Karlo
09-23-2008, 04:28 AM
I am planning on starting a discus tank in my room upstairs and I formulated a plan for it. God bless my parents for letting me stay in their home while I finish school. Since I am a poor college student I am going to start this project on Jan 25, 2009. By that date I will have aquired all my supplies by mostly mail. I plan on having a 55 gallon BB tank with potted plants. Filter will be a fluval 405 (overkill?) and lighting will be low light, maybe 1.7 wpg.
I have experience in keeping fish and I have a successful planted aquarium running but I feel like my 29 isn't quite enough to satisfy my unhealthy obsession of aquariums.
Jan 25 - check aquarium for leaks, clean and assemble stand and place upstairs.
Jan 26 - Paint back and bottom of aquarium (undecided color, please make a suggestion) and let dry
Jan 28 - Place aquarium upstairs on stand, fill and check for leaks again. Install filter, lights, and other equipment. I will use no heater because the weather in Hawaii is very hot. My room floats around low 80's during the day and drops a few degrees at night.
Jan 29 - Fill partly with aquarium water and possibly foam from established 29 gallon to seed bacteria. Begin cycle with 3 cardinal tetras. Will be using a cycle boosting product but I had not decided which one. Bio Spira is not available around here.
Feb 2 - Add 4 cardinal tetras. test parameters.
Feb 5 - Add 4 cardinal tetras. test parameters. If fully cycled, add another 10 cardinal tetras.
Feb 15 - I plan to have received the 5 juv discus that my LFS will be providing. Test Parameters. Start drip acclimation. Place discus in Aquarium.
I will not feed for 24 hours after acclimation is complete. I plan on feeding 4 or 5 times a day.
6/7 am when I wake up - Frozen food
10 am by timer - Dry food
2 pm by timer - Dry food
6 pm when I get home - Frozen food
8 pm half an hour before lights go off occasionally. - Frozen food
Please tell me which variety of frozen food and dry food will work best for my juv discus.
I plan on doing two 30%-50% water changes weekly and vaccuming the bottom 4 times a week.
When the discus have grown a few inches and feeding is reduced I will add less than an inch of white sand to the bottom for aesthetics. Along with that I will be adding potted plants into the aquarium. I am unsure what type of pot I will use so I am open to suggestions on what will be pleasing to the eye. I chose to use potted in order to keep the bottom clean.
I give care and attention to all living things I keep, flora and fauna. I want to grow these discus as healthily as I can so please give as much constructive criticism to my plan as you can. I am very open to advice based on experience and have no problem being open minded.
I have experience in keeping fish and I have a successful planted aquarium running but I feel like my 29 isn't quite enough to satisfy my unhealthy obsession of aquariums.
Jan 25 - check aquarium for leaks, clean and assemble stand and place upstairs.
Jan 26 - Paint back and bottom of aquarium (undecided color, please make a suggestion) and let dry
Jan 28 - Place aquarium upstairs on stand, fill and check for leaks again. Install filter, lights, and other equipment. I will use no heater because the weather in Hawaii is very hot. My room floats around low 80's during the day and drops a few degrees at night.
Jan 29 - Fill partly with aquarium water and possibly foam from established 29 gallon to seed bacteria. Begin cycle with 3 cardinal tetras. Will be using a cycle boosting product but I had not decided which one. Bio Spira is not available around here.
Feb 2 - Add 4 cardinal tetras. test parameters.
Feb 5 - Add 4 cardinal tetras. test parameters. If fully cycled, add another 10 cardinal tetras.
Feb 15 - I plan to have received the 5 juv discus that my LFS will be providing. Test Parameters. Start drip acclimation. Place discus in Aquarium.
I will not feed for 24 hours after acclimation is complete. I plan on feeding 4 or 5 times a day.
6/7 am when I wake up - Frozen food
10 am by timer - Dry food
2 pm by timer - Dry food
6 pm when I get home - Frozen food
8 pm half an hour before lights go off occasionally. - Frozen food
Please tell me which variety of frozen food and dry food will work best for my juv discus.
I plan on doing two 30%-50% water changes weekly and vaccuming the bottom 4 times a week.
When the discus have grown a few inches and feeding is reduced I will add less than an inch of white sand to the bottom for aesthetics. Along with that I will be adding potted plants into the aquarium. I am unsure what type of pot I will use so I am open to suggestions on what will be pleasing to the eye. I chose to use potted in order to keep the bottom clean.
I give care and attention to all living things I keep, flora and fauna. I want to grow these discus as healthily as I can so please give as much constructive criticism to my plan as you can. I am very open to advice based on experience and have no problem being open minded.