New here, a couple of Questions

[BSW]

Hello there, new here -

I have a well, established, heavily planted, 60 gal.
Recently put four 4" Discus in it.
Ammonia -0
Nitrite - 0
Ph - 7.2
temp - 86
405 Fluval Canister filter (also using Purigen in it)no carbon
Aqua Clear 50 powerhead hooked up to a 25 W Gamma UV Sterilizer @ lowest flow rate
Undergravel Filter
Co2 @ 2 bps
Other tank mates -
Neon Tetras (about 25)
Corry Cats (8)
Amano Shrimp (10)
Bamboo Shrimp (6)
Otto Cats (8)

Fish are looking great, eating great and very active. But haven't had them very long.
My questions are -

Tank NEVER shows any ammonia or nitrite, I attribute that to the heavy planting and weekly water changes of 30%. In planted tanks do
you all do water changes more often ? I read of water changes on a daily basis with Discus. If the tank isn't reading anything when tested, do I still need to change water daily ???? Won't that hurt the plants ??? If I don't will it hurt the Discus ???

I had been using Flourish (trace) and Flourish Excel (to supplement C02) should I stop this now that there are Discus in the tank ? Are Discus sensitive to using fertilizers ?

The undergravel filter ? I read a lot of people are against them. I thought the plant roots would grow below and use a lot of the junk down there ? Am I wrong ? My plants are very healthy, I thought this situation was helping them. Am I wrong ? I do very little vacuuming in this tank, to many plants. Is that bad ?
Never had any disease break outs, ich, cloudy water, bacteria blooms or anything like that. Not even much algae really.

Pic of the tank in question below -
Thanks for your help -
B

[Professor_J]

I'd say if it ain't broke...

One of the reasons I've heard given for not using UGF with plants is that they'll get cold feet and die. There are also probably a host of other reasons. Apparently yours are doing fine.

Planted or not you shouldn't see ammonia or nitrite once your filter is established. The big thing I've found with planted tanks that I really like (I've just started with real live plants) is that they don't show high levels of nitrate 'cause the plants eat it up. I just have a few java ferns and a couple other plants. The nitrate never tests over 20-30 ppm.

You'll still need to do the water changes. Your discus will be happier if you do more of them (I do 2-3 a week which seems to be the norm). They will probably also be happier if you slowly bump the temperature up a couple of degrees. Of course your plants may not like the higher temperature.

Again... if it isn't broken and you're not trying to breed them or raise Plato's ideal discus for a show...

My two bits anyway. :)

[ILLUSN]

if they're happy leave it.

[BSW]

Thank you both for your replies -

Just a little nervous, thinking I should be doing something else !
The fish seem just fine and happy but, I read I'm not doing it right.
So I appreciate your support...........
Thanks
B

[Merrilyn]

There are a lot of 'right' ways to keep discus, and they will vary from one breeder to another.

If your fish are eating, happy and healthy, then whatever you're doing is 'right'. :P

You have what we used to call, a balanced tank. In other words plenty of healthy plants and the right number of fish in there for everything to remain stable. Your shrimps and cory cats will be eating any excess food, so you will never have a problem with excess ammonia (so long as you don't overfeed) and the plants will take up a lot of the nitrAtes produced by your filter,so you'll never have a high nitrAte reading either.

Don't be concerned. You're doing everything perfectly.