George's Journal

[George Farmer]

Update.

The glosso's doing its thing.

I've tinckered a little with the Anubias and wood. I'm tempted to attach some moss or even Riccia to the wood, currently it is hardly noticeable and just blends in with the black background. My intention is to make it distract slightly from the overall flow and create some tension and interest.



Walt - Digweed had stopped eating and was constantly hiding behind the fern. Not sure why - I guess he was lonely as there was no physical symptoms.

 

[RYO]

Looks nice m8, wish my glosso would stay low like that. Mines taken over the tank , its around 4 inch deep and climbing the bog wood
Can feel an aquatic fly mo coming on

 

[pseud]

That glosso sure does look healthy mate!

How many weeks did it take to grow out to this?

 

[George Farmer]

That glosso sure does look healthy mate!

How many weeks did it take to grow out to this?

I am pleased with it and somewhat surprised by its apparent success in my tank. As you know I only have 2 WPG in a 20 inch tall tank so by rights it shouldn't do so well. It just shows how if one has ideal water then lower than "by the book" lighting levels may be used.

I only planted it one month ago (14th October) - see page 24 of this journal.

A big thanks again to RYO for supplying my with the quality cuttings that started it all off.

 

[simonbrown403]

Walt - Digweed had stopped eating and was constantly hiding behind the fern. Not sure why - I guess he was lonely as there was no physical symptoms.

Young discus don't do to well it planted tanks due to the nutrient levels mainly phosphate.
Over time high levels of Po4 will weeken's the discus immune system, even if you manage to keep them reasonably health it still stunts there growth.

 

[George Farmer]

Walt - Digweed had stopped eating and was constantly hiding behind the fern. Not sure why - I guess he was lonely as there was no physical symptoms.

Young discus don't do to well it planted tanks due to the nutrient levels mainly phosphate.
Over time high levels of Po4 will weeken's the discus immune system, even if you manage to keep them reasonably health it still stunts there growth.

I've never heard of PO4 harming fish. I've read that its toxicity to fish is still not known, only its negative effect on coral calcification.

Would you mind sharing where you heard that from? After all, if PO4 can harm Discus, one could assume it may harm other fish.

I've learnt something new today, thanks.

 

[simonbrown403]

Don't know if you have herd of him, Steve Punchard, he's a discus specialist, who owns a few aquatic stores in lancashire.
I belive he wrote a serise of articles for PFK mag.

It Not the PO4 that kills them it's that it weakens there ammuin system.

To be honest with you i havent had cause to disbelive him, he's well know in these parts, quite a number of lfs use to buy his discus.
Al though he hasn't done much breeding lately due to his comitment to his new store, but he should be getting back into it shortly.

When i first started with discus i was getting quite a few unexplained deaths, which i couldn't understand because i was doing 30% water change every 4 days.
The water always tested ok and i always matched the temp and PH.
By the way this was in a planted tank.
The discus always started out well, colour was good, and they were eating well, then they just slid down hill and die no matter what i did.

Needless to say i bought a r/o unit and never had a problem since, apart from when i crashed the PH with diy co2 setup

 

[George Farmer]

Very interesting Simon, thanks for that. I have heard of Steve and I agree that there's no reason to doubt especially considering your experiences.

I imagine PO4 is one of the contributing factors, as well as the heavy metals contained in most tap water.

I wonder if the PO4 dosed via KH2PO4 is any less harmful that the PO4 contained in tap water or via organic processes i.e. fish food and waste. I imagine that there are EI advocates with healthy Discus. I would be a great pity to find that Discus and EI are mutually exclusive.

Anyway thanks again.

 

[George Farmer]

Latest pic for those who don't visit the Member's pics section.

Nearly ready now to take some photos for the AGA 2006 contest. I was planning on using my mates girlfriend who's a pro photographer but my new 5 Megapixel is up to the job I think. Besides it will give me more satisfaction knowing it is all my own work.

I'm just waiting for the glosso to fill up a bit more, especially the edges, and I intend planting a bit more Anubias under the fern.

 

[RYO]

Looks sweet m8

 

[qwikimpss]

Drool worth as usual!

 

[pseud]

Whew, G, I went through your entire journal! I didn't read everything, just wanted to watch the evolution of the tank, and I have to say it definitely looks the best it ever has. You've done a fantastic job. I think adding those anubias under the fern is a good idea. I'm totalyl impressed with the glosso growth too! (Mine didn't do so good so I'm gonna pull it up). Definitely AGA worthy.

 

[Dubby]

It looks superb, gf225.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

whoa didn't notice that you were back gf !! and whoa !! the tank is looking great !!! the glosso carpeted really nicely !! was looking forward to see an update of your tank

 

[oldwhitewood]

excellent glosso carpeting there sir, it's grown quite voraciously since last time.