you are doing well! Sorry again that I was only able to send such small amounts (I've since been able to start a larger tank and am currently working on growing out various mosses), but it looks like you were able to grow them well anyhow.  :Very Happy: 

-Chris

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## RRG

You have nothing to be sorry about, Chris! 

The mosses grew successfully, except for the fissidens. That plant is sure a slow grower--it's like watching a few strands of hair grow in a guy's bald head  :Laughing: . I don't mind its growth habit really, as the say patience is a virtue.

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## FC

Hi Randall,

BTW, all the plants look great/healthy!

Can you share with me the base fertilizer used, the CO2 concentration (or PH you maintain), any liquid fertilizer used?

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## RRG

More than two third of the substrate has a thin peat moss covering the bottom. On top of that I added laterite, flourite and then finish the layer with a substrate that look like a flourite (the brand wasnt written, it just say aquatic plant soil). The foreground is just pure sand; a barrier of flexible plastic sheet is placed to prevent the sand and the flourite from mixing. I then added some sand on top of the fluorite close to the foreground to hide the red substrate. 

Once the plants have been arranged and planted, I added Flourish Tabs near the rooted plants. Im embarrassed to say this, but my liquid fertilizer regime is inconsistent. The liquid fertilizer I use is _Flourish Excel_, _Plant Gro iron enrichment_, and _Aquarium Plant Supplement_ for macronutrient. I just add the liquid fertilizer when I feel like it, but I never overdose what it is recommended. This is probably why Im having Green Water and other problem currently. I have no idea of the concentration of DIY CO2 in my tank, all I hear is a burping sound once in a while after the bubble has reach the top of the hagen ladder and then sucked by the filterdiffusing the CO2 into small bubbles.

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