Paul's 1st discus tank

[Paul Sabucchi]

Your Donald looks Fab! The wife is even more taken with them now. At sone point we may have to remove some furniture to fit another big tank, problem is most of tge furniture is full of her stuff and she wants to keep it! Ciao from Italy

[CraigJ]

Well, just remember, even Flowerhorns start out small and only require a smallish tank. No reason you can't put a 40L tank on top of some of her furniture. And if it helps, here is Donald meditation through yoga (either that, or he's waiting for a ship to sail past in order to play Moby-Dick ).

[Paul Sabucchi]

Thanks Donald looks fantastic. Will keep flowerhorn on the to-do list. Ciao

[Paul Sabucchi]

Sooo...here is me messing about with crackpot ideas about radiators (got bags of time anyway...) and today Francesco Penazzi announced he is going to quit breeding for the forseable future! Good job I got the tank early, I have sent him an enquiry message for a dozen juvies (awaiting reply). Should he say fish are available, if together with the fish I picked up from him a sponge filter, would it be possible to start the tank with no previous cycling? Advice much appreciated

[MarkGSmith]

If you can change enough water you'll be Ok. The health of the fish must be paramount of course and you'll need to be understocked, overfiltered and doing WCs like youre on whiz. I hear good things about some of the active bacteria additives that can be added with fish present and can colonise your filter in less than a week. If you go that route check the date on the bottle; fresh is good, 6 moths old is fair and 12 months old is useless. I'm no expert though so wait for more experienced opinions....I'm verbose because I had a glass of wine!

[Paul Sabucchi]

Thanks, still not decided what to do as Francesco seems to have available mostly new and unproven crosses (red cover x heckel is one) so maybe I will go to another breeder, also a lot closer and therecwould be all the time to set the tank up properly; he is most proud of his reds from brown (red rose and red cover). Here is one of his breeders, thoughts?

[DatDiscusDude]

Paul,

That is a lovely fish you posted! Those are available?

This is a tough decision. In the end.. It is really your call and personal preference.

To answer your first question, you can easily start and cycle the tank with fish. Even easier with the seeded sponge from the supplier if you are starting fresh. That being said and as you have been advised above. You will really need to bust your hump to stay on top of it and keep the water good and all of that fun stuff. Plenty of people here have started tanks up on a whim and just keep doing big daily or twice daily WC. You become the filter at that point until your filter of choice can catch up.

I understand the need and desire to have a tank full of a well known breeders stock. Especially if said breeder is calling it quits. Yet, I feel like that luster may wear off after a few weeks months. If you aren't happy with the fish, in the end, who cares where they came from. You need to look at these fish daily, care for them daily and you need to be happy with how they look. Ill take a fish I consider nice or pretty from a no name over an eh fish from some head honcho breeder any day.

At the end of the day it comes down to your gut and your taste. Go with what you find visually appealing and what will motivate you to give the best care. Discus are a long term commitment. These fish can live a long time with the proper care and environment so remember that as you choose. Do I want these fish for the next 5 years? 10 years?

[Paul Sabucchi]

Thanks for your advice, I aggree with what you said. Although the well known breeder who will be clising down has won loads of trophies I am not entirely convinced by what he has on offer now while the newer breeder although not competing in international shows does have a solid reputation and being a lot closer it means I could go and have a look first before I decide what to buy. Also with no rush I can set the tank up with a proper fishless cycle. Thanks for helping to make my mind up

[DatDiscusDude]

Happy to help and glad to hear it cleared some things for you...

Like I said, it seems like you can't go wrong, that being said, why not go as RIGHT as possible! LOL...

I get that the closing down guy is well known, however, his past trophies will not be in your tank. Not the trophies nor the fish who won them. If you ask me, a breeder is only as good as what he has in his tanks. He could have won all the awards in the world. If the fish in his tank aren't near that caliber then like I said at the end of the day you will not be happy, you will loose interest and in turn the fish will suffer...

Take a breeder like the famed Piwoarski - Some people flip for certain strains, other strains are eh...

Like I said, these aren't cars, we aren't driving around with a big logo or something. The fish don't wear a label that says, " I may not be that nice, but I am from famed breeder XYZ" and everyone suddenly forgets the fish isn't that pretty and raves about the breeder!

I think you are making the right call... Go see with your own two, take your time and set your tank, get fish that appeal to you and in the end you will be very happy.

[Paul Sabucchi]

Set-up continues, decided rather than paint the ourside of the tank to try coloured yoga mats, arrived yesterday. Decided to play it safe, cream for the bottom and mid blue for the back and one side. I put the bottom (cream) mat smooth side up while for the sides i left the ribbed side on show to see if it would add a little visual interest. I don't dislike it!
Really happy to have a 100gal bedside table! Dogs are ok with it, one of my great danes (spoilt rotten - she is a rescue and is deaf) keeping my spot warm during the day at night sleeps on the ottoman with her head tucked under the tank.



Tried the oak "tree" for fit and then celebrated with a tinny of ichnusa, a nice Sardinian beer and hopefully the only kind of "ich" to ever come anywhere near the tank.
Next step will be sorting the filter and plumbing so to make water changes very easy, fit a TC420 to dim the LEDs and and sorting the heating.
Sometime soon I should be invited to see the facilities at the breeder of the Red Rose in the photo above.




Ciao

[Ryan925]

Set-up continues, decided rather than paint the ourside of the tank to try coloured yoga mats, arrived yesterday. Decided to play it safe, cream for the bottom and mid blue for the back and one side. I put the bottom (cream) mat smooth side up while for the sides i left the ribbed side on show to see if it would add a little visual interest. I don't dislike it!
Really happy to have a 100gal bedside table! Dogs are ok with it, one of my great danes (spoilt rotten - she is a rescue and is deaf) keeping my spot warm during the day at night sleeps on the ottoman with her head tucked under the tank.



Tried the oak "tree" for fit and then celebrated with a tinny of ichnusa, a nice Sardinian beer and hopefully the only kind of "ich" to ever come anywhere near the tank.
Next step will be sorting the filter and plumbing so to make water changes very easy, fit a TC420 to dim the LEDs and and sorting the heating.
Sometime soon I should be invited to see the facilities at the breeder of the Red Rose in the photo above.




Ciao

Very interesting piece of wood and can't go wrong with a nice tall can. Being from the Pacific north west we have amazing craft beer

[Paul Sabucchi]

Most of the big name Italian brands of beer (peroni, moretti, poretti and even that sardinian one) are now owned by Heineken or some other big multinational. There is a decent micro-brewery 5 miles from here but I live in wine country, drinkable plonk is cheaper than petrol if I could run the car on medium-dry white I'd be laughing. Ciao

[Jenene]

The wood looks amazing Paul (as well as the beer!) I love the dramatic twists and turns in it. The way it sits on the bottom will make it so easy to clean under. Mine sits up on little "feet" and I can fit a hand under it to clean. Makes maintenance way easier.

Looking great! Can't wait to see some livestock in there!

[bluelagoon]

The only thing that concerns me is the bark on the wood.It should be removed.It'll break down much faster than the hard wood underneath and can be a bit messy,especially if there is any sap left in it from not being completely cured.

[Jenene]

The only thing that concerns me is the bark on the wood.It should be removed.It'll break down much faster than the hard wood underneath and can be a bit messy,especially if there is any sap left in it from not being completely cured.

I was wondering about that too but no one had mentioned it up until now. Paul, was the wood completely dead and dry? Could you peel or sand the bark off?