My first discus tank checklist

[SE Billy]

Hello everyone,

I am in the process of buying everything I need to set up my first tank that will hold discus. I am going to do BB tank to grow out the 6-8 juveniles that I will eventually get. Once they are adults I plan to put them into a Show Tank so I really don't want to breed at the moment. I'm just looking for the biggest and brightest for a show tank.

Main Tank
55G AGA tank with wooden stand with cabinets and dual light strip
Aquaclear 110(500) with dual foam filter and prefilter
Visi-Therm Stealth Submersible heater 250W x2 - I'm over cautious with heat due to heater malfunctions in the past
Thermometer x2 - see above
Eheim battery operated auto feeder
Complete test kit (pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, gH, and kH)
Python Syphon 50'

Water changes will be 25% every night after the last feeding using aged water from a storage bin kept inside the cabinet under tank.

Water Storage
31G Rubbermaid Roughneck Storage Bin
Visi-Therm Stealth Submersible heater 250W
Thermometer
Hose for pump back to main tank and refill storage bin
Hagen Powerhead 70 - 400 gph or Rio 2100 Powerhead - 675 gph - Not sure about either one of these and might just go get a water pump for ponds from the local Menards. They had 500gph pumps for $30.00.

Food
Morning - Frozen Brine or Bloodworms
1st Auto Feed - Tetra bits
2nd Auto Feed - a quality flake - Any suggestions?
Night - Beefheart
Treat - Live Bloodworms or Brine Shrimp

Medications
Salt
Epsom Salt - the dreaded bloat
Formalin
Metronidazole (Hex-a-mit)

Any suggestions or comments are welcomed!

[dandestroy]

couple of stuff that I believe works well that you might want to consider

Main tank:
-hydro sponge filter (H-V from jehmco)
-air pump (I suggest the Rio 400 wich is pretty impressive for noise and leave you enough power if you add a few tank later on)
-air stone
-drill your tank for overflow, cause your going to give up on dayli WC if you do them everyday with the python.
-setup a pipe that connect to your drain and that you control with a valve for exemple, You have to make WC as easy as you can on yourself.

water storage:
most rubermaid garbage contain anti-mildew agent that are toxic, try to get yourself a plastic drum used for food. (checkout the nearest CokaCola warehouse, or meat industry, or some store that supply these used drum to build floating dock.)

Food:
flake, try some spirulina flake

medication:
add these to your supply:
-Furan2
-Prazipro
-coarse salt

if you need help for water connection and stuff for draining the tank, and that drilling it is not an option let me know, I'll try to post some pics of my Qt 55 gal tank that is setup similarly to what you're trying to achieve

[SE Billy]

I thought about drilling the tank and doing an overflow but the tank will be in my office and the slop sink is next to the water heater 30' away around two corners. I also have a couple of internal sponge filters, air pumps, check valves and such but I was under the impression that the AQ500 with dual foam and prefilter would be good enough for my biological and mechanical filtration. Do others use AQ's and internal sponges as well? I guess I was trying to keep everything off of the tank bottom to make siphoning off detrius easier on my dailies. Actually daily water changes are not too bad as I am using this tank as a way to introduce my young son to the world of aquariums and it's a good way for him to learn the proper ways to keep fish. I used to change out over 500 gallons of tanks using just a bucket and a syphon hose so a python to me is simplicity itself.

I was under the impression that a lot of people have used the roughneck storage bins for their aging water. I don't want to use something that will be toxic to my fish at all. I guess my only limitation then is space as I doubt anything larger than the current bin that I have will fit inside the cabinet. What size are these food grade bins from Coca-Cola? Does anyone have a picture of one I could see or a link?

As for the medicines, I currently have the salt and the Furan2 as I had a bad bacterial infection on one of my Salt tanks and needed a broad range antibacterial "shotgun" to take care of the situation in my hospital tank. Not sure what the Prazipro is for.

Thanks for the suggestions Dandestroy.

[wolfbane]

I just use the AC filter, no hydro in the tank. I do however do a larger water change daily, 75%.

[marilyn1998]

I grew out 14 discus to adults in my tank. I used the AC110 and Penguin 350B. Two 110's would be great. The sponge filter is in case you need a seeded filter quick, like for a hosptial or qt tank. You dont need it otherwise.

I did/do WC's at 50% daily with a python. There isnt anything to it. I am also blessed with great water, (which I tested every day before WC), so I never aged my water so cant speak about the storage.

The 2 Heaters is a great idea. WIth discus and high temps they burn out fast. I always use two and the Visitherm Stealth are great.

Plan looks good! Good Luck! Make sure you buy those babies from a great source. The sponsors here are wonderful to work with and there are alot of folks with references for them!

[susan markow]

Hi guys we have just purchased a few rubbermaid brute storage bins to store our water in are they safe or do they contain anti mildew agents. Hope we havent got to take them all back to the store lol cheers Susan.

[Mack]

At the ACA this year in Chicago, they used Rubbermaid Brute garbage cans for moving around clean and dirty water…I would assume they are fine.
Joe

[Alight]

I'd add a second AC 110 as was suggested. You can cover the intake tubes of the ACs with sponges and get the same effects as having a sponge filter, and a pretty darn good prefilter to boot.

I'd get Prazi, or Prazi-pro as was suggested.

Many plastic storage containers do have anti-mildew treatments, which is why I always "cure" these containers with water and baking soda, and fill them with very hot water that I change every few days for a few weeks before I use them.

Why not change 50 - 60% of the water every day, or at least every other day? You'll have enough water in your storage bin to do it, and it's almost as easy to change that much as opposed to the 25% you suggest.


I'd skip the brine shrimp once the fish get to be 3 inches or so. There's just not enough nutrition in them for the bulk they have. You might substitute frozen mysis shrimp at that point.

How are you going to cycle your tank? Don't forget this very important start, or you won't get very far.

[susan markow]

Phew !!!! thanks Mack. We just bought 6 rubbermaid brutes for water storage i sure didn't fancy hauling them back to the depot. I shall give them a good cleaning and rinse them out over the next week or so .

[SE Billy]

I have an extra AQ110(500) sitting in my storage that I use strictly for QT on my other tanks so I am okay in that regard. I want to avoid using too much water circulation because I thought that Discus prefer less. Setting up a hospital tank in a pinch won't be a concern.

For cycling, I will be doing a fishless cycle using ammonia. I have done this before on numerous tanks and it is IMHO the only way to cycle tanks.

I will use the Rubbermaid Brute 35 Gallon garbage cans for storage instead of the storage bins. I'll also treat with baking soda and hot water for a week to get rid of anyything that might have hitched a rid from the factory to the sales floor to my office.

Changing out 50% per day will work as well. I wasn't at first sure if I would be able to have a water storage unit that was large enough to make that much of a daily change. But now that I have cleared out a closet in my office I can simply put the garbage can inside and have more water to change.

I've never had good luck using frozen mysis shrimp with any of my other fish. I would always use frozen brine and they all seemed to enjoy it. I'll give it a shot with some of my angels again this week to see how they fare. So far I was thinking Frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, tetra bits, spirulina flake with some vitamin supplement, beefheart, and for treats live CBW. Anything wrong with doing just 4 feedings per day? I'm not sure how I would fit in another one except on weekends. I guess I should start playing the lottery so I can stay at home in front of my tanks all day. But then I would have less spending cash a week on my fish.

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions.