Des's 160 gallon

[des275]

In May I acquired an unexpected 160-gallon tank and stand from a friend in the hobby and without knowing what I was getting myself into, I decided to try and set it up. Over the course of a month, I drove myself crazy learning about plumping and became a regular at my local Home Depot. After I got the plumbing set up, I found some manzanita, stone, and plants from several different sources. During this process, I learned about discus and regularly spent time on this forum. Each one of these phases was an obsession that eventually led me to this evening when my dozen juvenile discus and 150 rummies arrived.

This is what the tank looked like when I eventually got it to my backyard with the help of several neighbors:
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After a TON of cleaning and painting, I found a spot in my garage for it and placed the manzanita in the tank with black blasting sand:
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This was the start of the sump build with mechanical and biofiltration (I later added two reactors):
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I also set up a drip system with carbon filtration:
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This was the order I placed (not including some plecos and loaches):
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This is the tank awaiting the discus:
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And....this is an hour ago (doesn't really look like 150 rummies, does it?):
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Check out this video:
https://youtu.be/DTxgyf0BzrE

Now with all the discus in the tank:
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I will be getting up early for work and will check on the tank and provide an update. Hopefully there wont be any issues.....

[cooper666]

Spectacular tank. Love the black sand, plants wood, everything! Thanks for sharing.

[des275]

Spectacular tank. Love the black sand, plants wood, everything! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, I know my tank goes against some of the recommendations on this forum but I really wanted a planted tank with some substrate.

[des275]

Going on 12 hours and so far so good....

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[danotaylor]

Tank looks great. Where did you order your discus?

[danotaylor]

http://youtu.be/DTxgyf0BzrE

[des275]

Tank looks great. Where did you order your discus?

Thanks, I ordered them from Uncle Sams Discus which is local to me. Ended up paying about $20 for each and $1 per rummy. How do the juveniles look to you? I’d value the input from more experienced eyes.

[rickztahone]

Thanks, I ordered them from Uncle Sams Discus which is local to me. Ended up paying about $20 for each and $1 per rummy. How do the juveniles look to you? I’d value the input from more experienced eyes.

Uncle Sams has had some great discus, at least from the last time I saw them locally. Cool guys and your discus look nice. Some of your PB's wont do as well (if they aren't albino that is) but they will still color up nice. TFS