Starting a 110 gallon or 180 gallon tank soon, need advice.

[MightyEvil]

Hello everyone, I am obviously new to this forum and I am looking forward to start keeping Discus. A little about myself... I have kept African Cichlids for over 6 years now and I was ready to let go of the hobby. I am currently remodeling my little house and it seems like my living room will look very empty after my computer desk is thrown out, so I decided to stay in the hobby and keep these fish that I have been wanting to keep for a while. I do have a 110 gallon tank (I plan to break this tank down and could be used for the Discus) and a 180 gallon tank that I can use but I will probably sell both and get a rim less tank (don't know yet).

Anyway, I am here because I need to know what kind of turnover rate a tank would need for Discus. I also want to use a thin layer of pool filter sand and I want to have a little bit of plants (very little plants). I am very lazy when it comes to doing water changes, so my plan is to only keep about 8-10 Discus and 15-25 Neon Tetras in the 180, less fish if I go with the 110 gallon. I also plan on using a 40 gallon sump and maybe using a skimmer for the sump (already have all this equipment so no money will be spent, except for the sand). Should I use some power-heads to keep debris off the sand? I will also be using a 72" NEP (T5HO) lighting, any cons with the lighting? I plan on taking most bulbs off the fixture so I don't blind the fish to death. What would you do with this hardware if you wanted to keep Discus, would you sell it and buy other types of filtration and equipment or would you use this?

The idea is to create the look of a cave on one side of the tank and a more open look on the other, kind of like a river bank theme I guess. I also want to put a patch of plants on top of a rock or driftwood where the light will penetrate through the cave. I want a dark look where the cave will be so the reflections of the fish stand out.

I think I wrote too much now, any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh and I cant post links yet but if you want to see my 110 gallon, you can visit my youtube page, my channel is MightyEvil. Thank you guys!

[TURQ64]

too much light for most Discus...I use sumps and prefer them...

[MightyEvil]

too much light for most Discus...I use sumps and prefer them...

So it would be too much light even if I take most of the bulbs out?

Thanks!

[walt3]

i am fairly new to the discus thing too. i was a reef keeper before this. as you will probablt hear from others, lazy about water changes and keeping discus may not mix well. i would get adults if you dont like to change water as many have said young fish require pristine water to really flourish. sounds like you have a great base of supplies to start with. ive got 130 watts on a 75 gallon and some say that more than i need as well. i have lots of unused reef lights too. sand sounds like a good idea and many plants dont nered crazy light for a discus tank. i would use that 180 if it was me.:) not familiar with fresh water skimming. i use a canister filter but if i had a spot below my tank, i dont, i would use a big sump too. much more practical imho. i use power heads to create mellow flow and avoid dead spots. if you over filter it may work with adults but i think the young ones would appreciate a python type system with regular water changes. i guess you could just test nitrates and find out the outer limits of water change intervals if you hate it. good luck, walt.

[MightyEvil]

i am fairly new to the discus thing too. i was a reef keeper before this. as you will probablt hear from others, lazy about water changes and keeping discus may not mix well. i would get adults if you dont like to change water as many have said young fish require pristine water to really flourish. sounds like you have a great base of supplies to start with. ive got 130 watts on a 75 gallon and some say that more than i need as well. i have lots of unused reef lights too. sand sounds like a good idea and many plants dont nered crazy light for a discus tank. i would use that 180 if it was me.:) not familiar with fresh water skimming. i use a canister filter but if i had a spot below my tank, i dont, i would use a big sump too. much more practical imho. i use power heads to create mellow flow and avoid dead spots. if you over filter it may work with adults but i think the young ones would appreciate a python type system with regular water changes. i guess you could just test nitrates and find out the outer limits of water change intervals if you hate it. good luck, walt.

Thanks for your input Walt!

I really want to go with juvies, I enjoy watching my fish grow and I am sure that out of excitement I would make water changes like I am supposed to for juvies. I guess that testing my water daily on a 180 gallon tank with a 40 gallon sump and with about 10 juvies in there will let me know how often the water changes will be for the juvies (a long as I am under 5ppm right?). I seriously doubt that the water will soil that much with 10 little guys in there but I have never kept discus so I cant be sure. I guess that I will record my starting point here and update as much as possible so anyone who wants to help me keep the little guys healthy can chime in.

[walt3]

if you only have 10 little guys in a 180 i would imagine with proper filtration it will stay clean and fresh for a bit. keeping the nitrates as close to zero is best but i have heard from others here that the adults can even handle close to 20 without drama. not saying to do that just saying. i purchased mine small as well to have the satisfaction of growing out too. i do daily changes and i sleep better for it. :) you could go with bare bottom or shallow sand as young ones and add more substrate as they become older if you wanted too. knowing that prestine water is key for great growth you will probably want to do the waterchanges on a non- lazy cycle.:) have fun with it. keep water at 84-85. with that size tank you could keep more than 10. seems like 220 total gallons with sump you could put almost 20 little ones in there! have fun. walt.

[MightyEvil]

if you only have 10 little guys in a 180 i would imagine with proper filtration it will stay clean and fresh for a bit. keeping the nitrates as close to zero is best but i have heard from others here that the adults can even handle close to 20 without drama. not saying to do that just saying. i purchased mine small as well to have the satisfaction of growing out too. i do daily changes and i sleep better for it. :) you could go with bare bottom or shallow sand as young ones and add more substrate as they become older if you wanted too. knowing that prestine water is key for great growth you will probably want to do the waterchanges on a non- lazy cycle.:) have fun with it. keep water at 84-85. with that size tank you could keep more than 10. seems like 220 total gallons with sump you could put almost 20 little ones in there! have fun. walt.

Yes, definitely gonna get off the lazy cycle :D. I might start off with a bare bottom too, I don't know yet but will definitely add something down the road. Again, thanks for the advice!