75 Gallon First Timer

[Rapture]

First time trying both a large tank and Discus keeping.

Plans for tank (I may need some help with the best order to do these things)

Hydor Pro 450 canister filter
300 watt Jager submersible heater
Python water change system
Tap water

Driftwood with low light plants attached
Acquire/grow out 5-6 3" Discus (likely Stendker Red turk, Brilliant turk, Alenquer, Santarem, Tefe)
Bare bottom at least during grow out

Potential tank mates can be seen here: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ial-tank-mates
I'm assuming that growing out the discus is first in line before adding any tank mates.

Grow out foods
san francisco bay beefheart
ken’s beefheart flake
ken’s blackworm flake
cobalt flake
immune booster flake
spirulina flake
aquatic suppliers blackworms with spinach

[rickztahone]

I'd suggest making your own BH. I have actually grown a group of discus on SF BH but it was expensive!

I spent $50 to make a batch of BH and will last me more than 6 months easily.

[Rapture]

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you have to get it from a specialty butcher or do you know if a local grocery store have it?

[rickztahone]

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you have to get it from a specialty butcher or do you know if a local grocery store have it?

If you have a Latin super market close to you, or an Asian one, they typically sell them. In Latino supermarkets they will put it in packets and on the isle. Sometimes you have to ask the "carniceria" to be ordered.

[Rapture]

There are tons of Latino markets around me, so that shouldn't be a problem. Thanks!

[rickztahone]

There are tons of Latino markets around me, so that shouldn't be a problem. Thanks!

no problem. John has a great recipe for BH here:
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...art&highlight=

[Rapture]

Thanks, I have looked at all the recipes on this site (lol), just didn't really know if I needed to go that route for one grow out round of 5 or 6 fish.

I decided to order a hamburg mattenfilter and pump from Angels Plus, instead of getting a canister filter. Also picked up Praziquantel and Levimasol.

[Rapture]

Placed the following order at Kens Fish.

Tetra Safe Start 250 ml.
Ken's Premium Beefheart Flake 1/2 lb.
Ken's Premium Blackworm Flake 1/2 lb.
Ken's Premium Immune Booster Flake 1/2 lb.
Ken's Premium Spirulina Flake 1/2 lb.
ATI Liquid Crystal Horizontal Thermometer
Python No Spill Clean & Fill 50'
Python Hook For No Spill Clean & Fill
Python Porter
Python 24" Gravel Tube
Blue Ribbon Background 19" Black/Blue

[rickztahone]

That is a whole lot of stuff, good luck!

[Rapture]

A whole lot of stuff as in too much stuff? :P Thanks!

[rickztahone]

A whole lot of stuff as in too much stuff? :P Thanks!

nope, didn't say that . I love coming home to a shipping box on my doorstep as well.

[Rapture]

Yeah, that's true. A couple things were out of stock at the time, so there will be a round 2 at some point, as well.

[Rapture]

Stuff from Ken's arrived yesterday - wow those are large bags of fish flakes for someone used to feeding a betta, haha. HMF, pump and meds from Angels Plus were due to arrive today, but now it looks like it should be here tomorrow.

I keep planning on buying driftwood because I'd really like to have something in the tank with the fish, but will driftwood alone make it that much more difficult to clean the water if I need to grow out 5-6 fish?

Tried to measure my gh but the API drops I had weren't working, probably because I had them for so long. I bought some strips and it came out to right about 120 ppm / 6.74 dh from the tap. The pH can get quite high - in my betta tank it is about 8.4, and about 8.0 straight from the tap.

I have a wild vs domestic dilemma as I get closer to putting water in the tank.

[rickztahone]

Stuff from Ken's arrived yesterday - wow those are large bags of fish flakes for someone used to feeding a betta, haha. HMF, pump and meds from Angels Plus were due to arrive today, but now it looks like it should be here tomorrow.

I keep planning on buying driftwood because I'd really like to have something in the tank with the fish, but will driftwood alone make it that much more difficult to clean the water if I need to grow out 5-6 fish?

Tried to measure my gh but the API drops I had weren't working, probably because I had them for so long. I bought some strips and it came out to right about 120 ppm / 6.74 dh from the tap. The pH can get quite high - in my betta tank it is about 8.4, and about 8.0 straight from the tap.

I have a wild vs domestic dilemma as I get closer to putting water in the tank.

I love the look of driftwood, I really do. Here's the problem with it, when you have it in the tank floor, especially in a BB tank, all the detritus all stays underneath the DW, ALWAYS. Which means, every single water change you have to remove the driftwood or move it within the tank to keep it clean. It can be a great way to hide the waste and can raise your nitrates due to this fact.

[Rapture]

Yeah, I was thinking about trying a piece or two that could be arranged in a way that only a couple "legs" of it come in contact with the bottom of the tank so that it can be easily vacuumed under. I may wait until the growing stage is over though, especially since I still don't have the wood. Every day that I plan to take a trip to ADG, something comes up and I don't make the little trek.

The good news is, my Angels Plus order came in with the Hamburg Mattenfilter, so I got everything put together and filled the tank with water. I got an extra piece of foam to block the filter side when viewing the tank from the front. The foam is black and I put a black background on the tank, so it looks nice enough even with the filter foam. I only wish the pump was silent. It's not loud at all, but I can hear it, so I hope it doesn't bug my roommate too much. I'm also planning on adding some water polishing pads somehow; I may just wrap some around the pump.

I dumped in a bottle of Tetra Safe Start for funsies because I haven't used it before. I guess now I'm not sure how to go about testing to see if the water is actually fish ready.

Today I learned that a LFS opened kind of recently across town that specializes in Discus, so I plan on taking a trip there at some point. Apparently the store owner either breeds or used to breed Discus.

I also put in another order with Ken's fish for the heater that was out of stock last week and some other things.