New 65 gallon BB tank set up?

[JonS]

I will soon be getting back to Discus after a 10 year hiatus. After reading the thread by Carol I have decided to do a bare bottom tank to grow out the juveniles (6 or 8). They then will be transferred into a larger planted tank (which has not been set up yet). Here is what I plan on doing for the 65gal BB tank, so please comment good or bad on my plans. Discus' lives are at stake.

65 gal (48x18x17)

Power filter

Filter media (Chemi-Pure, Nitra-Zorb) Is this OK?

Two 150 or 200 watt heaters.

A few potted plants (2 or 3 live amazon sword plants - but I can be talked out of this)

Lighting - I know the rule of thumb for plants is 2 watt per gallon, but what about for the Discus, should it be less? If so maybe I have to forget about the plants. So this one I am unsure of.

I will do daily 25-50% water changes using aged water.

Any comments, thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,

Jon

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Jon:
You don't need nitra zorb, etc. in a fully cycled filter. I like sponges for filter media as they are rinse and reuse forever. I don't have any potted plants in with the juveniles. Lighting doesn't matter to the discus. Tank size, heaters, etc. sound good :)

[alpine]

Jon, I am new to this and jsut set up fours 75 gallons.

I have
Aquaclear 110 with sponge and bio material on it- no carbon or chemipure...
hydro IV sponge filters ( 2) in each tank
Won LCD 250 watt heater (one) I think two would be overkill
I have six juveniles ( 3 1/2 ) on the only tank I have stocked up , I think eight might be too many as they grow.
I do not have plants but a couple of potted Amazons sound pretty cool
I use a one lamp all glass strip lite
I change 50% of the water daily, but will cut back to 35 % daily

roberto.

[Greg Richardson]

Roberto. One of the reasons you see people use two heaters is if one goes out the other one will keep the water heated.

[alpine]

Greg, I know, but to me that still is overkill. I use coralife digital thermometers in all the tanks and view them as I go into the room often.


roberto.

[funkyfish]

some tanks i do use 2 heaters but in my 75 i have 1 350 watt won in my 100
i have 2 stealth 250 watt heater's just depends on ur personal prefrence
some like 1 some like 2 the thing is if u use just 1 make sure u have a spare cause they do burn out some times.

[alpine]

what I stated is just my personal opinion.


roberto.

[KD]

Hi Jon,
I went back to Discus after many years myself.
Thank goodness to simply for the info.
Carol is a wealth of knowledge!
My goal was to grow out as big as I can healthy Discus.
I started with a 90 gal fully cycled ( using fishless cycle) with two of the largest hydro sponges and the largest aquaclear filter with bio media ( sponge blocks) I did use nitra sorb ( because I was worried about nitrate spike at first) but stopped after about 2 weeks into having 9 juvenile discus in the tank, two heaters in case one died off. I have since added another aquaclear (largest one) and things so far are fine and have some 5 1/2" one year olds.
At first I had some fake driftwood and plants - I took them out for several reasons, cleaning , fish bumping into them etc. I'd love to try potted plants but am weiry of introducing nasties.
I have one strip but am feeling that now I could use more lighting to show off the fish.
At first it was a little too much with the one so I covered the top with some tin foil till they were adjusted to the enviroment.
Since then I started a 55 corner bow tank with 6 more Discus, two med. Hydros , one Ac 300 (had to do some cuttin on the tank fram to fit) and heaters.
I am so proud of myself that I have not lost one fish. Of course I think buying from a reputable dealer is very important.
On cleaning I have done 50% for one year , now once in a while I will skip a day.
All in all SO FAR SO GOOD, I've treated 2 times with prazi with no wormies and one fish with metro, which I think turned out to be bloat instead of something worse - fhew!
Like many say here - water change = water changes - water changes!!!!
Hope you have a happy new begining!!!
Karen

[JonS]

Wow, thanks for all the information. This is such a great place. As I said I had Discus 10 years ago and had to give them up when I moved. They even breed for me afew times. I finally decided to get back into it when I started a 29 gal setup for my daughter. This will be exciting, once I grow them out I intend to move them into a larger aquarium, that will be planted. But first I have to get this right and it seems that this forum has given me the proper direction.

Thanks Again!!

Jon