Restarting my favorite hobby, 80 gallon tank, and quarantine tank

[fishman667]

Hello, My name is Robbie , been keeping fish now for over 10 years now, never have kept discus before though.
I really like these fish and am totally capable of handing this beautys. So the story so far goes, that my wife and i are getting our own place, so before we were about to move in , one of her friends had been talking to her and he had an aquarium for sale, i decide to jump on it after i had been out of the hobby for a good 4-5 years, got a great price and decide to do some little changes from the Arrowana tank that is was before, her buddy had upgraded cause his fish couldn't turn around in it well, as it is a long 73" by 13" by 18" (LxWxH) i brought it home and decided to clean it up.






went to the store, bought a couple add-ons




so then we moved into the new place




got all the decorations ready, now the waiting for the cycle to begin !








now lets fast forward a couple weeks, got some smaller fish to help cycle as well

some cardinals, some neons


some live plants

finally i thought it was time to add some discus cause my LFS had a small sale on them





they loved it from what i could tell

and yes i have a little runt that i couldn't say no too at the fish store, i couldn't leave him all by himself, i understand he has a little bit of a stunted growth, but i still love him


even the cat loves the fish



full shot


Now i always wanted to have an led setup, so i decided to make some changes, got rid of the hang on filter, got a fluval 406.
also got 2 gold spotted plecos and my extremly photogenic turquoise-bluediamond-uatumas



another addition, Tangerine Dream

he is now top of the peking order but they all get along so well



did a bit of a rescape



got my led fixture today






got a really good deal on this mated pair so i had to pick them up
time to turn off the lights and see what happens




they love it! yay!
The main key to discus is maintenance, so i did water changes and tests everyday, 33 percent water changes, vacuum 1/3 gravel every time, plus salts, and dichloride chemicals, stored water for 24hrs with airstone.


will post more progress tonight!

any questions ? lemme know

[Rudustin]

I personally think, in spite of the fact that all of my five tanks are bare bottom, that you have done a great job with this tank. Many will state that a planted tank with so much gravel could be a hazard eventually and some will even comment that they hope you have quarantined all fish before adding them to this one tank. Others will perhaps feel that the very young discus that you first got are stunted and not worth putting with quality fish that you did eventually purchase( the large pigeon bloods in the last photo). However, I think you have been incredibly talented and hard working to establish a tank that makes you and anyone seeing these photos quite happy with the progress and your care and design. The lighting, the stand that you completely redid and the frame work around the glass is wonderful. I love the picture of the cat looking at the tank on the foot stool! LOL! I have cats but they don't even seem to notice that there are five tanks in my home! Water parameters seem great as well. Good luck and congratulations for doing an extraordinary job. Rufus

[MURBROOKE]

Wow.that looks very well...you have some great looking fish there...keep the photos coming...hope it all goes well for you...

[fishman667]

Heres my Bare Bottom quarantine/ fry tank / medical centre for them

Got this whole setup from a good friend for free

led's once again







Got some catapa leaves off of ebay , helps soften the water, just testing this tank out at the moment, don't plan on putting fish in for a month now after i had already quarantined , I'm gonaa save it for the fry that i soon think i am gonna have as my mated pair seem really happy and may spawn soon!

[fishman667]

More of the cat ! she loves all the fish!

[RodneyL001]

you posted on the best section, most of the people here have planted tanks, although many on Simply Discus swear by BB tanks, there are many many of us who have planted tanks, it looks like you know what you are doing. If I couldn't keep Discus in a planted tank, I probably would keep other fishes like Angles, but that is IMHO, take a look at some of the post here, experienced hobbyist with some beautiful planted tanks.

[Tictok]

Great job on the tank and I really enjoyed viewing your progress... and of course that hilarious cat of yours!

[Rudustin]

Love the cat!!

[scrappinjaime]

What a beautiful set up! Congratulations.

[Mikemeets]

It looks great i gotta say, all the best and hope all ur discus are getting along, keep us updated on ur waterchanges, spawning and growth of your juvies

[fishman667]

so i caught her in the act of breeding!

[fishman667]

We have eggs

[fishman667]

[fishman667]

this is the male, i bought him as a golden pigeon, is that his true name?

[fishman667]

Did a bit of a rescape, waiting for this new driftwood to sink as well