# 29g planted discus/tetra tank



## KaspR (Jun 18, 2009)

Hey everyone, been on here a while but havent posted any pictures, got hit with some black brush algae which |I finally got rid of about 2 weeks ago so decided to take some pics.



I have...
10 black and 10 blue neons
1 rummy nose and 1 harlequin that are the sole survivors of an amonia issue about a year ago
2 diamond tetras
2 breeding emporors, the male is the king of the tank and gorgeous with bright yellows and purples
6 breeding beckfords pencilfish - BTW if you ever have planaria thse guys will eat them all up
2 bushnose, 3 loaches
Discus
1 pigeon blood
1 blue diamond
1 red cover
1 snakeskin (extremely timd, rarely see him, the picture is terrible due to that.
Have quite a few plants in there, you'll notice some thin wrappings aorund some of my wood, im adding java moss and the wraps are holding the moss in place till it logdes on.

As you can tell I've had a few learning experiences with the algae planaria and amonia and lessons have been learned!


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## arinsi (Mar 14, 2010)

discus hard to take care of?
how long for each spawn?


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Wonderful pics there!


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## KaspR (Jun 18, 2009)

arinsi said:


> discus hard to take care of?
> how long for each spawn?


Discus aren't necessarily hard to take care of but they definately have special requirments and require more attention.

As far as spawning for the pencilfish and the emporor's, usually when i increase temperature by a degree or change the water they will start. Actually the pencil fish never seem to stop , because there are 6 they seem to jump from partner to partner.

Because it's a community tank, and I dont have the time or resources to actually grow out the spawn it acts as nurtition for the other fish.


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## KaspR (Jun 18, 2009)

Ciddian said:


> Wonderful pics there!


Thank you, Camera's not so awesome, can't change the shutter speed. Wish I could though the emporor has awesome little teeth and amazing colours when not blurry.


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## KaspR (Jun 18, 2009)

From my top post you can see how many fish i have in the 29g, does this seem oevrcrowded? The fish are thriving however not sure on long term effects, many of the fish are young as well, the discus are all about 3.5 inches, the bushynose are only 2" then the rest are fairly small tetras


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## Plaid (Nov 10, 2008)

All of your fish are communal, and not particularly agressive. The crowding isn't really an issue, excess nutrients is the issue.

However, your tank looks pretty well planted. The plants counteract the buildup of nitrates, by "eating" them (I forget the word for it. ).

The tank looks good to me, but to my knowledge, discus will need a bigger one someday.


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## KaspR (Jun 18, 2009)

Thanks  Understood and planning to upgrade and use this old tank probably as a sump or maybe another aquarium, only time will tell.

Evryone on this site are great thanks for your feedback and help!!


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## arktixan (Mar 30, 2010)

Another rule of thumb ive heard over the years... 1 fish / gallon... but this also depends on the fish, I've heard that tetras (neons) / schooling smaller fish can be considered 1-3 / gallon..

I think it's well populated not over crowded... tho I would suggest not getting anything else in the tank .

I really like the colour in the discus fish.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

arktixan said:


> Another rule of thumb ive heard over the years... 1 fish / gallon... but this also depends on the fish


All these formulas are silly IMO. You need to stock based on your fish's needs, and your aquarium maintenance.

If, for example, you have 40 neons in a 29Gal unplanted you'll shoot your nitrates up and consume kH much faster than if you have 20 neons, and will need to accordingly do much more frequent water changes. You'll probably also want a higher capacity (not higher flow) filter.

As per the OP-- you have four discus in a 29 gal tank?
There is no way they will be comfortable and live their full lifespan comfortably in so little space. I would not go anything less than 36x18x24 for 4 discus (approx 60-65 gallons).

I don't know who told you it was ok to put discus in a 29G, but you've been mislead I'm afraid. I would urge you to reconsider, as this is really too small an environment for discus. I'm sure you don't want to hear that but them's the breaks.


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## KaspR (Jun 18, 2009)

AquariAM said:


> I don't know who told you it was ok to put discus in a 29G, but you've been mislead I'm afraid. I would urge you to reconsider, as this is really too small an environment for discus. I'm sure you don't want to hear that but them's the breaks.


Thanks for the advice ive never said anyone advised me thta this was okay, im learning as i go here, but ive also not had anyway say otherwsie until now. everyone seems be saying it is fine aside frome this commect.

keep in mind these are small and as i mentioned in my previous post i do plan on upgrading in the near future to a larger tank and possibly converting this one to a sump.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

KaspR said:


> Thanks for the advice ive never said anyone advised me thta this was okay, im learning as i go here, but ive also not had anyway say otherwsie until now. everyone seems be saying it is fine aside frome this commect.
> 
> keep in mind these are small and as i mentioned in my previous post i do plan on upgrading in the near future to a larger tank and possibly converting this one to a sump.


They grow pretty fast dude. If you upgrade we're talking in the next month or two if you want to prevent any kind of hindrance to their growth.


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## KaspR (Jun 18, 2009)

So everyone should be pleased to know that last week I upgraded to a 65gallon. It looks great i'll post some pics shortly


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## Holidays (Apr 18, 2010)

good stuff, bigger is better, I have 80 gallon and 4 discus, they swim from side to side all the time, they don't just stand still in one spot. I feed them at different spots too. they like to swim if given ample space.

http://i40.tinypic.com/16i63gh.jpg

Red Fuji
Yelow pigeon
Blue Turq
Buldog
5 cardinals
3 torpedo


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## KaspR (Jun 18, 2009)

sorry havent posted any pics of the enw tank but will do so this weekend. Last night my blue diamond and red cover laid some eggs too. unfortunately wasnt even thinking about breeding so dont have another set up going for them however hopefully a few make it through the onslaught of hungry tetras. The parents are doing a good job of garding them. Going to be neat to see them attached to the parents.


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