discus colours and planted tanks (dark Substrate)

[bruceau]

hey guys,

So since moving my discus to this new planted tank im pretty sure its because the tank is has such dark Substrate.

iv taken some pics, the discus love to hide in the plants, but they are eating and they do swim around the tank.

PH: 6.8/7.0
Ni: 0 ppm
Na: 0 ppm
Am: 0 ppm
Temp: 30deg

2 x filters a fluval 105 and a classic 2213 eheim.
light is a twin 20w T5
Tank is a 190L Crn Tank.

I do a water change once a week with about 20/30%

so im thinking my issue is the substrate, im giving thought to changing it to sand has anyone had this before, iv done some reading but nothing clearly says yeah your fish are going to darken when in dark environments, it makes total sense from a camouflage point of view.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/3813/img4353n.th.jpg (http://img408.imageshack.us/i/img4353n.jpg/)
http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/4069/img4360u.th.jpg (http://img828.imageshack.us/i/img4360u.jpg/)
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/2063/img4372e.th.jpg (http://img831.imageshack.us/i/img4372e.jpg/)
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/9016/img4377q.th.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/i/img4377q.jpg/)
http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/2332/img4379v.th.jpg (http://img243.imageshack.us/i/img4379v.jpg/)
http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/6158/img4380a.th.jpg (http://img830.imageshack.us/i/img4380a.jpg/)

[ILLUSN]

discus WILL darken in a dark enviroment your fish look to be of pigion blood strains, these are the worst type for a planted tank, as you can see by the EXTREAM peppering. stick to turk based fish, they will show dark stress bars but will still display excellent color

[bruceau]

thanks dude not sure if they are PB

[ILLUSN]

they are PB mate thats peppering all over the fish

[TW]

I can't see discus in those pics, but if they have peppering they are PB

Another good choice for a planted tank with dark substrate / background are albino discus. In fact IMO they look stunning against a darker setting

[bruceau]

thanks for the info people

i was wondering why there isnt a sticky about whats best dicus to use/buy in planted tanks i didnt see any threads about that, did i miss it? or not look hard enough?

[Merrilyn]

Hi Bruce, it's a subject that has been covered several times in the past. If you use the "search" for peppering, you should find lots of posts about it.

From previous posts of yours, I think you only have a couple of pigeon blood fish. I seem to remember at least three blue turks; or maybe I'm dreaming LOL.

I think your tank looks terrific with the dark substrate, so how about changing the background to a light green, that will give the tank a lighter appearance. Gotta be an easier fix than changing the substrate. :P

[bruceau]

yeah i do have 3 x brown with some blue coming out, and a nice yellow with some red coming out.

im giving thought to changing the background i think its a easier and better fix then changing the substrate at this stage.

http://www.tubes.net.au/dump/discus/2.jpg
http://www.tubes.net.au/dump/discus/4.jpg

[bruceau]

hey guys,

Heres a quick update i came home today and all of them are much brighter like in the pics above.

not sure why, i can only assume when i moved them they just needed to settle in ill let you know if there is any changes

[Merrilyn]

Must be time for some more photos mate :P

[bruceau]

yeah ill see how they go if i have time over the weekend ill take some, takes patients the guys dont just come out and let ya take photos ya gotta wait for the right moment, its like making art ;P

[bruceau]

howdy peeps, as requested iv taken some more pics, its been a few more days, i currently have a sick discus again, its the same one as before, im not sure why he keeps getting sick, hes having a high dose in epsom salts and i think hes gunna pull though hes looks quite better even after a very short time.

heres the pics:

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/721/img4459l.th.jpg (http://img97.imageshack.us/i/img4459l.jpg/)
http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/4111/img4471k.th.jpg (http://img836.imageshack.us/i/img4471k.jpg/)
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/3810/img4478r.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/i/img4478r.jpg/)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5014/img4481qm.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/i/img4481qm.jpg/)
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/1734/img4484q.th.jpg (http://img842.imageshack.us/i/img4484q.jpg/)
http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/4084/img4488z.th.jpg (http://img709.imageshack.us/i/img4488z.jpg/)
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/9281/img4495.th.jpg (http://img809.imageshack.us/i/img4495.jpg/)
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/2994/img4496e.th.jpg (http://img831.imageshack.us/i/img4496e.jpg/)
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/8161/img4504.th.jpg (http://img178.imageshack.us/i/img4504.jpg/)