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When I started getting a get a bit of crud at the top of the sand level I bought a standard stone cleaner/syphon hose (you could use a host and plastic coke bottle) and I just sort of start/stop the process. Each time I do remove a small amount of sand but it is really just how well you can control the flow of water. The sand gets sucked up and if you stop the flow it drifts down again. The other crud usually returns to the top of the sand/stone and then I just syphon it normally. A bit of hit and miss - worse case you remove some sand (but not a lot) or in the real worse case you go too deep and start sucking up the aquotic mix (which is like clay and makes the water cloudy) I have only done that once and only to a small spot and the filter cleans it up pretty quickly. Still happy I went with the mix as the plants are growing very well. I notice that the fish like the sand searching for food. The Discus blow on the sand to loosen food and get it that way so they do not have to eat the sand.

This is what I ended up with for my tank. The plants do appear to love it and the fish also since the sand is quite small compared to stones. It is also visually very nice. Chris

Thanks Guys Chris

Is there any problems with having small (3-4 month old) discus and large discus in the same tank? Cheers Chris

I think that is also showing signs of not being too happy although it is growing rather well. The top of the plant is brownish and the bottom is a nice green. I cut the top two stems off it tonight since I may get a few more plants off of it. There is also signs of algee growing on the small riccia bed I tried to make. It is a hair algee - should I remove the hairs (if I can)? This is the Amazon Sword after I removed it from the plant.

The leaf is/was new - it is quite thin now - compared to a greener leaf furthur down. chris

Would you set all 3 bulbs to 6500K if you were me? Remembering that the current bulbs are 3 weeks old. Chris

With Animates having 25% off - should I look at getting some new tubes? Or as Alan said try the lamp specialists. But I really need to know what to buy. At the end of the day it is all marketing because of my lack of knowledge in this area. So basically I have 3 locations for bulbs in my lid. 2x34" & 1x22" I assume all bulbs are rated at around 30W? is that true? I noticed my shorter length bulb was only 20w. Any ideas appreciated. If I do buy from animates their special ends on Wednesday. Chris

They are about 4 weeks old.... How do I know what I need to purchase? chris

Because the tank is a corner tank I am sort of limited in what I can do unless I replace the whole top. This shows the lights in the tank.

The details I got from the bulbs are: #1 - Approx 34" ATMAN Super Light 10000K 30w #2 - Approx 34" ATMAN TRI Power Light 15000K 30W #3 - Approx 22" ATMAN Super Light 10000K 20W #1 and #3 are White Light #2 is a purple colour Chris

I would agree with that. Also remember that most are just cuttings, not even plants just a bit of a plant with no roots. Chris

Those photos were taken a few days ago and the sword was looking good then and even the Harigrass which has since rotted and been thown out. Chris

Lots of research no - since the pet shop doesn't even have names for most of the plants. I would like to get into CO/2 but I am not sure of the route to take. DIY or proper bottle. Bottle is my preference but I need to do more research as it can be costly to setup. The tank has 3 tubes approx 30w each (approx 36" long) - probablly pretty average tubes - they were provided with the tank. The hard thing is how do I actually know the lights are good or not? Animates has 25% off two of its range of lighs til the end of the month. Chris

The picture below show more of the plant. Chris

Thanks John I will try what you say and see what it does. Chris

It looks like my Amazon Sword plant is dying. It has been in the tank about 1 week. This dying leaf is the tallest of the plant so if anything it is getting enough light I would think. Does anyone have any ideas where to look to find the problem? Also some of my other plants appear to be rotting! Cheers Chris

Yes these are my first discus. The other two seem fine and are out and about all the time. The others hide away - I know the other fish will eat them but wouldn't there but something left to prove that they were eaten? Chris

I can not find any of the hiding discus - I think they are dead and eaten -so I am down to 2 discus. I had a good search with a small mirror and I can not find them at all. Chris

I have decided to give these away. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/here-vp109113.html#109113 Sorry to hear about your loss..... Chris

Two of the discus are now coming out quite often, I have seen one other but the 4th I can not find - either he hides real well or he is dead! I hope he is hiding and will come out liek the other two. Chris

Thanks Ronnie I am happy to have smaller Discus as I really love the planted aquarium. I suppose the question really is should I get rid of the Zebra Danios or will the Discus come to accept them? Chris

My baby Discus are hiding since I put in 10 Zebra Danios. The Zebra Danios were put in last night and the Discus appeared to be handling it well. Tonight however the Discus are hiding in the plants and are not coming out. Should I get rid of the Zebra Danios? they are quite fast moving and zipping around the tank. The baby angles do not mind the Zebra Danios and neither do the neons. Chris

It appears to have sorted my problems so I am happy. Aparantly these are the new style power heads, the original one I got and yours are the old style. Mine made a lot of noise and yours did not so who knows why. Happy now the tank noise is reduced. Now to get everything in balance. Chris

My problems with the Aqua One 880 appears to be resolved with a new power head that has a rubber grommet. Chickybabe does your power head look like this? Chris