New to Discus, want to make sure about set-up

[Freaky.Fishie]

Hello there, I recently joined this forum because I'm hoping to FINALLY start my dream of having a discus tank. A brief overview of my aquarium experience would be that I've always been in love with aquaria since I was a wee little one and when I was 12 my parent got me a 5gal aquarium for the holidays and I've have an aquarium ever since, except for a three year break during college. Essentially I'm not new to aquariums and I always do a ton of research before starting a tank. Currently I have a planted 70gal Rio Negro biotope with angels, 3 tetra species, hatchetfish, and cory cats which was heavily researched during my tankless stint.

Anyhow, I recently got a complete 55gal set-up for free from a neighbor moving and then I had the fortune of shortly after finding an 80gal eheim canister filter on Craigslist for 40$. And then by complete coincidence the guy selling the filter breeds discus and offered me a breeder pair of Red Turquoise adults for an amazing price. Of course I told him I couldn't take them yet because my set up isn't ready and he was very understanding and said he'd hold them for me. My goal is the have this aquarium ready in about a month, so I'm not in a big rush and want to take my time and get things perfect because these fish are BEAUTIFUL and HUGE and I want them to live a long, healthy life.

The way I'm planning to set my tank up is as follows:
*55 gal, back painted black, a dusting of sand on the bottom with 6-8 potted jungle Val and maybe one big potted amazon sword and a couple pieces of driftwood.

*Eheim canister filter rated for up to 80gal, 3/4 filled with ceramic beads, 1/4 peat moss, filter floss of top and bottom.

*basic cfl hood lighting

*2x weekly 25% water changes with pre-conditioned RO water

*water parameters: pH 6.0, temp 82F

Now what I'm debating between is having the dusting of sand or a bare bottom tank instead. I've been reading a lot and know all the pros to having a bare bottom, aesthetically though I REALLY hate the bare bottom look because of the reflectivity. Would having a light dusting of sand, just enough to cover the bottom, be that detrimental to cleaning? Does my set-up sound like I'm going in the right direction overall?


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[Madaboutdiscus]

Sounds good but if youre planning on breeding probably better do a wc every day.

-Victoria

[tat]

Why the RO water? There is any big problem with your tap water?

[Madaboutdiscus]

Its a breeding pair. They need soft water and low ph for the eggs to hatch. Most likely the tap water isnt soft.

-Victoria

[Freaky.Fishie]

I'm honestly not a 100% sure I'm going to breed them, they just happen to be a gorgeous full grown pair. I was thinking of trying to breed them just so I could keep 4 babies and have a total of 6 in the 55 and have it be a species tank, but not sure on that yet. The reason for RO is because where I live the tap water comes out with a pH of 8.2 and is so hard that it's virtually impossible to keep it lower and stable. The pair is 2.5yrs old and I don't know the last time they spawned because I didn't think to ask.
This is a blurry pic of the male I think:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/22/be4ameju.jpg


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[Freaky.Fishie]

Sorry, dbl post

[strawberryblonde]

Bare bottom is better for breeding and a lot easier to keep clean, but you won't have that reflectiveness if you paint the outside bottom of the tank. I use plain white or off white latex paint, but you can also use one of the textured spray paints that makes it look like sand.

RO is fine for breeding, but not necessary if you have good tap water. Mine is HIGH pH, but low KH, GH and TDS. Perfect for breeding. So you might want to test your water prior to starting with the RO.

Other than that, your plans sound good. =)

[Madaboutdiscus]

Bare bottom is better for breeding and a lot easier to keep clean, but you won't have that reflectiveness if you paint the outside bottom of the tank. I use plain white or off white latex paint, but you can also use one of the textured spray paints that makes it look like sand.


We used an off white textured paint that has tiny flecks of black in it here and there. It looks just like sand. I love it.

-Victoria

[Freaky.Fishie]

We used an off white textured paint that has tiny flecks of black in it here and there. It looks just like sand. I love it.

-Victoria

So you used the texture paint on the inside or outside of the tank?


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[Freaky.Fishie]

RO is fine for breeding, but not necessary if you have good tap water. Mine is HIGH pH, but low KH, GH and TDS. Perfect for breeding. So you might want to test your water prior to starting with the RO.


My water has such a high GH that it doesn't even show on the chart lol. Because of this, chemically adjusting it down does not offer good results without daily buffering and it just costs less to use RO. I already use RO in my Rio Negro biotope so it's not a problem for me to get RO



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[Second Hand Pat]

So you used the texture paint on the inside or outside of the tank?


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On the outside of the tank.

[Madaboutdiscus]

Outside never put it inside the tank.

-Victoria

[John_Nicholson]

Krylon fusion can be used on the inside of tanks. Can't tell you how long it will last but it will not hurt your fish. I have always painted the outside of mine.

-john

[Madaboutdiscus]

Really...I did not know that. Thats some good info there but like you said may not last long cheaper and easier to do the outside.

-Victoria

[Freaky.Fishie]

Thanks so much for the suggestions, I think I will give the textured paint on the bottom on the OUTSIDE of the tank a try to see if it works for me aesthetically and cuts down the glare/reflection.


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[Freaky.Fishie]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I think I will give the textured spray paint a go and see how the glare is with the bare bottom painted. I'm glad to see that I'm in the right mindset for the fish, the last thing is want is to pick up some amazingly healthy fish and kill 'em with some noob mistake. My mum doesn't quite understand the aquarium hobby and just had a fit about what I'm about to put into getting the discus (only 250$ for a proven pair that's GORGEOUS), not understanding why a fish would ever cost that much. Lol. I've noticed that my posts made with my phone seem to lag really bad, anyone else have this issue?


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[pcsb23]

... I've noticed that my posts made with my phone seem to lag really bad, anyone else have this issue?
...http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?102883-FAQ-New-Members-Posts-Awaiting-Moderation-Posts-Not-Showing-Up-READ-HERE-FIRST may help ....

[Freaky.Fishie]

I read through that, but according to that only my posts with links or pictures should be lagging pending mod approval, it seems that none of my post are showing up until someone posts after me..maybe it's just the phone app glitching


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[pcsb23]

I read through that, but according to that only my posts with links or pictures should be lagging pending mod approval, it seems that none of my post are showing up until someone posts after me..maybe it's just the phone app glitching


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)Nope, I'm sure your phone is fine - I've had to approve the above post and the reason why is that the bit after Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk is a url, i.e a web link - which the app (tapatalk) is inserting ....

[Freaky.Fishie]

Oh! Well that makes sense. I don't think I can turn it off, but I'm pretty close to 10posts so I won't have this "issue" soon then. Thank you for clarifying.


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