Water changing questions and Rena filter

[hillbillyamber]

I have a 180 gallon. My dream, or my kids and my dream is to eventually have discus in it. I am looking at 2 Rena XL filters for it. Maybe only one? A tank that huge is a pain to do water changes of volume on daily. I know I did it. So, I guess my question is can I do a weekly on it? I certainly do not want to stunt or funkify my poor fish when I get them. They go from looking like elegant royalty to poor paupers when stunted. Will 2 Rena XL be enough? Will one Rena be enough? I have sand in my tank. I need to take pics so far and add them.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

If you could swing 2 Rena's, the better. I have a Rena XL on my 110 gal and a Fluval 405 for added filtration, plus 2 sponge filters. I also do 50% every 3 days. My suggestion though would be to buy adults if you don't plan on doing to many water changes.

[Elliots]

Teach your kids how much fun it is to change water! Just like Tom Sawyer and painting fences if I remember correctly.

[hillbillyamber]

I have smaller tanks for growing out and plan on 50% daily. I was just thinking how nice that tank would look with Discus in it. This has been a plan in the making for 6 months or better. Just getting around to it all. So, I am asking, it doesn't matter how much filtration you have or a large volume of water I am still looking at huge water changes not to screw up my fish? Thanks for the info. Still learning on that one. I see huge beautiful Discus tanks on YouTube and they are awesome. I figured they weren't changing out 60 to 80 gallons a day. That would be insane to me. I would rather keep them in a 55 gallon.

[hillbillyamber]

Teach your kids how much fun it is to change water! Just like Tom Sawyer and painting fences if I remember correctly.

Oh, Elliots, MY son who is 10 is really into this. He took his birthday money and bought a used 75 off CL and is wanting to do this big time. He has been tending goldfish since January. I will oversee, and monitor but actually these are going to be his fish. He is really into his fish. He knows how to use the Python cleaner etc. Being my oldest he has all the traits. I call Him Mr. Responsible. I had horses at 11 and my parents made me do all the work including driving the tractor and hauling water in the snow first winter with no running water in the barn. I past the test. I think he will too or I wouldn't do it. The 180 was a family present from my hubby to the kids and I, another CL special. However the filtration was only some internal filters and a Eheim pro2. Not cutting it. I have sand and 8 Angels in it is all. Boring. Been eyeballing Manzanita driftwood for a while and that's on my list. So, My Kids want discus really bad in the 180 and I am trying to figure if I can manage that one or not. I was looking at the Fluval FX5 but Rena was brought to my attention.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

I change out about 150 gallons daily on 10 tanks. If you have a smaller growout tank, then you can keep the water cganges to just the smaller one daily.

Remember that the difference between good discus and quality discus is the hard work and water changes. Once they are adults, you can ease up a bit on the water changes.

If your 180 is planted and good filtration, you could get away with 50 to 75 gallons maybe once a week once it is established. Discus keeping if fun, educational and your results will be worth it in the end. Trust me!

[Elliots]

I cannot argue if a canister filter is better than an HOB or multiple HOB filters but AQ filters are so easy to use, they even self start and for cleaning there is a carriage (Holder?) that just lifts right our with all your media. In almost a year I have not yet removed the actual HOB filter box to clean. An added plus, they do not leak unless you break them, one piece plastic tank!

[Elliots]

By the way there are probably many people on SD changing 100-200 gallons per tank daily I think. I used to do 125 gallons 3-4 time weekly but now I am at 50-70 gallons 3X weekly

[GrayLadyPat]

I have a smaller tank (60 gal) but I run 2 Rena units rated for 45 gallon tanks each. They work wonderful, but...when you clean out the filters, make sure you pull the seal from around the lip of the lid and wipe off, and then replace. Once you've replaced the seal, make sure you put the lids on straigh down (i.e. not one corner and then the rest) so that the seal seats properly. Otherwise, they will leak a bit. Cleaning the filter is easy, but you will need to purchase more of the little star shaped thingies, because they have a habit of under stocking them.

As for changing water, I am not into the "bucket brigade" so I siphon with a hose while vacuuming, and use a small pond pump to pump the new water in from my 55 galon rubbermaid garbage can I bought for aging the water. It makes life so much easier. I can change out 45 gallons pretty quickly. I have found that they key to diligent water changes is to make them as easy as I possibly can. The more difficult it is, the less likely that you will do them. :D

oh, and I agree with the prior posters...if you can't change water daily because of volume, get adult fish. In my case, adults are the only way to go, as I don't have the room for grow-out tanks, and adults seem to be a bit easier to care for than juvies.

There are a lot of great threads here, and I am sure some of our sponsors will make you a great deal on some adult fish.

Cheers! and Good Luck!

[tonytheboss1]

Will 2 Rena XL be enough? Will one Rena be enough?

:bandana: As you can see in my 'sig' I have less water & more filtratration. Overkill, OCD?? Maybe. Quite often it is subjective. Truthfully 2 XP3's (L's) should do well. XP4's (XL's) even better - this based on mfgr. specs. (sometimes exaggerated). I prefer to go above & beyond for my own peace of mind. "T"

[hillbillyamber]

I think I need to explain better. I plan on growing them to adulthood before the move to the 180. I was wondering if I should put a lot of money into the 180 filtration wise and still with adults need to do daily. If I would still need to do daily then I would keep them in a smaller tank. I have 5 kids. I am busy. I like it that way. I am not complaining, I love them, I am going to have 6 tanks to man. So, I am planning before I jump into something over my head and I do not want to harm my fish. My kids are going to be studying different regions and have different tanks etc. Kenny had some 5'' that caught my eye last shipment. I might try for some if he gets more in. I want to stay above 3 '' I prefer 4''. I am in the planning stages for discus future. If I even want to put them in the 180 and if I do what filters do I want to use. The grow out tank is a 55 gallon bare bottom, I also have a 29 gallon I can take sand out of.

[tonytheboss1]

:bandana: The daily W/C's in the smaller tanks with the juvies are for maximum growth & health. Adults require a bit less maintenance. "T"