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Matt in Houston
09-23-2009, 10:58 PM
Here are some teaser shots of my new 210 gallon discus tank. I decided to take the plunge and paint the background Krylon Watermelon. I think it came out great. The dimensions of the tank are 7ft X 2ft X 2ft. The tank is a custom build using black silicone and no top trim. The stand is 30" tall.

The wood will be attached together to form branches entering the water from each corner of the tank...as for now they are floating to help get more water logged so they can sink. Smaller twigs and branches will also be scattered about the bottom substrate, which is the new Crystal River sand from Caribsea. It is similar to torpedo beach but with an overall smaller avg. grain size.

Filtration consist of an Eheim 2180 and a CPR CR3000 wet dry with a CS202 overflow box hanging over the far right side. An Eheim 1262 submersible pump is in the sump. The 2180's intake tubes are simply using the Eheim hose and I will run it down the branches, one on each side of the tank..and zip tie to the branches so the intake tubing will be completely hidden from view. You can see I have them just hanging against the back of the tank for now.

Lighting is provided by a 36" Aquatic Life programmable T5HO 4 X 39w with 4 lunar LEDS.

As you can see in the pics I painted half of the sides to help hide tubing and filtration equipment, as well as to add a little security to the fish. On the outside over each painted side is a piece of black acrylic cut to size and attached with velcro to the glass to finish the look.

Enjoy the pics!

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/emptynoflash1.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/emptyflash1.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/noflash1.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/closeback1.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/noflash2.JPG

Lytehouse
09-23-2009, 11:09 PM
Matt,

Great start. Have you decided on which fish yet?

Matt in Houston
09-23-2009, 11:33 PM
Matt,

Great start. Have you decided on which fish yet?

Well since I live near Gulf Coast Discus I will get my fish from them....and I'm going to get an assortment of different strains. I think most colors will look pretty good in the tank. I need to get some different bulbs though...2 actinics is blue overkill in a 4 bulb fixture freshwater tank.

hoangben
09-23-2009, 11:59 PM
WOW, amazing tank..... can't wait to see the finish work. Keep on posting, I love it. Make my 150 gallon look pathetic, lol.

discusluvr818
09-24-2009, 12:49 AM
Awesome tank. I can't wait to see what it looks like filled with Discus. Great start for sure.

Eddie
09-24-2009, 01:51 AM
Nice tank! Love the color!

Eddie

darbex
09-24-2009, 02:11 AM
Nice you didnt tease the box though.

Elite Aquaria
09-24-2009, 07:41 AM
Matt,

That is a great looking tank...I wish the boss here would let me get one for the inside of the house...;)

Right now I am QT to the garage...:D

Matt in Houston
09-24-2009, 07:44 AM
Nice you didnt tease the box though.

You didn't see my post? I made one it should be there. Can't leave the Houston Fishbox out!

darbex
09-24-2009, 10:31 AM
I was looking in the discus section. This looks sweet unique idea on the color cant wait to see fish in it. Any plants or just sand?

DiscusFreakaZoid
09-24-2009, 10:43 AM
Great layout. nothing beats wood and sand so simple but so elegant. School of cardinals and glo fish would top it off:p:balloon:

Matt in Houston
09-24-2009, 11:41 AM
I was looking in the discus section. This looks sweet unique idea on the color cant wait to see fish in it. Any plants or just sand?

Im going to use some floating plants positioned under the light and using the wood to keep the plants in place. Mostly South American fast growing nitrate eaters like anacharis and brazillian pennywort....I may also grow some in the sump.

Substrate will have branches and sand only.

mlov1022
09-24-2009, 03:39 PM
WOW, amazing tank..... can't wait to see the finish work. Keep on posting, I love it. Make my 150 gallon look pathetic, lol.Same here.

joanr
09-24-2009, 04:23 PM
Thanks for the pics Matt, amazing tank, great color! I like what you did with the sides, good idea.

Scribbles
09-24-2009, 09:03 PM
Pretty tank. What strains are you going to put in it? Silver pigeons or White Butterflys would look awesome.

Chris

Matt in Houston
09-24-2009, 11:53 PM
Pretty tank. What strains are you going to put in it? Silver pigeons or White Butterflys would look awesome.

Chris

I'm going to mix it up with different strains that I can get through Gulf Coast Discus (Houston Aquarium Warehouse)...They are local to me and always have quality stuff...I will probably get 12 or so. I would also like a school of tetras and a crew of cories.

darbex
09-25-2009, 12:30 AM
My virginae corys have been awesome they easily stand up to the higher temps

Darren's Discus
09-25-2009, 03:50 AM
Matt,
looks like a great set up,love the colour very different ! Dan has some beautiful fish look forward to the pics.



cheers

Lytehouse
09-25-2009, 11:19 AM
Matt,

re read your thread, painting the sids 1/2 way seems like a good idea for the fish and to hide equipment. How is that working out with equipment?

Cooldadddyfunk286
09-25-2009, 11:42 AM
very very cool man, that looks really nice. the ballet slipper pink that I used is pretty faint from the inside of the tank. looks mostly white. yours looks alot more pink. very nice! keep us updated please!

Cooldadddyfunk286
09-25-2009, 11:45 AM
Matt,

That is a great looking tank...I wish the boss here would let me get one for the inside of the house...;)

Right now I am QT to the garage...:D

Dan, she wont even let you have ONE nice display tank in the house?? c'mon mrs. E.....c'mon now :p:D

I think you should just set one up REAL beautiful one day. stock it with some killer Wayne beauties...she'll probably love it! do it, do it! ;)

Matt in Houston
09-25-2009, 03:07 PM
Matt,

re read your thread, painting the sids 1/2 way seems like a good idea for the fish and to hide equipment. How is that working out with equipment?


I think its working out very well...one of my goals is to have all underwater equipment hidden from view as to not ruin the look. I will have all my intake tubes hidden behind branches of wood, and outputs in the top far corners blocked from view by wood as well. My filter houses a built in heater so those are hidden too. So the half painted sides are a good compromise and also do well to block the overflow box hanging off the right side.

I will post more pics soon...planning to mount the branches this weekend.

Matt in Houston
09-27-2009, 10:54 PM
With the help of a friend I was able to mount the wood...It wasnt very easy to do. We used all stainless steel screws and pre-drilled the holes. The hardest part was making it all look good while making it fit and keeping into consideration swimming room for the fish. In the end, I think it came out well.

I also went out and purchased new bulbs for my fixture. I knew the bulbs would be the key to pulling this color off and making it something people will remember. I set a schedule to include a morning/evening, midday, and night. I am thrilled with the results...

I have a single Aquatic Life Actinic and one Hagen Powerglo 18k for my morning/evening event.

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/Woodmounted/lowmorn1.JPG





Midday consist of the morning/evening bulbs plus a combo of a Geissman Midday 6000k and a Geissman Aquablue 15k.

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/Woodmounted/highmidday1.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/Woodmounted/lowclosemid1.JPG




Night consist of four blue LEDs that are built into the fixture.

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/Woodmounted/night1.JPG



I also dumped 2 big bottles of Safe Start in today as well as squeezed out an established sponge filter into the tank. Hopefully this will speed up my fishless cycle...I can hardly wait to stock the tank!

Thanks for looking!

-Matt

joanr
09-27-2009, 11:15 PM
And I can hardly wait to see it stocked! That is pure perfection in design, you did an outstanding job. It's beauty is in the simplicity and won't overpower the fish. I like the two-tone background swirl effect and the wood is just awsome.

m.ingram
09-28-2009, 04:24 AM
Your tank looks AWSOME cant wait to see fish in it either .

plecocicho
09-28-2009, 10:45 AM
F A N T A S T I C!:D Now i would only put a large school of blueface heckels/cuipea blues/browns wild red spotted teffe discus.

Lytehouse
09-28-2009, 03:31 PM
First off, well thought out lighting set up & thanks for all the pics.

Also, tank looks great. You've really done a nice job.

I wanted to ask, since I've never had this type of wood in the tank...

Is there any danger in the Discus harming themselves on the ends of the wood?

Matt in Houston
09-28-2009, 05:27 PM
First off, well thought out lighting set up & thanks for all the pics.

Also, tank looks great. You've really done a nice job.

I wanted to ask, since I've never had this type of wood in the tank...

Is there any danger in the Discus harming themselves on the ends of the wood?

I would have to say yes there is always a chance, but its also about how much space you have to work with. One of the hardest parts of mounting the wood was creating holes and spaces in the design so that they would have plenty of swimming room. Its hard to tell from the pics but the piece of wood coming from the right that appears to be in the middle foreground is a good 6 to 7 inches away from the front glass. Infact none of the pieces touch any glass, with the exception of the high branch coming from the left that touches the top middle brace.

I may do a little trimming on the tiny branch, there are a few points of wood that you cant really see and could scratch a fish....but also keep in mind the shape of a discus, they are naturally found in some areas much more wooded than my tank. I have seen a video of discus in the wild and I was suprised at how much wood cover the fish were hiding in.

Eddie
09-28-2009, 08:20 PM
Absolutely amazing tank! That is WICKED! Some Adults in that tank will be like ANGELS!!! :angel:

All the best,

Eddie

Lytehouse
09-28-2009, 09:50 PM
I see what you are talking about...

The tank just looks great.

lpiasente
09-28-2009, 10:46 PM
It actually looks like a sunset. Just bewdiful.......:) and the wood looks amazing

Matt in Houston
09-29-2009, 12:27 AM
Just tonight I was playing with the lighting and I found that by sliding my light back a little further on the middle brace I can create a different effect of shadows and background color. In addition, I have a new morning bulb setting that is more orangish tone than purple, using a combo of midday and an aqua blue. Now all three events look different, instead of just sharing the morning and evening events using the same bulbs. I have no idea why I didnt think of this before.

So my mornings will be a little more orange-ish now... :) I'll take a pic tomorrow...and my sunsets will remain purple/pink-ish as you have seen in the previous pics.

I also have two orange spot plecos in qt...LDA31...small peaceful wood eaters, and temp range is from 78-91 F.

Scribbles
09-30-2009, 02:46 AM
Your tank looks amazing! Can't wait to see it stocked.

Chris

joanr
09-30-2009, 07:42 AM
So how is the safestart working out for you? Is it cycling the tank? Always curious on how well these bacteria products work. Are you feeding it some ammo to keep it cycling until the fish are stocked?

Matt in Houston
09-30-2009, 10:34 AM
So how is the safestart working out for you? Is it cycling the tank? Always curious on how well these bacteria products work. Are you feeding it some ammo to keep it cycling until the fish are stocked?

I was going to post in the miracle grow thread but since I have added safe start and squeezed in an established sponge filter from my other tank I figured my results would be atypical.

I currently have around 4 ppm ammonia, 2 nitrite, and 5 nitrate as of last night which was about at the one week mark. I am happy I have some nitrates, and these didnt appear until a couple days after I dumped in the safe start. I think ammonia at 4ppm is a little higher than I would like at this point, but Im going to leave it alone for now. Ill try to keep the thread updated as I progress.

Cooldadddyfunk286
09-30-2009, 01:20 PM
man, thats just amazing. I cant wait to see it with some discus...any idea what strains, size?? thanks!

take care Matt.

Matt in Houston
09-30-2009, 03:53 PM
man, thats just amazing. I cant wait to see it with some discus...any idea what strains, size?? thanks!

take care Matt.

I would really like a variety of many different colors and big healthy adults only. Im probably shooting for 12 to 14 discus...I will also have a couple schools of tetra and cories.

Maybe later down the road I will try my hand at wild discus, but as for now Im going to keep domestics only in this tank.

Thanks everyone for all the comments and support. This seems to be a good forum with some very knowledgable people.

Cooldadddyfunk286
09-30-2009, 04:56 PM
forums dont get better than this one my friend. defiantly stick around here! any discus question you could ever have will be answered!

good call on all domestic adults. should get them all from the same source too. some turks, blue diamonds, LSS...the possibilities are endless! this is gonna be one hell of a show tank when your done. it looks soooo sweet. I love the different lighting schemes thruout the day! are all those different bulbs in 1 fixture, timed differently??

what I would do, is check around...pick a sponsor and see what strains you really like. I think less is likely to go wrong if you get all your fish from the same person. Kenny Cheung has some great selection to choose from. he can also order anything that you would need. if your into high bodied fish, or like Wayne Ng fish, check out Dan Espinosa, great guy with great fish aswell!

take care man! glad to have you around here!

**EDIT** -- I did alittle more reading thru this thread and see that ur gonna go with gulf coast since they are local, thats gonna be great. they got some quality fish, and best of all you will be able to go pick them in person! I dont think it gets better than that. ;)

Matt in Houston
10-02-2009, 12:40 AM
Yes my fixture allows for 3 different timer settings, including the LEDs...so you can actually get 4 different events...

Morning lights A
Middday lights A+B
Evening lights B
Night lights LED

Each setting (A) or (B) or (LED) has its own timer built into the control panel on the light. Its a great fixture, I highly recommend it.

Here is an update on my miracle grow cycle...the safe start really did help!

Ammonia ~3ppm, API liquid test.
Nitrite off the charts, HOT pink on the test strip...
Nitrate ~ 40, test strip.

Seems like my nitrate jumped from ~10 to ~40 in 24 hours...thats a good sign!

joanr
10-06-2009, 10:21 PM
So how's it going Matt? Cycled yet? When are you going to stock that awsome tank?

Matt in Houston
10-07-2009, 12:03 AM
Tank has been eating daily ammonia doses like crazy, but its still very high in nitrite...and of course nitrates...I havent done any water changes since I started the cycle.

The water is tinted like dark tea from all the manzanita...in fact it made the pink background look burnt orange...:D

I'm hoping to see some loss in nitrites this week...then I will do a massive water change to rid the nitrates and be done. I am a little over 2 weeks into the cycle so it should be ready very soon.

darbex
10-07-2009, 11:07 AM
Burnt orange is a great color

Lytehouse
10-07-2009, 01:42 PM
Burnt orange is a great color


+1 :D

Matt in Houston
10-20-2009, 12:31 AM
Tank is fully cycled after 21 days and now has a few fish in it...so far two LDA31 Orange Sport Panaque, ~125 Green Neon Tetra, and 6 Discus who are all doing great so far...here are a few teaser shots real quick...I grew some hair algae on the wood where it gets a lot of light during the day, I will deal with that later. The discus were a little camera shy tonight, after all its their first full day in the tank. Once the blue LEDS come on at night they are exploring around everywhere. Anyway its getting late need to get to bed!

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/gtetra.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/gtetra2.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/discus2.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/checkerboard1.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/rleapord.JPG

mareshow
10-20-2009, 01:42 AM
those fish are amazing and in that tank they look absolutely stunning, you'll have to post more pictures when they are out and about!

Lytehouse
10-20-2009, 09:53 AM
Discus look awesome...

and I love the big school of tetras

MikeF
10-20-2009, 10:09 AM
This is an amazing tank. It's giving me some ideas of my own! Looks like I will need to buy another tank. One question. How did you attach the wood together? Not sure if I missed that or not? Great job.

Matt in Houston
10-20-2009, 10:35 AM
This is an amazing tank. It's giving me some ideas of my own! Looks like I will need to buy another tank. One question. How did you attach the wood together? Not sure if I missed that or not? Great job.

Thanks! I will take some better pics of the discus when they school back and forth the length of the tank....its truely a sight to see. I also need to get more discus, these 6 make a tank this size look almost bare. 12 to 14 would be a good number I think.

The wood is attached together with stainless steel screws attached through the back of the wood so you cant see them....just make sure you predrill the holes with a bit slightly smaller diameter than the screw. If you dont predrill the holes then you could split the wood when you drill the screw in. Use your thickest piece as a main trunk to attach other branches to.

I also hid my filter return and intake lines behind the wood using a plastic zip tie to hold it in place. Also I didnt use the plastic intake pipes, instead I used the eheim green hose since it is flexible and can be run along the back of a branch.

Good luck, hope this helps to fuel some ideas. I think your background color in combination with proper lighting is a big key to a more dynamic look.

Eddie
10-20-2009, 08:13 PM
Tank looks great Matt, love that second picture of all the tetras!

All the best,

Eddie

Big Tuck
10-20-2009, 08:39 PM
If i was a Discus id want to live at your house!!!One of the nicest jobs iv seen in a long time.Best of luck with your beautiful tank. Tuck

joanr
10-20-2009, 11:18 PM
Really came together Matt, it's a work of art. Lucky Discus!

Matt in Houston
10-21-2009, 12:18 AM
Thanks for all the compliments...I like it too...:D

I will take some better pics when they are out and about....also looking forward to finding my next 6 discus. Gulf Coast Discus should have a new shipment in a couple weeks or so. Until then need to find some corys too.

Ill keep the thread updated as things progress.

rickztahone
10-21-2009, 02:06 AM
i like the hair algae to be completely honest

Matt in Houston
10-24-2009, 12:11 AM
Update and a few quick pics...

Tomorrow I am picking up a Red Melon and a Red Leapard, both are from a private seller purchased from Gulf Coast Discus back in May 09. They look great in the pics...I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Also considering 4 Albino BN plecos for tank workers and a couple of L134's to help keep the bottom clean instead of a group of corys. I already have 2 LDA31 Orange spot panaques and they crap wood all day, but they keep the wood clean too...I dont think wood crap has that much of a bioload anyway...lol :D

The Eheim sludge extractor vac is great for this tank...once a day I can do a quick vac of the wood crap and left over food and its very easy to rinse out. Also I did a 75% water change today and my nitrates are super low...less than 5 or so. Heck it had been a week and I think they were only around 10 or 15 tops. I think my brazilian pennywort is helping some...its been growing pretty well.

I plan to keep the tank lightly stocked for its size...probably 12 discus, the tetras, and the plecos...thats it. I hope I can stick with the once a week water changes. I will be keeping an eye out and taking into consideration dissolved organics as well as nitrates.

Temp is at 84, but I am going to try 85 starting tonight. I hope to see a little more activity from these guys as I ween them to angelsplus flakes. Right now only the ring leapard and the blue snake skin will eat flakes with any gusto. Im sure everyone is still getting used to their new home...it will be a week for them on Sunday!

Here they are...messing around...

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/group3.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/group2.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/group4.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/group1.JPG

Eddie
10-24-2009, 12:17 AM
Nice group Matt, they look great. Love the colors.

Take care,

Eddie

Lytehouse
10-24-2009, 02:30 AM
Thanks for the pics...

Beautiful group, Congrats on finding the others.

Scribbles
10-24-2009, 03:01 AM
Your tank looks super! It reminds me of a sunset. Nice group of discus.

Chris

Matt in Houston
10-26-2009, 11:17 PM
Few more pics, and some have the new guys in them...I cant wait to get a new camera for Christmas, the little cannon point and shoot isnt doing the tank justice. Got my eye on the Nikon D300S. :D

Today a few discus were eating frozen brine shrimp out of my hand. Everyone seems to be doing well and eating more each day...only my two pigeons are still a little shy of me. The red melon is the smallest guy, he is a hoot. Very type A personality for his size, sometimes leading the school around the tank and not scared to venture off on his own to graze around.

Anyway, enjoy the pics! By the way, is the last pic a Leopard Snakeskin? The seller wasnt sure what he was.

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/fulltank2.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/fulltank1.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/leopard.JPG

lives4discus
10-27-2009, 01:02 AM
AMAZING!!! i love it

TURBOFROG
10-29-2009, 02:54 PM
WOW......That looks so good! Great job with it!!

Eddie
10-29-2009, 07:06 PM
Yes, looks like a LSS, nice pictures.

Eddie

Cooldadddyfunk286
10-30-2009, 03:00 PM
wow dude...thats beautiful, im speechless! great work!! keep the pics comin! :D:D

DavidC
10-30-2009, 08:44 PM
gotta ask and maybe you mentioned but im not a very good reader, what method did you use to keep the wood up and out of the way, i have used grapvine would before in tanks but never thought about trying to keep them up and out of the way like that... i think this tank may have convinced my wife to turn my 200 gal tall frontosa kippilli tank into a discus tank, i wont argue to much :D

Matt in Houston
10-31-2009, 02:44 AM
gotta ask and maybe you mentioned but im not a very good reader, what method did you use to keep the wood up and out of the way, i have used grapvine would before in tanks but never thought about trying to keep them up and out of the way like that... i think this tank may have convinced my wife to turn my 200 gal tall frontosa kippilli tank into a discus tank, i wont argue to much :D

Stainless steel screws...pre-drill the holes from the back so when you put the screw in it wont split the wood or be visible from the front. Dont drill all the way through the visible piece of wood, just all the way through the one youre attaching it too from the back. Make sure your drill bit is a little smaller diameter in size than the screw you plan to use.

It takes some time to piece it together properly so it will fit and also so your fish will have space to swim between the branches...maybe your wife likes puzzles? Thats basicly what you have to do. :D Your largest piece of wood is your "trunk" and you can attach the other branches off of it.

In addition, your over all look will change some when it finally water logs and sits a little lower in the water than when you first set it up. Pre soak your wood to minimize that from happening...but if you can soak it inside or in a garage...Dont let the mosquitoes infest your wood!

Good luck! Its pretty easy to make a nice tangled wood tank.

DavidC
10-31-2009, 05:34 PM
yeah i have a nice set up of wood and such in my 50 gal, but when i do this conversion with my 200 gal. tall it will be different as i dont think im gonna want a few smaller pieces but to go more for the look of 1 huge piece... how were your tannins with this tank? did you boil, bake or just carbon treat the tank really heavily?... maybe the tannins are still there but i dont see any, maybe due to the pink walls???

thanks

lpiasente
10-31-2009, 06:31 PM
i like the hair algae to be completely honest

me too

Matt in Houston
10-31-2009, 10:39 PM
yeah i have a nice set up of wood and such in my 50 gal, but when i do this conversion with my 200 gal. tall it will be different as i dont think im gonna want a few smaller pieces but to go more for the look of 1 huge piece... how were your tannins with this tank? did you boil, bake or just carbon treat the tank really heavily?... maybe the tannins are still there but i dont see any, maybe due to the pink walls???

thanks

I soaked my manzanita wood for about a week or so before I put it into the tank. Also, if you are doing bi-weekly or even weekly water changes on a big tank like that one, you will hardly see any tannins if you presoaked the wood a little. My water gets very slightly amber colored on day 6 or 7 but its not very noticeable. I like it actually...I was going to run peat in the sump but there is no point unless you can add your water changes through a peat filter first.

I do recommend pouring boiling or very hot water over the wood before you move it into your tank. It may help to kill what ever may have got on the wood while you were soaking it.

When the water gets amber color, the pink walls turn light orange.

jjhdiscus
11-12-2009, 09:34 AM
Beautiful job Matt, I'm going up to a 210 deep after Chrismas, just asking permission to use some of your really neat ideas, don't want to get sued for plagiarism LOL. I do have a question, what is your substraight and do you have any problem with algea showing on the light clored sand. I would wish you the beat of luck, but you really don't need it (:

John

Matt in Houston
11-12-2009, 01:46 PM
Beautiful job Matt, I'm going up to a 210 deep after Chrismas, just asking permission to use some of your really neat ideas, don't want to get sued for plagiarism LOL. I do have a question, what is your substraight and do you have any problem with algea showing on the light clored sand. I would wish you the beat of luck, but you really don't need it (:

John

Hi John...

I used the Caribsea brand substrate called Crystal River....it is excellent. No algae on the sand at all. I would recommend you keep the lighting low for a better look and more activity from the discus. All my hair algae was eaten by the fish and plecos....so its gone now. I also moved my pennywort into the sump and light it with a lamp under the stand for 12hrs at night. It was collecting too much debris in the main tank is why I moved it.

One thing that really helps is to use small koralia powerheads along with your filter outputs to have the poo and other debris gently pushed into little piles where you can quick vac them daily. In a 210g you dont want or need to be changing the water all the time, so I highly recommend a battery powered vac for daily sweeping. My tank looks spotless, water quality is excellent and I can change the water once a week.

Good luck, hope this helps!

Matt in Houston
11-30-2009, 12:30 AM
Some pics of new fish...

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/group5.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/brown1.JPG

http://ace.oplink.net/pics/Aquarium/Discus/group6.JPG

hecallsmejay
11-30-2009, 02:56 AM
Looks Great!!!!!!!!!! Beautiful pictures, Beautiful fish!


Jeanette

Scribbles
11-30-2009, 04:40 AM
Beautiful! Great job!

Chris

dean9922
11-30-2009, 02:48 PM
Love the background, fish and overall look......nice job!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lytehouse
12-01-2009, 11:49 AM
Very nice Matt.

How are you enjoying your setup?

judy
12-01-2009, 12:56 PM
amazing, absolutely amazing-- so beautiful it makes my heart hurt-- and now I;m tempted to get rid of my planted tank and go with something simple and stunningly elegant like this.
wow. wow. wow.

Bill Maher
12-01-2009, 02:02 PM
That is the most beautiful tanks I have ever seen. AMAZING!!!!

sbanks78
12-23-2009, 12:09 AM
very cool! beautiful discus!

ChloroPhil
12-23-2009, 10:01 AM
That's gorgeous Matt! One of these days the DFW Discus folks are going to have to make a road trip down to Houston to see y'all's tanks.

Cheers,
Phil

tcmemphisbbq
12-23-2009, 10:56 PM
what kind of sand did you use?

whitedevil
07-28-2010, 12:42 PM
after seeing this I wish I would have painted mine watermelon rather then black.
Superb job.

Jennie
07-28-2010, 08:39 PM
Ok, I like everyone elses tank but mine;( I want to know how did you get the 2 tones on the back glass piece? scraping, rubbing of some of the pink??

target
09-16-2010, 10:16 AM
Your tank looks great. Very nice set up.

kaujong
09-16-2010, 09:59 PM
Hi, how do you hang the woods?

supervdl
10-01-2010, 04:20 PM
Beautiful tank!!!

samuelkl
10-03-2010, 11:15 PM
anyone asking what sand he used or how he attached the wood, look back at the first couple pages.

mmd
01-15-2011, 12:01 AM
no updates?

noobF1
01-15-2011, 12:10 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTGzWdhOwPs

that's all i have to say LOL hahahaha.........this song is for you!

mmd
01-16-2011, 08:22 PM
the link was to a rap video ??

Jennie
01-16-2011, 09:09 PM
Anyone know whatever happened to this member??

sergioya72
01-18-2011, 12:32 PM
wow looks beautiful! very good project
Congratulations!

blkg35
01-23-2011, 04:31 AM
From what I last remember, this tank is no longer a discus tank. I believe that Matt changed it into a SA tank.

texassupra71
11-22-2012, 03:19 PM
I think I'm going to do my lungfish tank this color!!!

1oscar
11-27-2012, 08:58 AM
Great looking setup your aquascape is a master piece of
Visual presentation thanks for sharing

rainforestexperience
11-29-2012, 02:34 PM
Beautifully done...Simple but elegant!!!

johnny911
12-06-2012, 11:54 PM
+1

johnny911
12-06-2012, 11:55 PM
+