Greetings from OH!-IO!

[crabbyreef]

Hello Everyone,

Mike from Mayfield Heights Ohio here (About 20 min from Cleveland). I'm 50 years old and have been keeping fish since I was in the 3rd grade. Oh there were a few breaks throughout the years but nothing that lasted very long. I am currently in the process of breaking down my 90 gallon reef tank. After 2 years I just wasn't happy with it. Oh my fish are/were heathy and happy but I was not. I just didn't like the way it looked. I missed freshwater. Moving forward I plan on reusing the tank, sump, pump and LED lighting system. I joined this group to find best practices as I setup the 90 again, this time on a Discus centric display aquarium. Any tips or direction would be helpful!

Thanks,

Mike

[ericNH]

Hi crabbyreef,

I'm always happy when I hear someone switching from saltwater to freshwater. I think the saltwater thing has eclipsed the freshwater scene for far too long. A well-kept fw discus tank is every bit as stunnning as any reef tank I've seen. Just my 2 cents.

The biggest mistakes I *wish* I avoided:

1) Not having a water-changing system that was convenient. My new system allows me to change 50% on my 125 gallon with relative ease. My old way was a total pain-in-the-butt tbh, and I was only doing 25% wc's every other day or so, with a tank full of juveniles... which brings me to my second big mistake...

2) Starting with juveniles. LFS juveniles to be exact. I really wish I had started with adult discus from a reputable breeder, like discus hans or kenny's discus. Juveniles require lots and lots of good food to grow out properly, resulting in the need to change your water often.

3)Starting with less than 6 discus. I'm pretty sure that watching my group of 4 discus battling it out and picking on the little one, day after day, was as bad for my own health as it was for the health of my discus.

I've made several other mistakes along the way, but those are the three biggest. The good news is that here on SD you'll find a vast amount of experience, freely shared with newbies, that will guide and support you along the way. As long as you're willing to take the advice of the veterans here, you'll find that keeping discus is every bit as rewarding as keeping a reef, maybe even more so. Good luck!



-Eric

[crabbyreef]

Eric,

Thanks for the welcome and the reply. My reef tank became so much of a "job" for me. The tipping point for me was coming across a video on youtube showing the discus Wet Pets & Friends over in McMurray PA have in their tanks. The whole setup including a miracle mud sump with live plants all made so much sense to me. I really have no interest in breeding discus but rather to have a stunning aquarium as they have. So far the biggest issue is finding a new home for my marine fish and coral. Hopefully that will happen soon so I can get started.

Thanks again!

Mike