Erin
07-07-2018, 05:44 PM
Hi Everyone,
First, thank you so much for taking the time to read this post and perhaps give me feedback. I’m setting up a discus tank and would love it if folks could tell me what they think I’m missing or need to do differently. (I’ve had several freshwater tanks over the years so this isn’t my first go at fishkeeping.)
Setup (picture attached):
-90 gallon tall (48x24x18) tank;
-No substrate
-Several pieces of driftwood and a few rocks with two types of java ferns and two types of anubias attached. (Held on by flourish glue with rubber bands for support that will come off soon.)
-I have a root-type driftwood, which is really three pieces glued together with flourish glue, that I hang from the center piece of the tank with fishing line.
-My water out of the tap is 7.6ish. The tank is 7.4-7.5.
-The tank is on the North side of the house without direct sunlight and I live in temperate Seattle so I don’t think there will be any big swings in external temperate that can’t be controlled easily by the tank equipment.
Equipment:
-Air pump and stone
-Submersible heater with external temperature control. Currently it’s set to 81 but I’m planning on having it at 83-84 when the discus come.
-Lighting is a Finnex planted light set to mimic day/night cycle.
-Filter 1 is an Eheim 2217 with carbon removed.
-Filter 2 is a Fluval 406 with some modifications. I removed the carbon and replaced with Purigen and Matrix. I also attached a pre-filter sponge to the intake.
-Filter 1’s intake is in the top third of the tank and filter two is in the bottom third. I thought that since I have two filters I’d spread out the strata covered. Both outputs are on the ends of the tank so the water is pushed towards the middle where the intakes are.
Maintenance:
So I’m going to be realistic about what I expect to do for maintenance. I expect I’ll do 1, a week using my python system. I’d like to say I’d do it twice a week but if I do it won’t be regularly. I’m also hiring an aquarium maintenance company to come in biweekly. I’ve got Prime and then Safe to condition the water but I won’t be aging the water before I refill. I’ve got Discus Trace and stability to add as well.
I have an Eheim vac that I’ve used several times on the bottom in between water changes. It helps a little bit but the suction is not impressive. It gets leftover food but nothing heavier.
Tank thus far:
I tried to do a fishless cycle with Stability and decomposing food starting in early-June and while I had ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates show up and then go down none of the numbers got as high as I was expecting. I’ve of course added water conditioner every time I add water.
After three weeks I added 12 rummy nose tetras and 6 albino corys. Both of these are on the small size right now, not that any will get that big. I’m considering adding a bristlenose pleco at some point but I’m still undecided on that one.
I’m measuring my water daily and since I added fish and my levels went up but I’m monitoring closely and no one seems stressed. Today my ammonia is .25 (was .50 yesterday before a 15% water change), nitrites 0, nitrates between 0-5. I assume that this is a little cycle since I had such a small one before and have added bio load. Also, it seemed like a lot of the bacteria was collecting on my hanging driftwood, looked a little like a gelatinous, whiteish blob, and I washed that off.
Discus:
I’d love your thoughts about the number of fish. I’m thinking six discus, roughly the same size, which I’ll add all at once in an attempt to minimize bullying. With the decorations and tank mates as well as my expectations about maintenance this feels like the max I should add and I wouldn’t want less than 6. It seems that people suggest even numbers, like 6 or 8, and 8 would be too many.
I’m hoping to buy my discus from Kenny and I’m getting his monthly emails and thinking carefully about which to get. I’ll be in touch with him soon I hope. My plan is to add the discus in the middle/end of September. It’s a particularly busy time of the year for work right now, and my job often involves overnight travel, so I’m waiting until I’ll be around the house more to monitor them. Plus, this gives more time for the tank to be established and stable.
I’d like to order my six fish around 4.5-5 inches. It seems that by this size they are hardier. A word of note, I am a super emotional fish keeper/pet owner, I cry when fish die and am insanely anxious if anyone is sick. Does this seem like the right size considering? I’m hoping to stock once and keep all the fish I get for as long as they live (what is a discus lifespan by the way?) and while money is of course a concern the amount I spend is secondary to having happy, healthy fish.
I’m hoping for a mix of colors and patterns, but no white, my little corys can help with that niche. At the moment I’m thinking Golden Lollipop, Royal Ruby Red, and Blue Scorpion for my mostly solids and Tiger Turquoise, Leopard Snakeskin, and Super Checkerboard Pigeon for my patterns.
Sorry this is such an epicly long post. I SO appreciate your feedback, thank you for taking the time.
-Erin
First, thank you so much for taking the time to read this post and perhaps give me feedback. I’m setting up a discus tank and would love it if folks could tell me what they think I’m missing or need to do differently. (I’ve had several freshwater tanks over the years so this isn’t my first go at fishkeeping.)
Setup (picture attached):
-90 gallon tall (48x24x18) tank;
-No substrate
-Several pieces of driftwood and a few rocks with two types of java ferns and two types of anubias attached. (Held on by flourish glue with rubber bands for support that will come off soon.)
-I have a root-type driftwood, which is really three pieces glued together with flourish glue, that I hang from the center piece of the tank with fishing line.
-My water out of the tap is 7.6ish. The tank is 7.4-7.5.
-The tank is on the North side of the house without direct sunlight and I live in temperate Seattle so I don’t think there will be any big swings in external temperate that can’t be controlled easily by the tank equipment.
Equipment:
-Air pump and stone
-Submersible heater with external temperature control. Currently it’s set to 81 but I’m planning on having it at 83-84 when the discus come.
-Lighting is a Finnex planted light set to mimic day/night cycle.
-Filter 1 is an Eheim 2217 with carbon removed.
-Filter 2 is a Fluval 406 with some modifications. I removed the carbon and replaced with Purigen and Matrix. I also attached a pre-filter sponge to the intake.
-Filter 1’s intake is in the top third of the tank and filter two is in the bottom third. I thought that since I have two filters I’d spread out the strata covered. Both outputs are on the ends of the tank so the water is pushed towards the middle where the intakes are.
Maintenance:
So I’m going to be realistic about what I expect to do for maintenance. I expect I’ll do 1, a week using my python system. I’d like to say I’d do it twice a week but if I do it won’t be regularly. I’m also hiring an aquarium maintenance company to come in biweekly. I’ve got Prime and then Safe to condition the water but I won’t be aging the water before I refill. I’ve got Discus Trace and stability to add as well.
I have an Eheim vac that I’ve used several times on the bottom in between water changes. It helps a little bit but the suction is not impressive. It gets leftover food but nothing heavier.
Tank thus far:
I tried to do a fishless cycle with Stability and decomposing food starting in early-June and while I had ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates show up and then go down none of the numbers got as high as I was expecting. I’ve of course added water conditioner every time I add water.
After three weeks I added 12 rummy nose tetras and 6 albino corys. Both of these are on the small size right now, not that any will get that big. I’m considering adding a bristlenose pleco at some point but I’m still undecided on that one.
I’m measuring my water daily and since I added fish and my levels went up but I’m monitoring closely and no one seems stressed. Today my ammonia is .25 (was .50 yesterday before a 15% water change), nitrites 0, nitrates between 0-5. I assume that this is a little cycle since I had such a small one before and have added bio load. Also, it seemed like a lot of the bacteria was collecting on my hanging driftwood, looked a little like a gelatinous, whiteish blob, and I washed that off.
Discus:
I’d love your thoughts about the number of fish. I’m thinking six discus, roughly the same size, which I’ll add all at once in an attempt to minimize bullying. With the decorations and tank mates as well as my expectations about maintenance this feels like the max I should add and I wouldn’t want less than 6. It seems that people suggest even numbers, like 6 or 8, and 8 would be too many.
I’m hoping to buy my discus from Kenny and I’m getting his monthly emails and thinking carefully about which to get. I’ll be in touch with him soon I hope. My plan is to add the discus in the middle/end of September. It’s a particularly busy time of the year for work right now, and my job often involves overnight travel, so I’m waiting until I’ll be around the house more to monitor them. Plus, this gives more time for the tank to be established and stable.
I’d like to order my six fish around 4.5-5 inches. It seems that by this size they are hardier. A word of note, I am a super emotional fish keeper/pet owner, I cry when fish die and am insanely anxious if anyone is sick. Does this seem like the right size considering? I’m hoping to stock once and keep all the fish I get for as long as they live (what is a discus lifespan by the way?) and while money is of course a concern the amount I spend is secondary to having happy, healthy fish.
I’m hoping for a mix of colors and patterns, but no white, my little corys can help with that niche. At the moment I’m thinking Golden Lollipop, Royal Ruby Red, and Blue Scorpion for my mostly solids and Tiger Turquoise, Leopard Snakeskin, and Super Checkerboard Pigeon for my patterns.
Sorry this is such an epicly long post. I SO appreciate your feedback, thank you for taking the time.
-Erin