Aquarium Live Plant Growth

This is a photo of the Living Aquarium Live Plant Tank taken on 2/2/09.


This Photo Was Taken 10 Days Later On 2/12/09!
What a difference the correct CO2 addition can make.

Aquarium CO2 Generator

We added a CO2 generator to The Living Aquarium. We still have the same CO2 Tank Regulator and Bubbler. The CO2 Generator is plumbed in on the draw side of the canister filter. The water comes from the aquarium tank to the bottom of the CO2 generator, out the top and over to the filter. The water then goes through the filter and back to the tank. This set up allows for near 100% CO2 absorption, and so far is working great.

Aquarium Water Quality for Discus Fish

Our Discus Fish Tank. We do weekly water changes of 20%-25% of the tank volume. The temperature is 82f to 85f and the ph is 6.0 to 6.5. We use a Red Sea CO2 Pro System for CO2 injection and a JBJ Reaction 4-Stage Canister Filter + UV EFU-45 for filtration.

A discus aquarium in order to thrive must always be a discus aquarium first however. Plants and other inhabitants should be chosen with the optimal discus conditions given first priority.

Aquariums for discus should be kept within a temperature range of 26-31 C; a temperature of 29 C (84 F) is thought ideal for adults. Babies and young fish should be maintained at 31 C (88 F) degrees. The water should be very soft and slightly acidic.

Captive bred fish adapt very well to harder water with a pH up to 6.8. Maintaining acidic water is beneficial because ammonia is unable to form in a pH under 6.9. A pH in this low (down to about 5.1) range protects from ammonia toxicity, However, a pH level below 6.0 will inhibit the growth of beneficial bacteria which live in the biological filter medium.


Most aquarists believe that the water must be changed regularly, but this may not be necessary in a very well planted tank that has adequate biological filtration, lighting and bottom dwelling fish to clean up after the often messy eating discus. A heavily planted tank may also need CO2 injection for the plants to do well.

There are many factors at play in nature which are not present in a closed aquarium system that help to break down and metabolize waste. Planted aquarium or not, it is widely accepted that frequent water changes are the best way to maintain the water quality of a discus tank.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discus_(fish

Living Aquarium Systems1

What we use.
Red Sea CO2 Pro System
JBJ Reaction 4-Stage Canister Filter + UV EFU-45