Other supportive filtration includes:
- 2 UV Sterilizers
- 2 Filter socks
- Large Eheim 2076 canister filter
This is a pic of the current setup as of today. The canister filter and one of the UV Sterilizers had to be placed beside the stand because of space.
Attachment 91619
For the next phase, I've placed 2 pairs in the top bare bottom tank (separated by a mesh screen) and 7 discus in the bottom display tank (including 1 pair). All fish are active, vibrant and healthy looking so far.
To get rid of the leftover feces I use an Eheim quick vac pro daily on the top tank. I only used it once on the bottom tank so far. It sucks up everything without a WC. The only other water that has been changed is collecting the surface water out of the sump with a cup every couple of days. I let the water overflow into the cup so it siphons off the top layer of water. This gets rid of a "bubbly" layer that builds up on top. I guess you could count that as a 1% WC every couple of days.
I learned a ton during this "trial". It has not been a "magical" or "no work" fix.
These are a couple of things I learned when adding an algae scrubber to your system:
- Algae screen has to be taken out and cleaned every 1-2 weeks depending on how much you feed.
- I keep my KH at 3-4. The Algae consumed all of it and was 0 before I realized. I had to slowly buffer it back up to 3-4. KH has to monitored.
- Algae needs Phosphate to clean effectively. My tank ran out and I actually have to dose the tank with very small amounts of phosphate to "feed" the algae and keep it working. I now buffer the Phosphate at 1-2 PPM
- You'll have to top off the tank with RO or similar water to ensure the TDS does not keep rising.
- You'll need to add minerals to water that are naturally depleted by discus. I add fish specefic vitamins / minerals to water to keep a TDS of around 300-320
- This is more of my opinion, but if you change less water you'll have to have a large UV sterilizer to help keep the water clean
- The lights get hot, you'll need to watch your temperature closely
- A "bubbly" layer of water that I mentioned already has to be siphoned off every few days (but maybe this is just my tank?)
Depending on the quantity of water changes performed, I think many of the above items will go away. I've just taken it to the extreme for this trial with very limited WC.