Setting up my first Discus tank, what do you think?

[adapted]

I have compromised by having a VERY thin layer of sand (less than half an inch) that is siphoned and stirred twice a day. I usually end up removing 40 gallons from a 120 gallon tank each time I do the sand cleanup, so it's a pretty thorough debris removal.

(The consensus seems to be that wild discus prefer a sand substrate over bare bottom, but I am going to see for myself since I have no been replacing sand that gets removed and before long the sand is going to be entirely gone.)

[edsye]

The problem with plants is not the plants themselves, but the difficulty in having both the plants and the fish thriving at the same time. Plants are work, not just something you throw in...dying plants affect water quality.