Paul's 1st discus tank

[Paul Sabucchi]

Hi to all, finally the loooong and slooooow countdown to February 2018 has started then ,God willing, I will celebrate my 1st 1/2 century by getting some discus. These last few months I have been swatting both here and on some local (Italian) forums as there are obvious differences in how to keep these fish compared to all the others I have.
I saw an irresistible bargain and took home a lightly used 24x24x43 in. for 100 gal. currently outside for cleaning, checking and plugging the hole for the sump overflow.
Plan is to get 10 or so juvies about 3 in. direct from a good breeder (hopefully Francesco Penazzi who, as advised by a member of this forum, is one of the top Italian breeders, 2nd in the reds at the last France Discus). The tank will be kept BB at least untill fully grown, at least 50% daily water change. Tapwater TDS 90 ppm, KH 3, pH 7.5 (after 24 hours), Chlorine 0 and nitrate 0 on Sera liquid tests. Filter will probably be a Jebao 304 (currently happily running 3 of them) completely loaded with biomedia and a sponge prefilter in the tank, so it can easily be rinsed as I vacum the bottom. Should I double the filters from the start or only as the fish grow?
Heating will be through a 300 w in-line (Hydor or SunSun) with a 300w Eheim Jager backup all overseen by an STC 1000.
As my tapwater is pretty decent can I age the tapwater for just 12 hours before using it?
Here is the tank, with an oak branch I may use once the growth phase is over.

As for the variety of fish, not quite sure if to go for all the same or go for a "colour theme" like Red Melon, PB and pissibly Red Rose (that being non PB could lead to peppering but not keen on breeding at least to start) or maybe instead a blue theme (blue diamond, Turqs and Heckel/turq cross). I have a decent generator to cover for powercuts (snow took the powerlines down again this einter).
Any advice really welcome. Ciao

[Filip]

Congratulation on your new discus project Paul .
From your plan I think that youve done your homework and you sound pretty prepared for succesfull discus raising .
Why waiting another year to get your discus ?
I didn't understand so you plan to mix different sources /breeders for discus , or you plan to get them all at once from one breeder?
Try not to mix different sources.
Francesco Pennazi is a sound name in discus bussines and he has some stunning Heckel crosses , along with many other strains and great looking discus.

As for filters, if you do plan to run 2 jebao for the long run , you might just run them both right from the start . Too much filtration cant hurt , just be carefull with restricting too much water flow .

About aging. I think 12 hours will be enough if you manage to aggitate water more , for example with a strong filter pump instead of just an airstone .Better agitation =faster outgassing and PH stabilizing.

This wood with white deposits looks like it was sprayed with pesticides.Be careful of that.

I like your "colour theme " idea . Just be sure to get discus from a single source instead of mixing them .

Good luck Paul .

[Paul Sabucchi]

Thanks for your advice. I'll wait because this way my 50th birthday will be memorable, I will use the intervening time to set things up best I can, mostly to make water changes as easy as possible so to encourage me to do plenty of water changing. The tank will be in our master bedroom, by my side of the bed where we already had a smaller tank, (that will make 3 tanks in the bedroom and 3 in the living room) but I had drilled holes in the wall for the hoses so the filters can go in the adjoining kitchen. Will probably have a T on one of the hoses to the filters so at the turn of 2 taps the tank water drains straight to my veggie plot, and I can easily fill tha ageing tank (I always leave a headpump rather than an airstone in the ageing tank) in the kitchen and then pump the water back via a T in a return hose.
I would definitely not mix fish from different breeders, heck if the breeder advises against it I would even scrap the idea of the colour theme and stick with one colour, and yes I really would like to get the fish from Francesco (I always check his facebook page to see what he is up to - as he has a good day-job he breeds because he is passionate about producing top quality fish to show). The white patches in the oak branch is just lichen growth, I felled that tree on our land last month and I am sure none of our oaks have ever been treated with chemicals, the trees are even a good 200 yards from our fruit trees that I give the bare minimum of chemicals as the fruit is just for our consumption. That oak branch anyway would only go in the tank once the fish have done most of their growing. Still undecided about preventive medication during quarentine, over here folks don't tend to do it especially if the fish are going in a tank of their own but I will probaly follw Al's advice and do levamisole, praziquantel and metronidazole to be on the safe side. Ciao from Italy and Grazie for your advice

[Neptune]

The gray is probably lichens. I see it all the time on my oaks. But either way it is not good for your tank. Those lichens will break down to fowl your water quickly. I would strip all the bark off an oak branch. And to go one step further, oaks have a high tannin content. They will leach out of that piece for a long time- boiling will help, unless you want them in the tank. Some people do.

[Paul Sabucchi]

Thank you for the advice, I was planning to remove the bark and anyway it should peel off easy as I would not put any decoration in the tank untill the fish have done most of their growing, so the branch has over 2 years to dry out! It would be nice to be able to boil sone of the tannins out but a bit difficult to find a 45 x25 inch pot, even around here where folks still grow their own tomatoes to make their own jars of sauce, that get boiled in big, but not big enough, pots. Ciao from Italy

[gluedandscrewed]

2 years waiting to complete your set up Paul? must be the most patient person in the world!!!! 1 month to buy old 100 gal tank, disassemble, replace the front glass, reassemble the tank,, build a wooden cabinet for it, build a 3D background with waterfall,(Styrofoam, cement, paint and epoxy resin) plant the tank, fill with water, put in 9 discus and enjoy..(no waiting for months to cycle tank) fish have been in for a month, growing nicely, feeding like damn piranhas, calm, not bothered by me being around the tank on in the tank. So much for the convoluted procedures of the many self proclaimed "experts"

P.S. the wife must a saint also!!!

[Paul Sabucchi]

I get you, but I have to admit I have a few other "pet projecs" to keep me entertained: 2 x 100 gal Mbuna tanks, 60 gal "southamerican", 50 gal Oranda, 12 gal Oto "Cocama" and CRShrimp, not to mention 3 horses, 25 dogs -from 3 maltese to 3 great danes, 12 cats, 3 pet pigs, Serama and Brahma chickens and Runner ducks! I have to slow down the pursuit of my bucket list or else I'll struggle to cope; mind you now the wife is developing an unhealthy interest for flowerhorns, she is going about the house with a tape-measure... Ciao

[gluedandscrewed]

I am humbled!!!! just how much of the adriatic coast do you own???years ago spent a bit of time on the other side of the boot,,,,in what we referred to as the armpit of europe

P.S... should have known better than give the wife a tape measure

[Paul Sabucchi]

Not a lot, just 10 acres of hilly land half way down the length of the boot (makes for great views but it is a bugger to farm!) I am sincerely hoping that realizing the beauty of discus the wife will see the error of her ways... I mean... A freaking flowerhorn!

[gluedandscrewed]

you will have to educate us dumb americans,,, flowerhorn?????? and if you are wondering, Napoli we termed the armpit,

[Paul Sabucchi]

Flowerhorn is a kind of hybrid concocted first in Malaysia crossing various cichlids mostly of central american origin. The main feature is an enormous nuchal hump
https://youtu.be/K8Y76xpdUrQ
I get why you called Naples the armpit, never been too keen to go there myself but every 2-3 years they have a decent fish show so may have to make an effort. Ciao

[Paul Sabucchi]

Hi, still attempting to make my mind up about what strain to chose. I will probably go for a red theme. Here are francesco Penazzi's Red melon, sin, rose and cover. Would it be ill advised to mix the melon with the other (non PB) reds?

[DatDiscusDude]

Paul, it looks like you have some great offerings and some lovely red to choose from... Are those the strain names? So the second one is "Red Sin" if so, those are gorgeous and would be my choice! The fourth pic is nice as well, but I love that deep red of pic 2....

Most will say not to mix a PB and a non-PB because of the genetics and possible breeding. If they were to mix, the chances are that the offspring would be heavily peppered and not so desirable. If they will be in a community tank with no plans to breed then you can do whatever is pleasing to your eye and what you like to see.

[Paul Sabucchi]

Thanks for the advice, Francesco got 2nd with one of hisjkred melons at the last France discus so really difficult to take a pass on them, but on the other hand I suppose here now red melons are getting "a bit too common". I am not planning to breed (mainly because I have no room left for growout tanks and little time to spare for looking after the offspring). Having said this, as my tapwater is pretty soft (90 ppm) there is a chance the fish may breed and it would be a shame if the result would be peppered "mutts". I'll try to post more photos of these fish he is breeding. On a different note I think I will go for a Schego 300w titanium heater controlled by an Stc 1000 buuuuut as the tank will be close to a radiator I had another of my crackpot ideas, having a circuit to warm up the tankwater by running along the radiator...

So if hypothetically I would luke to keep the temperature between 28 and 29 C I would have an Inkbird 308 set at 29 to make sure that above that temperature both heating methods are shut off, have an Stc 1000 with the probe on the radiator so when it is hot it would turn on the pump that runs tank water through a silicone pipe around the radiator and also it would switch off the Schego. The latter would be controlled by it's own Stc 1000 set at 28.5... Let me know if you think it sounds feasable

[CraigJ]

I am sincerely hoping that realizing the beauty of discus the wife will see the error of her ways... I mean... A freaking flowerhorn!

Hi Paul,

I don't know how I missed your above comment, but I think I like your wife! I've had Donald for about 2.5 years and he is a fantastic pet;


https://vimeo.com/213108475