150g Planted Discus Tank - Goh Eng Khoon Line

[Bala de Plata]

Hello all @ Simply, I have been a lurker mostly from time to time but heavily involved in the Aquarium Hobby and Planted Tanks for close to 30 years. I recently met Ricardo (Rickztahone) through another forum that I am mostly on (SCAPE) and while planning out my next large tank, decided that I really wanted to take a stab at keeping Discus again. Last time I raised Discus I think AOL just becoming big.. lol

So here are the build details for those that like the details..

Tank

• 150 Gallon SCAquariums Rimless Low Iron Tank with Center Overflow. I drilled another 3 holes myself in the bottom, two for returns and one for a drain fill line.
• The tank came with a glass sump setup for reef's, I removed all the baffles and set it up for a three chamber sump.
• The sump is setup for a full siphon line that goes into the filter and an overflow line that goes into a filter sock. The third hole in the overflow is being used as a pass through for wires to/from sump and canopy.
• The main Filter is the new to our Market Theiling Rollermat, this is an automatic filter that uses rolls of fine filter fabric that keeps it fresh so to speak and you only need to replace the roll every couple months.
• The center sump chamber is the bio chamber and has approximately 64 liters of Black Lava Rock for bio in the 18x18x12 chamber.
• A Sicce pump passively pumps water from the first chamber of sump out Purigen Reactor -> Carbon Reactor -> 25w Emperor Aquatics UV -> then back to the last chamber of sump. Pump runs at about 60gph for most effective UV contact time.
• The return pumps are two Tunze 1743.050 DC Variable Speed Pumps connected and Controlled via Apex
• Heater is a Finnex Titanium 800w heater controlled via Apex
• There is also a 20" Filter Chamber with Bio Bale in it being used as a Co2 reactor. Co2 is controlled via Apex pH Monitoring for a stable Co2 concentration fed into a Needle Wheel pump. (I know this one will make a few squirm)
• There are a few Floats connected to a Break Out Box for help in controlling the Water Level and Auto Water Change System.
• Tank is being lighted by two Ecoxotic E-Series 120 LED Lights and a Solar Flare 6700k spot for some spot lighting effect with Apex dimming for sunrise/sunset/moonlight.

Controls

• Full Neptune Apex System with a Conductivity Module and all the bells and whistles (Love the Apex)
• Monitors and trends tank Conductivity (dirty water)
• Monitors and controls tank pH for Co2 addition
• Monitors and controls tank water temperature
• Monitors and controls tank water levels via RO top off
• Monitors and controls reservoir water temps and levels
• Controls and performs water changes per set schedule, currently 50/60% daily WC's.
• Order me more Beer when Im low.. sorry, they haven't implemented that update yet. haha

Water Change Setup

• Tap water filtered through 1 Micron Sediment Filter and triple Carbon Filters from BRS
• Two 50ish Gallon Brute NSF Containers
• Two Stainless Steel NC Valves for opening Drain and opening Fill. This system uses one pipe for in and out. By controlling the valves for when one opens and the other closes it makes it possible.
• Drain line is connected to a P-Trap I installed on a clean out in my garage.

I will note that I am by trade a General Contractor in Residential and Commercial, so that helps and also hurts in some ways as things I have done may not all be to code but are to a level with which I am personally comfortable.

Most of these photos are taken from my build thread on the other forum I mention, not sure if links are allowed to cross link on other forums but I can post if that is kosher.

Build Pics..

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[Phillydubs]

man that looks awesome so far... keep the pics and updates rolling and welcome!

[Bala de Plata]

Thank you, was waiting for Mod to approve post so I can continue posting pictures etc.

More Photos of Build...

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[Bala de Plata]

Time lapse of the hardscape..

[Bala de Plata]

Continued...


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[Bala de Plata]

Now the main event...


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[rickztahone]

Love how everything is all time-lined here Rory. Thanks for updating on this side. Love the way the discus look in there. I could not have asked for a better buyer of my last batch "thinning". Thanks again.

[Pardal]

Beautiful fish! and nice looking set up.

[Second Hand Pat]

This is a beautiful tank with the build process nicely illustrated. The fish look wonderful. Keep the pictures coming.
Pat

[ruudvk]

Wow! This is going to be inspiration for my future tank! Thanks for posting.

[marinum]

lovely I really like

[Bala de Plata]

Thank you Ricardoo and all others for your comments, this has so far been one of my most enjoyable builds. No the maintaining and flourishing of it will be the measure of success I am striving for!

[Filip]

All i can say is Wow.
I will carefully read the whole thread tommorow , but from the first glance this looks like when Oliver Knott or Takashi Amano give tutorials on making dream aquariums.
Ricardo's discus have a whole new different colour and meaning in this tank . This is exactly why I love planted tanks.
Bravo.

[rickztahone]

Just FYI, in case I missed it here on the thread, Rory has told me that he is currently doing daily ~60% WC's and no dosing. He is still feeding the discus a good amount and I have no doubt that they will grow to a very good size.

Many times on the forum I have ushered people away from planted tanks. It isn't because I do not think it can be done, but simply because I don't think the average person wanting to do a planted tank can actually pull it off. It takes a lot of planning and dedication to make something like this work. I don't want to put the wagon in front of the horse here since Rory's setup is still new, but like I said before, I have no doubt that the discus will thrive in there.

[Kyla]

gorgeous