Jumping back in - setup critique

[iceDiscus45]

Hey everyone,

I'm new here, but not new to the hobby. I did discus with my dad when I was in highschool and for the past few years I've maintained some community tanks and had an indoor pond setup for fancy goldfish. Recently took the plunge into salt for a mantis setup for my SO.

Anyhow, the sound of the indoor pond was wearing on the SO's nerves. So much so that the promise was "rehome the goldfish and you can have discus again! I know how much you love those...and they're quiet!!" The goldfish went to a new home and here I am...

My setup is a 55 gallon. I plan on doing:
- BB with driftwood
- Penguin 350
- Hydro sponge filter V
- 6 juvies (possibly from Martha on this forum)
- Bristlenose pleco
- perhaps a small school of cardinals once the discus are older

I'll be running a heated holding tank underneath for aging the tap water with a submersible pump (I do the same for my biocube with the salt water).

I don't have any lighting for the current setup (goldfish were open top), so what are some recommendations for that? I have one light (belonged to a 30 gallon), but I would need to get another for the other side of the tank. I might just stick with the one in the middle for awhile.

I've never been a fan of BB and would like to eventually try some potted plants down the road. What are some thoughts on a sand substrate as the discus get older?

Anything I'm missing? I'm doing a thorough scrubdown of the tank and re-cycling from scratch.

[Skip]

Looks good. Carry on

[GrayLadyPat]

My suggestion (I'm relatively new as well) would be to skip all the interior stuff (driftwood, etc.) and other fish until you grow out your kids. Also, from a personal standpoint, 55 gallons is a lot of water to change every day for juvies. I would go with larger fish, and enjoy them for a while before trying to raise smaller ones.

Otherwise, it sounds like you have a great setup there.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

My suggestion (I'm relatively new as well) would be to skip all the interior stuff (driftwood, etc.) and other fish until you grow out your kids. Also, from a personal standpoint, 55 gallons is a lot of water to change every day for juvies. I would go with larger fish, and enjoy them for a while before trying to raise smaller ones.

Otherwise, it sounds like you have a great setup there.

Some good advice here.

Regarding the light, if you plan on having plants, you will need to decide high tech, low tech. This will help you decide on what type of lighting.

You can try LED's or you can try a 4 bulb T5 fixture with the option to run 2 bulbs or all 4. As far as bulbs go, there is a nice variety but until you decide on the type of plants it is hard to say what bulbs to get. Most people with plants prefer a 6600k and 10000k bulbs. If you want to bring out more color in your fish, you get some colormax bulbs.

Good luck.

[iceDiscus45]

My suggestion (I'm relatively new as well) would be to skip all the interior stuff (driftwood, etc.) and other fish until you grow out your kids. Also, from a personal standpoint, 55 gallons is a lot of water to change every day for juvies. I would go with larger fish, and enjoy them for a while before trying to raise smaller ones.

Otherwise, it sounds like you have a great setup there.

This is definitely something I have been thinking about. Thank you for the advice!