My community fish got ich, how do I prep my tank for Discus?

My arrival to the fish keeping hobby came by happenstance. We purchased a house this summer and the previous owners asked us if we wanted to keep their community tank, I thought sure why not. The first few days we would just stare at the fish until we realized 30 minutes had passed by, we became enamored. Fast forward 6 months and today as I am typing this my fish are dying off one by one, I am devastated to say the least. I had already made the decision to primarily keep Discus a few weeks back. In preparation for the Discus, one day I vacuumed the gravel extra thoroughly, and I might have kicked up too much debris. I also saw ich on some of the fish that same week, I don't know if there was a correlation.

My question to the community is, how do I prep the tank for Discus? Any fish that survive will be going to a new home. Once I remove all the fish, what should I do? Should I just let the tank sit dry for a few days, should I use soap, or any other cleaning solution? I will be permanently removing all the gravel and decorations, but should I reuse the HOB, or is that contaminated? I will also include my answers to the questionnaire below for any extra tips that can be provided.

Experience: No experience with Discus, but I have amassed hours now doing my research. I have kept my current tank thriving for 6 months, and one of the species was even spawning.

Tank: I believe it's a 50 gl tank, and it's set up as a display tank. Dimensions are roughly 4ft x 1ft x 1.5ft. I say roughly because I can't measure it exactly since it's built into the wall! The previous owners made a space in the wall that separates the family room with a small room. The tank sits flush with the wall in the family room, and it looks spectacular. The previous owners said that some of the fish were 9 years old, and the tank had been in the family for decades.

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Decor: Currently there are lava rocks, plastic plants, and gravel. For the Discus I will go BB at first, then transition to pool filter sand. Although I know sand is more difficult, I prefer the look and I am willing to increase the maintenance. I also plan to include plastic plants and a rock or two for decor.

WCs: I plan to do 2-3 water changes per week. I have purchased an API Master Test kit, and I will adjust my WCs based on my readings. I am planning to use only tap water.

Filtration: Currently the tank uses undergravel filtration and a 150 Penguin/Marineland Biowheel HOB. I am going to remove the gravel and replace the current HOB with two 50 Aquaclear HOBs and place sponges and biomedia in them. I will adapt intake sponges on the HOBs as well. I have one thermometer, but will be adding another one. Tank has a 4ft Current LED USA Satellite which I'll keep using.

Water Parameters: Temp 82, Tank PH 8, Tap PH 8, Ammonia: 0-4, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: 80, from municipal water. My nitrates have always been high, but I think it may have to do with the undergravel filtration.

Discus: I plan to purchase 5 Discus from Uncle Sam's, a sponsor of this site . Luckily, they're 45 minutes from where I live and I've already had the chance to meet an owner and see their beautiful Discus. I am going to get them around the 3''- 4'' size. I will start with just the Discus at first, but plan to add more fish in the future, either 8 Cardinal Tetras, or 3 Blue Rams, or 3 Cory Catfish.

Feeding: Not sure what I will feed them, need to investigate more, but plan to feed at least 3 types of food 3 times a day. I will have to set up a feeding timer so that they can be fed while I am at work.

Goals: I intend to keep my tank as a display community tank. Probably with just one other species as mentioned above. Keeping these extraordinary fish that originated from the Amazon in my living room, is just mind-blowing to me. I know a 50 gl tank isn't ideal, but once they outgrow the tank I will most likely sell the fish to get smaller Discus again. I know that's easier said than done now, and I wonder how long it would take them to get to their mature size.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to any suggestions or tips.

Bleach. Fill the tank with new water, add 5 cups of bleach and anything you are going to be reusing in the tank (filters, heater, etc.), plug in the filter and let run over night. Ditch any filter media and start with new, also ditch anything porous (driftwood, sponges, etc.). Drain/refill a couple times with fresh water and let it dry. Your stuff is ready to use.

Wouldn't recommend using the test kit unless problems arise, but do what makes you feel better about the tank.

Two Aquaclear 50's is a bit on the weak side. It's fine, but 1 AC 110 or 2 AC 70's would serve you better.

If you only plan on changing water 2-3 times a week, it's probably a good idea to cut feedings down to twice a day. Make sure you're changing a lot of water when you do.

You mentioned selling them when they get bigger, but that sounds like a bigger pain than tearing down the wall and plopping a bigger tank in there.

If the fish are going to a new home then emptying the tank and leaving it dry + the time required to cycle the tank again from scratch should be plenty to eliminate ich, the fungus only resists in the environment for a short time without any fish

Hi Vidocha and welcome .
I would chose bleach too to start from the scratch , just the way Adam suggested . After 24 hours rinse everything well under shower , let It dry and its ready to be reused again in your newly started discus tank.

Start BB , go with 6 discus , and with good maintenance you won't have to sell them once they are fully grown .

Good luck with your new fish and keep on reading and asking questions .

Thanks for your suggestions. I have one other question. My thought process was to get two HOBs so they can pull from both ends of the tank. Or would that really not make a difference?

Waste still needs to be removed, so it's a question of what you want to do more often. Do you want to vacuum the bottom or maintain the filter?

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Originally Posted by Adam S

Waste still needs to be removed, so it's a question of what you want to do more often. Do you want to vacuum the bottom or maintain the filter?

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I plan on vacuuming either way. Just wondering if having two HOBs was a huge benefit, or if one large HOB is enough.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vidocha

I plan on vacuuming either way. Just wondering if having two HOBs was a huge benefit, or if one large HOB is enough.

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The filtration equals flow x filter volume x filter materials . If the 2 smaller HoBs both together have similar flow and filter volume capacity as the bigger one it shouldn't really matter which one you choose .
You should aim at approx. 5 tank volume turnovers per hour i.e. 250 GPH flow and for filter volume the rule that ussually appliess is the bigger the better .

One large is fine, but two is better. Gives you a functioning backup if one stops working. Still think two AC70's would be your best bet, but two AC50's should still be sufficient.

Thank you all for your input, I feel more confident now as I move forward.