Malta Aquarist Society

Hi,

I am new to the forums here and would like to let you in on what I am up to with my new 300litre aquarium.

But before I go into that, I have been going through these forums for quite some time and I am amazed at the amount of genuinly nice and helpful people I have met over the past two weeks. Just to mention some names, my thanks goes to Natalia, Edgerada, Kevin Azzopardi and Alan who have all been kind and very helpful with their advice!

I have recently set up a 300litre aquarium in which I mainly have disucs, cardinal tetras, black and gold tetras, a bushynose and some corys. I have added plants but I seem to be lacking a variety to buy from the shops. The shops I have been to only carry some 5 different species.... so the idea of getting a heavily planted tank is very much a work in progress! Natalia and Edgerada have been very kind and contributed with some different varieties [;) ]I am currently equipped with CO2, 7 light tubes, 2 filters (one *** top flow and the other *** external cylinder), UV Steriliser and a 300W heater which I find is struggeling to keep up the high temperatures that discus require. I also have a 3d background.

I would like to put up some pics for all to see and comment on however, I cant seem to get it sorted since the add pic function does not show when clicking on the options tab.... I will keep on working on it. In the meantime if anyone can recomend an easy way to add pics your help would be appreciated.

I have tons of questions which I would like to throw at you pros in order to get your view, opinions and advice on fish and plants and I am sure that I will learn a lot here.

Hope to be back soon and looking forward to making more new friends here!

mzm

Hi & welcome to The Malta Aquarist Society Forum.

I've just sent you a PM on how to upload pictures.

Hi and thank you for your quick response.

 I think I have managed to get the pics going with your help.

 Here is the one of the day the Aquarium arrived:

The following week end I worked on the setup

I added plants, water, life bacteria and two weeks started to transfer my fish slowly from one tank to another leaving two days between new additions. finally the big day arrived where I could also transfer my discus

Unfotunately pics are not of high quality since they were shot with my phone camera....

After two weeks I am noticing that alot of my Java Fern leaves which are attached to my bogwood are turning black. I have added liquid fertiliser when setting up. Anyone has an idea what could be causing this?

Glad to see that you managed to upload the pictures.

I really like the bogwood, as it's shape is quite interesting & the background is very nice as well.

Also nice Discus you've got there.

Thats exactly what I thought about the bogwood the first time I saw it.

In fact, I have another three pieces which I decided not to use in this aquarium so as to leave this one as the focal point.

Thanks for your comments.

 Indeed a very strange looking piece of bogwood , it will be nice covered with some plants like moss , keep us updated and welcome to our BIG family

Thnks T3ddy.

 Here are some pics with what I have planted on the bogwood.

Seems like some brown algae is growing on the Christmas Moss???? Is it Algae? I am removing it tomorrow!

 Hi mzm, welcome to our forum! Hope you'll find the right answers for your questions!

The tank setup is already nice as it is, but we can imagine it full of plants! Your Discus are very nice! I'm sure members from our club will send you private messages to give you plant cuttings. Or else you can put an advert in the classifieds section of our website.

 Are the java fern leaves still turning black? Do you think they're covered in black algae or they're rotting? If you want you can post pictures of them in the planted tank forum so that we can see them better.
 

Hi, thank you for your comments.

I believe that the leaves are rotting rather than algae turning them black.

I will try to get some decent shots and post them in the plants section.

Hi mzm, welcome to forum!!

yr set up looks great! and Discus are very nice

if i may i would suggest u covering sharp points of yr wood with moss, Anubias or other types of plants that dont have to be rooted- bcz the edges  might cause injuries to Discus if they run scared in to it

keep us updated and good luck!!

Hi natalia,

Thank you very much for your kind words.

You are right I need to see how I can cover those edges. Got a new batch of plants today which I should be planting tomorrow, Will try to take some pics and post them.

I know you place a lot of value on shape! What do you think of the shape of the large discus....... dont hesitate to be honest, I do not mind constructive critisism where applicable

I would like to ask you a question. I have spotted a snail which must have escaped my vigorous cleaning regime before admitting plants into my main tank. I know you use Assasin snails. do you find them effective or will I just be getting rid of one type of snail to introducee another?

Thanks for your feedback.

If you see just one snail, you can remove it by hand.  I have some Assassin snails but I never saw them eating other "pest" snails. I'm not saying that they don't, but I never saw mine & I have a few "pest" snails in my planted tank.

The Assassins don't produce alot of "baby" snails & if I'm not mistaken, they only lay one egg per month or so.

Ok seems that they are not worth their money then.......

I have seen real nice yellow shelled snails. their body is white (they were in the same tank as the assasin snails). Has anyone got an idea what they are and whether they can be put into a planted aquarium?

Hi mzm

i like shape and colors of yr Turqs Discus,Pigeon blood doesnt have what it takes to be..

for 1 snail it doesnt worth to buy an Assassin snail to kill it - u can do it yrself

as was mentioned before they dont become pest and reproduce in slow rates laying just 1 egg at the time

my assassins do the job- i find empty shells of ramshorn snails every now and then

the yellow snail with white body most probably is an apple snail,but might uproot the plants bcz of the way it goes around-still very gracefull and interesting creature