Discus Planted Mess

[Tetranerd]

And the final pic is of the substrate from Nov 2011

[Tetranerd]

Two more from Nov 2011

[eklikewhoa]

Looks pretty good.

Is that the swords growing out of the tank like that?

[Tetranerd]

Melon sword. Not 100% sure on species. But have always called it that. It grows like crazy.

[troy tucker]

Discus are so pretty. Could put a mess like that in my tank anytime.

[fishman1]

nice tank I wouldn't call that a mess just looks more like a tamed jungle

[mnemenoi]

I bet growing those swords emergent like that is awesome for Nitrate removal. Once you can get a plant out of submerged growth they can be factories for processing Nitrates, thus the appeal of many floaters. What are your water parameters if you don't mind me asking? I imagine they are terrific in a tank with that much emergent growth and space. Personally, I love the look of that tank. It almost reminds me of using mangroves in SW tanks for Nitrate removal.

[Totenkampf]

if the emersed swords are the same plants as the ones showing submersed leaves in the nov 11 pics then i would guess that they might be green ruffle swords (Echinodorus major) but its hard to tell. Many swords have 'melon' like leaves when they are emmersed. since they are flowering, you could look them up in a reference book that way. nice tank, the nitrates would be well under control with that growth much like a riparian setup. those discus really pop in that natural looking setting

[troy tucker]

Are these the tank and discus I see on craigslist? You are asking $1200.00 ?

[R_sustaita]

Disucs are so pretty. Could put a mess like that in my tank anytime.

then do it. my discus had acclimatated to houston's tap water has grown alittle and has color up alot. now i can actually say its a melon discus.

[TexSun]

Good looking Discus.

[jeb102385]

Very nice tank

[Darbex]

Why doesn emersed plants take up more nitrates then submersed?

[Totenkampf]

Why doesn emersed plants take up more nitrates then submersed?

i believe it just has to do with a more efficient metabolism when the plants have access to atmospheric CO2. we target 30ppm CO2 in planted aquariums and this makes a big difference in plant growth, atmospheric CO2 levels are closer to 400ppm. since the plants already utilize nitrates for food, this higher metabolism increases their consumption. i had riparium type refugiums on my overstocked rainbowfish aquariums and this made a big difference in nitrate removal.

[mnemenoi]

From what I gather submersed vegetation is limited in growth and exchange, while emersed plants can grow far faster and consume far more nitrates given they are not limited to what CO2 and oxygen are just in the water column itself. Maybe someone else has a bit better info on nutrient uptake for emersed vs. submerged growth.