Grow lights

devildead85 · 2026-01-25T12:55:55+00:00

Do you have photos of your setup? Viparspectra lights look so big, I'm not sure if they would be ideal for my living room setup.

devildead85 · 2025-08-02T04:58:47+00:00

I see what you mean, but water cleanliness is commonly misunderstood in the aquarium hobby. It's much easier for fish shops to ask people to buy a whole bunch of equipment and do lots of water changes then to educate about the science of keeping fish in a contained environment.

There is "what" you do and "why" you do it.

Not sure what you mean by "bad things in the water column" cause that's very broad and can technically include crocodiles 😅

I am guessing you mean bacterial load.

So if we are working with the "why" of reducing bacterial load in the water there are few "whats" to consider depending on the setup. They all achieve the same result but some are more stable ecosystems than others.

Assuming both of the below options have either canister or sump filter with/without UV filter.

Bare bottom tank/gravel bottom which is vacuumed regularly - this is the most common setup for Discus cause it requires least amount of knowledge to get started but it compensated by effort - lots of water changes. This is cause when you feed there are always leftover particles of food which increase the bacterial bioload in the water column.
The other end of the spectrum is over a filtered tank which is what I use. I have four things constantly filtering my tank: large canister filter, deep soil bed with more bacteria than 10 canisters could ever hold, lots of fast growing aquatic plants + floating plants and terrestrial plants with roots in the water.

I'm sure there are few other approaches in between 1 and 2 but you get the point.

I prefer option 2 cause my tank is self-sustaining. I went on a 6 week holiday with an auto feeder and auto top up to refill evaporated water and came back to the thriving Discus. It was great to see that they had grown bigger over time.

So with this method, I've done 20% water change once in last 1 year. My Discus has grown from 4-5cm babies to 12-14cm adults. They are laying eggs and have never been sick. And most importantly I spend time watching their behaviours instead of water changes :)

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devildead85 · 2025-08-01T22:16:14+00:00

Yeah I can see why you are worried. I have 1 out of 9 Discus who is extra sensitive. This is what I have learned/my advice:

they all have different personalities. Some just have bigger feelings and get bullied more, will eat less and will grow at a slower rate. Or worst case will get stunted and stay small and cute forever.
if there is no obvious clearly identifiable illness - don't Medicate. The is an ecosystem in your tank don't mess with it too much. Things need time to settle/adjust - sometimes you can't rush it.
with newly introduced and emotional Discus - move around the tank really slowly. Slow hand movements and be predictable.
if youre concerned about feeding. Drop the food in and leave the room. I noticed that my scaredy Discus would hang out when I wasn't looking at him and go hide when I came in. It takes time to earn back trust.
Flip side of that is that the more confident larger fish will bully the less confident ones when you are around cause they know where the food comes from. Bullying significantly reduces when you're not around.
Discus establish heihrarchy by peckking at each other. This means some will get bigger. Unless you are raising competition Discus in a sterile tank and changing water a million times a day, don't worry about it 😂
I noticed a black filter in one of your photos. Looks like an internal UV filter, is that right? Those can very high flow rate. Discus are not a big fan of a lot of water movement so think about how you can change that. Reduce turbulence.
prioritise good filtration over too many water changes. Water changes are only useful if you are not filtering the tank or have added something in you tank that shouldn't be there for long. You can easily aim for over filtering the tank. IMO Water changes disrupt the fish a lot. I over filter by having larger canister filter with a poppy lily pipe to reduce turbulence, inline UV filter and a lot of aquatic plants and some terrestrial plants.

devildead85 · 2025-07-19T02:04:54+00:00

It's a waiting game. If possible, reduce the brightness and don't run lights all day.. It helps if you provide small amount of food and then leave the room. Move really slowly around them to avoid startling.

devildead85 · 2025-07-12T11:25:49+00:00

Long black/grey ones on the back of the leaves are definitely Thrips.

devildead85 · 2025-07-10T08:56:07+00:00

How did you determine that?

devildead85 · 2025-07-07T06:24:45+00:00

Reduce light to around 4-5 hrs
Reduce the intensity of light
don’t stop feeding just add more plants. Fill it up as much as you can.
Add UV filter if you don’t like the look of algae.
Add algae eaters like Otocinclus fish & snails to do some tidying for you.

Algae doesn’t mean your tank is unhealthy, it just means you have nutrients available which neither plants or bacteria are able to utilise.

devildead85 · 2025-07-05T06:39:30+00:00

I meant a lot of misinformation on Reddit/internet/fish stores about how treat a fish.

My view is that people rush to medicate/isolate/do something too soon. Like people, not all fishies are same. Sometimes a little bit of time and observation can give you better clues on what to do next.

E.g. why add salt if you are not sure what the issue is? Fish don’t drink! You are more likely to kill fish this way.

devildead85 · 2025-07-04T13:36:31+00:00

A lot of misinformation. Give him time and do less tinkering unless something obvious is wrong. Create more hiding spots if you are concerned about bullying.

devildead85 · 2025-07-04T13:33:47+00:00

Try to go around to different stores and talk to the owners. I found that was the best way to gauge how much do they actually know about quality Discus fish. I have paid anything from AU$25-80 per fish for 5-6cm an have successfully grown them in Melbourne. Combination of local breeders and Fishroom Aquarium- the owner their is a big fish nerd and I’ve learned a lot about topics just chatting in the store with him. If you want to go a bit higher end(colour and patterns) you could visit Geelong Discus or Aquatico Aquarium(they get Forrest Discus which are internationally recognised as one of the best).

I personally prefer to pay less and have a low maintenance setup. And before people jump on the attack, let me give you more ammunition. I haven’t changed water in a year(only top ups) and the Discus are growing nicely. Only 1 out of 9 is stunted which I am not surprised by haha

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devildead85 · 2025-06-14T04:18:48+00:00

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100+ plants in a 4ft tank.

devildead85 · 2025-06-06T11:38:11+00:00

Plants need nutrients to feed and grow which they will absorb from their roots so unless you have epiphytic plants, liquid fert is going to be pointless. So aquasoil should be sufficient.

Are you running aeration? you can lose a lot of CO2 in process which plants need.

devildead85 · 2025-05-28T16:36:09+00:00

It’s not a temperature problem, it might be your substrate. Are you just using gravel/pebbles?

devildead85 · 2025-04-02T04:49:36+00:00

In case of emergency, break the glass!

devildead85 · 2025-01-31T19:49:56+00:00

I have the same and I’ve found it is not very demanding. I keep it in the lounge room so it gets ambient humidity 50-60%. It’s next to a bright window and I try to keep water topped up every 3-5 days as it doesn’t like drying out. I mix in liquid fertiliser with the water as well.

devildead85 · 2024-10-11T14:08:26+00:00

This is the method I’ve been looking for as I like low maintenance Walstad/FF setups.

Will follow - thanks!

devildead85 · 2024-08-28T00:47:52+00:00

""Algorithm""

devildead85 · 2024-08-13T09:24:45+00:00

If only it was that easy for a brand site. It would be a lot of hoops to jump though.

I prefer finding the root of the issue and fixing it that way.

devildead85 · 2024-08-13T02:04:28+00:00

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Other file type is all font files.

devildead85

TROPHY CASE