Miracles custom 120 rimless reef to discus

[Hart24601]

The purigen would still absorb tannins. The uv might break them down a bit too.

[Hart24601]

It is a bit of a risk, although I will discontinue use if I notice any lateral line problems. Considering how obsessed discus keepers are with low DOC levels ultra hard high quality carbon like rox is worth it to me as it really is good at removing DOC from the water.

[rickztahone]

It is a bit of a risk, although I will discontinue use if I notice any lateral line problems. Considering how obsessed discus keepers are with low DOC levels ultra hard high quality carbon like rox is worth it to me as it really is good at removing DOC from the water.

It would be a good experiment actually considering you have finer carbon. Give it a try and if you do not notice any problems with it, then please report it. Hearsay can only go so far.

[Hart24601]

Will do! I plan on keeping the thread updated so I will post if I run into problems with any lateral line issues. The bag is a very fine one and it's just passive in the sump, so it's not like there is a tremendous amount of flow through it like a reactor.

Forgot to say I am still doing the auto water-change with 60 gallons a day with the APEX DOS from unheated brute can that has a shut-off valve to keep it full. The tap passes though the 1st two stages of my RO system, the sediment filter and carbon block but bypasses the membrane and DI. I think I talked about that before, but it's been working fine. I do use a little tube and manually siphon a couple gallons of water out every night to get any detritus that is left over. Generally there isn't much, but I have been feeding more to get them all to eat.

[rickztahone]

Will do! I plan on keeping the thread updated so I will post if I run into problems with any lateral line issues. The bag is a very fine one and it's just passive in the sump, so it's not like there is a tremendous amount of flow through it like a reactor.

Forgot to say I am still doing the auto water-change with 60 gallons a day with the APEX DOS from unheated brute can that has a shut-off valve to keep it full. The tap passes though the 1st two stages of my RO system, the sediment filter and carbon block but bypasses the membrane and DI. I think I talked about that before, but it's been working fine. I do use a little tube and manually siphon a couple gallons of water out every night to get any detritus that is left over. Generally there isn't much, but I have been feeding more to get them all to eat.

This is a drip system if I remember it?

[Hart24601]

Yes, pretty similar. The main difference is the water waits in a brute reservoir with circulation when many drip systems are straight from the tap using only the line pressure - i was originally going to have a small pump dose prime into the brute (1ml every hour), but using the 2 RO stages makes that not needed. The pumps don't run all the time though, it's all controlled by the software to prevent overheating and make the peristaltic heads last as long as possible. I have a high water float in the sump that shuts the pumps off and sends me a text and email should the drain line get clogged.

I doubt that I would have bought the APEX and matching DOS pumps just for discus, but I already had them from the reef so I wanted to adapt them.

[rickztahone]

Yes, pretty similar. The main difference is the water waits in a brute reservoir with circulation when many drip systems are straight from the tap using only the line pressure - i was originally going to have a small pump dose prime into the brute (1ml every hour), but using the 2 RO stages makes that not needed. The pumps don't run all the time though, it's all controlled by the software to prevent overheating and make the peristaltic heads last as long as possible. I have a high water float in the sump that shuts the pumps off and sends me a text and email should the drain line get clogged.

I doubt that I would have bought the APEX and matching DOS pumps just for discus, but I already had them from the reef so I wanted to adapt them.

I hear you there. The Apex is a pretty penny piece for sure.

[Jack L]

I think all the photos are with the light turned down. 10 or 15%, whatever the min kessils can go to.

maybe its the exposure on camera, but if that is set low, those things must get crazy bright

[Jack L]

It's a step in the right direction! At least I don't want to make a discus smoothie anymore, haha.

I picked up a 36w turbo twist UV unit powered with a sicce pump. Installed well and seems nice. I took the ozone offline, it really works better in saltwater in a protein skimmer, could never really get it how I wanted - but I had it left over from the reef so it was worth a try. So the equipment in the sump currently is 2 filter socks, large marine pure block, eheim SUBSTRAT pro (big bag), siporax media (another big bag), another bag of ceramic media I had from somewhere, 1L purigen in seachem's "the bag" and ROX activated carbon in another "the bag" and now the UV. OH! And the 800w titanium heater with controller and the various APEX probes. The line to the floor drain and the lines from the DOS auto water change system.

All the other fish have been doing great!

i'm going the other direction with my sump...
systematically removing surface area, since i have plants....i want to see how much they can do. and there is no solid investigations i have found that provide data driven recomendations on amount needed, just a LOT of informarketing is what i can find.
since every tank is different, i'll see what happens

[Jack L]

pull the carbon and add tannins!

in the form of tea right : )

[DJW]

Well there is Rooibos tea, Oak leaves, peat, Alder cones... and others. Peat is cheap but more work and a little dirty, but I use it too. I am lucky and have alder and oak in my backyard. Ordered Rooibos tea once from Davidsons but they sent me Darjeeling instead, so we have lots of nice Darjeeling tea!

[Hart24601]

Hmmmmm. So I may have overbought on plants... This isn't even all the Java fern I bought, and they are anubias coming too! Clearly the Java is going in my friends tank, I think I can use the anubias still and look ok. I didn't really want a planted tank, and clearly it's going to be more work keeping the roots clean, but all in all I think it's alright. Most importantly fish seem to like it.

image.jpg

[Hart24601]

i'm going the other direction with my sump...
systematically removing surface area, since i have plants....i want to see how much they can do. and there is no solid investigations i have found that provide data driven recomendations on amount needed, just a LOT of informarketing is what i can find.
since every tank is different, i'll see what happens

I think your probably correct in that you don't need much, especially with discus sized waterchanges. Now with some huge biomass fish like pacu and no as much water change the media might be more important. I already had almost all the media though so might as well use it.

I think my iPhone makes the lights look stronger. Plus they are a cluster type LED so the shadows and shimmer are strong.

[Tshethar]

Tank looks great! Glad to know you've decided not to evict the glass-thumping fish before the first month is out...

I admit that I find the setup really interesting, too. I can't afford to play with too much equipment these days ($), but can enjoy vicariously. Like a lot of folks who come through here I have some past experience in marine tanks, and have read some of the better-known old threads that attempt some interesting high-tech experiments, including with ozone. At least one well-known thread (Chad Hughes) delivered the ozone by mixing it in a cheap protein skimmer in the sump, with carbon behind it. (Given the cost of the dedicated reactors out there, I can see why.) I personally decided I didn't want to mess with that, partly because I didn't already have components ready-at-hand, nor experience with it, and I can appreciate the principle of simplicity (oft recommended on here, and with reason!). However, some of the things said about ORP led me to go ahead and add a UV to my fledgling setup, despite the fact that is isn't essential. I also read some of Randy Holmes-Farley's comments about carbon and decided to use some of the Seachem Matrix carbon passively in my (canister) system in addition to a Purigen reactor (in a Phosban 550). As I recall, the Matrix profiled pretty similarly to the Rox. (I need to read your links, but seem to remember ash content as one marker that people were looking at relative to risk for HLLE.) Still planning to do significant daily water changes once the fish show up, but I enjoy trying to have an edge and some insurance as I learn. I hope you'll let us know how things unfold (and how you tweak your system) over time. (Now that I've gone this route I won't be trying the rooibos anytime soon--I didn't realize till seeing a comment recently that the tea is used not merely for aesthetics but for anti-fungal and/or anti-bacterial attributes... would be interested in more about that, assuming that's accurate.)

Meanwhile, and most importantly, glad to know your fish are out and eating! Good news! Though I guess that means you won't be giving them away...

[alcastro]

what kind of glue did you use on rocks for the plants.
AL