Project 230g under way and Wilds coming!

[musicmarn1]

Finally getting somewhere, i think. (Thanks to Pat and several member of the forum who are all helping me with various aspects of advice and even getting wilds ! )


after months of craigslist checking and some near misses (Melissa will feel with me on this one) the latest was the local fish store got a huge 800g saltwater with everything with it for 2k too much for me at the time but i kept calling and checking and then someone sold it for $600 because it was so big they wanted it out of the store and they didnt call me grrrr

but im over it and now have a much easier 230g i found used. it was predrilled but none of the pipes were with it so got my list of stuff to buy now that i found 2 used sumps which gives me 80g of sumps underneath once i connect the two together.

planning on a mag drive large pump, mainly because my water can be so iron ridden it slows any normal pump down to a crawl and i want a beast. but i need to read up again it has been months since i did sump research and my brain is very slow at learning all this stuff with the system part. so i need to know about flow rate and the best way to have these two sumps connected. i did get some bioballs and i remember some posts with better media, even wondering about making a chamber k1 moving ……anyway again must learn more about this still.

so got the used, dirty tank and sumps set up so we framed out a cabinet and now need to make adjustments once everything is fitted together. next stage is bleaching everything and soaking.


finally got some wilds coming for QT be ages before i have enough for a 230g lol so will be two groups in QT for a few weeks and then i might be ready with a biotope. IF i decide to go planted instead and i go back and forth all the time. ill just use other tanks for the wilds because the 230 would be months and months to be established as planted before id put discus in it but i have a 90g all planted and ready and a bare bottom 125 spare, i keep collecting tanks ! i have enough domestics for the 230g but my dream is either planted and wilds or biotope and wilds. so chime in and let me know any ideas or suggestions !


these projects are not quick but if i do biotope we are only a few weeks away from seeing wilds in it ! about 8 weeks is nothing after 6 months of finding the set up and such.

need a 3 d background or i could paint the background but seems silly not to make it perfect after ll this ! any suggestions on background?


mostly need sump advice and here are some pictures before cleaning. i get started on cleaning tonight ! so ill post that then ill post it with all the pipes in and then the background, then the scape, then WILDS !! wow its exciting. i was freaking out about my well water, TDS 500 and now im saving for a 1100 g container to store water in but thats 80 bucks a week right now to haul 300g a week is all i can store. then there is the heating….how do we all convince our spouses to do this i just do not know how ill manage the heating of so much age water so wish i could skip that step but can't put cold water in there.


so i do have a small portable RO unit that can only make 100g a day so that feels pretty useless at this point ! the domestics don't mind the well water but id rather give them nicer stuff i feel like they don't love it and that could just be me but you kinda get to know your fish. im tempted to turn the crawl space into a huge vat of storage for aging water and just run it up through the floor since outside in colorado in winter will take so much more money. OR ill turn the back deck into a fish room and that will be next year's project fish room and crate room for the dogs haha


things to do list

lights

decide on scape - sand was a sticking point my stupid well water iron made it ugly but now im either hauling or doing a bigger ro its fine, i could change 100g a day and id be mixing some well water back in (or getting the ro right what is the forum consensus on the two methods?) so i might go biotope be much quicker result just my dream was planted but i do love both

make it all fitted system so its as easy to change and clean as possible

got heaters, sump, need more heaters i think i don't love the ones i have i have big ones but i want titanium beasts that hold it really steady and don't quit

get substrate and decide if i like the driftwood i have or need more UGH driftwood ! totally forgot to look around for more of that

clean it and fit the pipes

might actually re seal it since i wont want to ever do that again in the future and its used…..probably best if i do.

background

finish the cabinet and canopy seal and coat it

hmm what am i missing?

then add fish and enjoy !


trying to get pictures posted, having the issue that when i try and add a picture its saying too big and i don't know how to edit and change it hmm

[musicmarn1]

ok pictures via photo bucket worked

[rdiscus]

Wow that's big project ... can't wait to see the wilds in that big tank

[musicmarn1]

thank you thank you, its so FUN to share this finally !! and here is my thread on how to decide what scape i should use - hope lots of people post pictures for me to ooh and ahh over (oh ps im a dog trainer who takes ALL dogs into her own home to fix the bad behavior in their own homes…for severe unruly behavior so forgive the fact my house is not fancy or often caked in mud but at least after you have 15 muddy wet dogs in the house, spilling a bit of fish water is hardly cause for divorce says my husband….. )

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...=1#post1068154

[rdiscus]

3D background look awesome, I love it ... but it takes away too much room

[musicmarn1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuUgQk22mSk



hmmmm what do you all think of making my 230g look like this? this is probably exactly what the green tefe wilds look like that i have coming ! or close to it so this is pretty much a dream of a scaped planted tank OR i might go with this biotope i haven't seen a better one for myself personally on the thread i started to get some biotope vs planted tank ideas.

SO couple of green tefe get here tomorrow then the remaining group on Wednesday .

im nervous and excited !! im hauling water in my car 66 gallons at a time…my car is crappy and i don't have big enough storage tanks for a few hundred gallons to be delivered yet. so my poor husband is taking bucket by bucket into the heating / aging barrel - going to test the pH changes from this lovely perfect lowest chlorine content water i could find poor husband i need to get a better system very soon.

i have my 30g for the two wilds from discus origins, Mark is sending and then i have the 55g both bare bottom, and looking SO clean with the hauled water !! , compared to my reddish well water that leaves white scale and red dust on everything it touches..ugh.

doing one wc per day but if i see ammonia or any discomfort will have to up it, was thinking 20g in the 30g tank and 40g in the 55g tank since its only 66g per trip i can do in my car a day. LOL

but this is only until they get into the big tank in several weeks and until i get my big water storage unit im trying to find a used one to save money. then i can have 1500 gallons delivered each month or each week if i keep acquiring discus at this rate !!

excited to see how the wilds like this water, about to do tests on it now but i know its a zillion times better than my well water



shhhhhhhhhh don't tell my other discus about the new water they will have to stay in well water until the big storage unit comes..

[Second Hand Pat]

Marnie, why don't you install a HMA?

[musicmarn1]

i got a plumber out and he quoted me 3k so i just haven't gotten to it yet ! i think the ones i looked at myself said NO iron removal only soft invisible iron removed not the kind i have…..i might be mistaken but i spent about 2 months researching it and planning it and getting quotes and trying to find systems

if you did have a link of something cheaper i could order right now and install easily please do so ! but i think it was because of those reasons or else my plumber didnt know what he was talking about

[Second Hand Pat]

So there is no cartridge which will remove iron?

[Larry Bugg]

JMO...........if you are going to go with wilds they why even consider a planted tank. Don't get me wrong, I love planted tanks. Before getting into breeding and Discus I was big into planted tanks. They were all I had in the house. I have no issues with domestics in a planted tank but just can't see keeping wilds in one!!!!! Put them where they belong in a sand bottom with wood. Again JMO, can you tell I feel pretty strong about this lol.

Why do you think a 100 gallon a day RO unit won't work for you? You say your domestics are doing great in your tap. Then all you need is water for the wilds. You aren't growing out juvie wilds, right? You don't need to do huge daily water changes with adult wilds. I never have. With my new 220 the plan will be to do a 50% change every 3 to 5 days. You can easily do that with a 100 gpd RO unit.

[musicmarn1]

i wish i could find one that did ! i was told thats a very expensive component to remove the NON invisible iron type that i have. i hope that is wrong and i find one ill double the search because that would make life soooo easy but i was quoted too much money right now to do it the cheapest way he quoted me was with a softener which i don't like the idea of after reading several posts here even though the system is supposed to get rid of all salt, i was about to do it then changed my mind. until i learn more and more and more im not sure what the best answer is ! but a water softener and normal HMA was the quickest fix but you use a lot of chlorine and have to be sure you remove the chlorine which is a bit scary.

[musicmarn1]

interesting, you say why keep wilds in a planted?…..because i had no idea there would be any ISSUES doing so ! lol

so many videos and posts where people do, as long as i was careful with tank mates for parasite reasons i thought id be fine, obviously i was not going to START out that way but grow into it. what do you think it was that caused issues with yours? did they get sick, and again im talking adults not growing out juvies i ditched that thought 12 months ago !!


im happy to do a biotope for them, i just love planted tanks and i see some very nice ones with very nice discus in there but im learning so i appreciate you posting this. i will be sticking to a biotope for now but i thought the wilds might love a healthy planted tank perhaps its just too risky i will only know after first a bb for QT and then a biotope to compare how i know them at their healthiest state, so i know when even the slightest thing is wrong.


The Ro unit was for the 230g ANd the 125g and the 55g full of discus. i thought id mix 80 RO to 20 well water and so would not have enough for the WC of all my tanks. the domestic seem fine in well water but i hate the iron it breaks the pumps and looks horrid and i just feel that the discus could be BETTER in better water. again only reason i post these thoughts is to learn

JMO...........if you are going to go with wilds they why even consider a planted tank. Don't get me wrong, I love planted tanks. Before getting into breeding and Discus I was big into planted tanks. They were all I had in the house. I have no issues with domestics in a planted tank but just can't see keeping wilds in one!!!!! Put them where they belong in a sand bottom with wood. Again JMO, can you tell I feel pretty strong about this lol.

Why do you think a 100 gallon a day RO unit won't work for you? You say your domestics are doing great in your tap. Then all you need is water for the wilds. You aren't growing out juvie wilds, right? You don't need to do huge daily water changes with adult wilds. I never have. With my new 220 the plan will be to do a 50% change every 3 to 5 days. You can easily do that with a 100 gpd RO unit.

[Larry Bugg]

No, you misunderstood me. I didn't stop keeping planted tanks because there were issues. I stopped keeping them because I got in to breeding cichlids and the fish became more important than keeping the high tech planted tanks. I just don't have time to devote to a bunch of planted tanks and the fish room. I still have low light planted tanks for my dwarf cichlids and angels to breed in. I also like to see domestic discus in a planted tank. One day I will probably set another one up. I just feel very strongly that Wild Discus should be kept in the environment they just came out of. While I have seen a few planted tanks with wild discus the vast majority of wilds are kept in a more natural setting and my personal feeling is that they look best in this kind of tank.

[Second Hand Pat]

Marnie, what he said ^^

[musicmarn1]

ahhh

gotcha. very clear now thank you ! and Pat agrees, so thats +2 , interesting!

well i have to say after the WORST start to the delivery, Fed Ex decided to throw my carefully wrapped precious discus from Mark around the van……..

and the box came sopping wet and more water loose in the box , than in the bag with the green Tefe discus. After that though and the fish seem to be recovering ( i have a peek hole, they are mostly covered so that they don't have to go through all that AND seeing all my dogs and I looking at them)

they are starting to come around and look for food or one of them is anyway, however their swim bladders are damaged it looks like (though im fully expectant this goes away) though one of them still floats a bit still. they are more head standing than swimming but im feeling the first feelings of excitement looking at them.

they are STUNNING to me, i hope they make it, nice size beautiful fish i just want to spend the next few years making up for that dreadful ride here.

wish me luck ill be waking up and checking on them tonight poor babies. but its so so worth everything to finally have them here after months and months of badgering Pat to teach me wild care.

so thanks for all input because im definitely willing to do things by the book until i can SEE myself very clearly what makes them happy and what doesn't , best thing about discus fish? if you listen they tell you what they need.


SO the next group of 4 will be picked up by myself at the airport so they have a comfy ride guaranteed from the shippers house to the plane then again from the plane to my house at least those two parts are going to be fool proof. ill take heaters and cushioning to make sure they don't move in the car ride home and stay nice and warm. then all i have to do is float and plop instead of today getting them into the tank ASAP without even floating since there was barely any water left in the bag and i didnt want to risk suffocating them further.

i THINK they will make it so thank you to everyone who helped me i wasnt sure what else i could do for them , quite the crappy start to their stay here but i believe i can make them very very happy once they acclimate. i have my white worm bin my red wrigglers, my 230g which will be BIOTOPE not planted, at least not with my first batch until i know wilds more. then i may experiment , carefully, very thought out and with a quick retreat plan should it not go as hoped. but for this year and maybe next year biotopes only i have decided. so thanks all for helping me get there.

i have Hans food and the pro growth food from the sponsor here beef heart flakes, and Al;s freeze dried black worms and thats it for now. i wont even think of feeding them until the day after tomorrow after their rough ride. im looking forward to their first water change ! my new hauled water is TDS 210 (instead of 1020 or worse) with pH of 7.2 before and after aging, i can't tell the difference on the api kit between 7.2 and 7.8 so im aging because i can't tell….