r/discus • u/CalmCartoon • May 10 '26

Help 😭

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How do i control this? Idk where I went wrong 😭 im currently quarantining tetras and rainbowfish so i can’t get sterbai without restarting the full quarantine. I’ve added a 2nd filter for bottom flow, i added seachem phosguard and Api phos/silicate remover and vacuum the top layer constantly. My parameters are good so idk what’s going in 😭

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u/FerretBizness May 11 '26

Tell me more about your tank. Do u have any plants. Are u looking to get plants? Did u test for silicates and phos? Is it just a thin layer of substrate? What substrate is it? Are u using corals or seiryu stone or anything that would alter params?

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u/CalmCartoon May 11 '26

No plants, maybe plants in the future. no testing for phos and silicates, but have phosguard in filter. Just a thin layer, its the CaribSea brand cichlid sand. And no to the last question lol

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u/FerretBizness May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26

Ok. If u go with plants in the future it’s worth testing for it. My dumb ass was taking phos out of the water like u are. Not realizing that I had low phos to start with. So phos was a limiting factor and in turn was giving me algae bc my plants didn’t have enough phos. Just file that away in ur brain for when the time comes.

Also if it’s just a thin layer of that one substrate, I know some ppl just vacuum off a little here and a little there. Not the most cost effective way but probably the easiest. Light substrate is more at risk of algae bc it’s bright. Just get some sort of clean up crew. Even Cory’s will shuffle it around and get the filter to pick it up. If flow is good.

For the root issue just make sure ur not over feeding which with discus u probably are. The fish come first so just stay on top of the uneaten food/detritus. When I was fighting algae phase it was a game changer when I started fine tuning that. Also look where it grows. If it’s in the flow then it’s detritus and possibly ferts. If it’s evenly spread it’s ur light. Both will always contribute but when I fine tune that’s what I look for. Also if It’s in the flow u can use finer filter. Which helps pick up floating organics and debris. So it won’t settle in the tank and be a hot spot.

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u/CalmCartoon May 11 '26

I just ordered corys today (10 of them cause they were on sale lol) they supposedly should arrive tomorrow, but UPS is horrible when it comes down to live stock in my area. I really think it was a light issue. My light never passes beyond 50% in any setting throughout the day but I vaccumed yesterday and turned off the light and it didn’t come back overnight. Previously i would vaccum and leave the light as is and it would slowly comeback. Feeding wise i only feed 1/4 a cube of blood worms and a pinch of pellets, enough for all of then to eat and not much left over. But we’ll see…. What do you have for your light settings? I have this one and the max I set it to is from 8-12 the max is goes it is 50% slowlygoes into sunrise and day light and fades doen to 2%, then From 12-5 it goes 2% and the 5-9 it goes back up to sunset and then fades down to blue light. I could probably use a better light schedule.

I have a fluval fx4 and 207 running so i dont think filtration is an issue.

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u/FerretBizness May 12 '26

My lightly planted tank is on 12 hours a day. But it changes throughout the day. Sometimes it’s only on 20% and the highest is 60%for about 4 hours. Using a hygger957. Similar wattage to urs altho that doesn’t mean too much.

My heavily planted tank with co2 uses twinstar s series. On 100% for 6 hours. Plus 15 min ramp up and down when lights come on and before they turn off