How does this sound?

[Red_Discus]

Hello everyone! How does this sound for a beginner discus (read noob) setup, I read all the stickies and think I got a good handle on everything.

55g Tank
55g Metal stand (cheap, and looks pretty nice)
Aquaclear 110 or 2 aquaclear 70s (?)
48 inch T5 or T8 single bulb light fixture
Fluval sponge prefilter on both intakes
bio media (ceramic rings) only in both and a 100ml bag of purigen in both
rinse bio media monthly with warm tank water
change/revive purigen every 3 months
bare bottom
daily 50% water changes
50ft of tubing with a pump for easy drain and refill
32g brute with wheel base thing
no heater I live in Hawaii, temp in my other tanks is always in the 80s
thermometer

6 juvi discus undecided on color/type ordered from a good breeder (Hawaii Discus any good?)
feed high quality frozen /flake sparingly multiple times a day

:D

[matt56]

To me it looks okay. Ever considered sponge filters? or maybe 2 sponges+an aquaclear 70? Reason i ask is because sponges are incredibly reliable and add lots of aeration. Ive also noticed it kind of helps my smaller ones that get bullied around by trapping food particles which they then eat. I don't use lights on my tank, just the ambient light from the room is plenty for me, go with the t8 it would be much less bright. The w/c looks good to me, others will probably recommend 90% in a 55, im only doing 90% for my 55 at the moment because i have 9 discus. Might want to consider getting a heater just in case. Also if you ever need to increase the temp in case of disease. Foods just make sure they are very high in protein 50%. Some high protein foods are: freeze dried blackworms/bloodworms, high protein flakes/pellets (make sure to soak pellets before feeding), and frozen beefheart. Check out the sponsors on the simply discus forum main page. Not sure how many can ship to hawaii though. Never heard of hawaii discus so cant help ya there :(. Im sure more will chime in with helpful advice soon though.

matt

[Eddie]

Looks good, I'd skip the purigen and get a 55 gallon container instead. Its always better to have more water available than less.

[Larry Bugg]

I've talked with Rod at Hawaii Disucs a couple of times. He certainly has some history with discus. I believe he used to do a lot of breeding. I think most of his stock comes from some smaller breeders out of Vietnam. He seems to be pretty selective and the pictures he has sent me of his stock looked pretty good. I considered ordering some from him but he never had what I wanted in stock. I know he ships airport to airport to mainland US so the sponsors here on Simply that ship airport to airport should be able to ship from here to you. Check them out. I know Mike Beals Central Ohio Discus and Marion at Florida Discus and Kraig at Kingdon Come Discus ship airport to airport. If you aren't on the same island as Rod then the cost may not be that different shipping from here or there.