Yet another new setup question...

[lcs]

Okey-dokey...delurking to do some brain-picking 8).

In the near future I will be setting up a planted ( ;D) tank for discus with no intent to breed...yet. I have been waffling between a 75 and a 90g. and here is what I am planning...

Fish

5-6 discus
5 panda cories
5-6 otos
10 rummynose tetras
room for more fish in 90g?

Filtration

Eheim 2028
Fluidized bed or
Millenium 3000 wet/dry?
and maybe a sponge also

Tap Water parameters:
pH 6.6
dH 8
dKH 5
NH3, NO2, NO3 all zero

One of my main questions is the order in which I should set all this up. I have had my current tank for five years and have since learned the importance of fishless cycling, QT, etc. Would it be OK to get the tank going with plants and tankmates before adding the discus - I am planning on getting young ones that would be about 3" - or should I grow out the discus in a smaller tank (if so, what size best for 5-6 discus - would my current 33g be large enough?) then move them to an established 90g.?

Thanks so much for considering my questions! This board has been priceless!!

Lisa

[Don_Lee]

Lisa,

Welcome to the board, good to see you posting. Let's see, I would go with the 90 gallon first of all. Bigger is always better, and the tall tank would particularly suit discus well. Tank mates sound good, water looks good to me, I am sure you know to keep the temp from 84-88 degrees. Ever considered a wet/dry filter? Those are awful nice and keep the water nice and clean. Otherwise, the filtration you mention should do the job, although I would stick with Aquaclear products like the 300 or 500 for power filters.
I would definitely set the tank up with plants first, and once the plants are growing you will see little to no cycling IME. Do you have plans for lighting? Please see our Showtanks and biotopes section, which discusses plants in great detail.

Don ;D

[Ralph]

Hi Lisa,
It looks like you have been doing your reading.
The fish load you described sounds fine, most of us end up with overstocked tanks.
You probably want to go with the 33 gal grow out tank, big water changes on a ninety gal is a lot of work as you can imagine, unless you have an automatic setup. It will also give you time to set up the planted tank just like you want it.
Good luck and keep posting.

[lcs]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I've been doing a lot of reading - it's tiding me over until I can get my hands...uh...wet :D Reading and looking at all the great fish from members of this board. Good grief! :thumbsup: Hmmm, with all these fry swimming around - some of them are going to need a home :santa:

I've considered a wet/dry, but I've never seen a whole set up. Does the tank need bulkhead fittings for it? It seems comlplicated. The Millenium 3000 by Aquarium Systems is supposed to be a wet/dry power filter. Know anything about them?

I've had plants in my current tank for about four years now, mostly the easy-to-grow. I was planning on ordering the discus pack from Aqua-Botonic.

Lisa

[Don_Lee]

A wet/dry filter does not necessarily need to have the tank plumbed with bulkheads or overflows. Wet/dry filters are a pain to get up and running, but once they are they are very easy to maintain and do a great job. I have heard of the Millenium filter, I would only say that I doubt it would have the same effect of a full fledged wet/dry.
Lighting?

Don ;D

[lcs]

Don - so far I have had luck with 2W/gal, but that has been with extremely easy and slow-growing crypts. and Anubias. I did have some Giant vals. that were doing great and I loved them until we moved and for some reason they didn't last after that. ??? :'(

Anyway...I was going to use 48" fluorescents with a mixture of the cheap Chroma 50 from Home Depot and "redder" bulbs from the LFS, Petsmart, or where ever. I'm hoping I can fit closer to 3W/gal. with some floating or tall plants to provide some shading. Are 48" bulbs 40W? I know 36" are 30W.

[Don_Lee]

With standard flourescent bulbs the 4' bulbs are 40 watts. Sounds like you are on a good path with the lighting, I would just keep in mind that as you up the lighting it is akin to adding a turbocharger to your car. In other words, you need to adjust your fertilization and general nutrient availability with more lighting.

Don ;D

[limige]

welcome to the board lisa, sounds like a very nice tank your planning!

you don't have to drill holes in your tank for a wet/dry, you can use an overflow box. or make one if your feeling crafty, not all that hard.

the idea is, you have an overflow box inside your tank,( or i'm just using 3" pvc siliconed to a peice of glass, doubles as a breeding cone lol.) thiis will set your water height.

then you have a tube that is filled with water that goes to the a box on the rear of the tank. then you drill a hole in the rear box for a drain, i did it in the bottom for a stand pipe setup. the level of your stand pipe will determine the water level inside your overflow box.

from there it just drains into your filter, first a prefilter fabric then through bioballs, then a post filter overflowing into a sump area. then it get pumped into the tank again.

the overflow setup allow the tube going from front to back to hold a constant siphon if power goes out it stops overflowing and the level in your rear box and overflow in the tank equalize but don't expose the ends of the tube doing the siphoning.

hope you understand, it's pretty simply really, i can post pics if needed, i'm setting one up now, just waiting for bio balls and a pump!