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Thread: 110gal Rimless

  1. #16
    Registered Member Phillydubs's Avatar
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Very intriguing little group. I'll be following this one I can't wait to see them grow !!

    You have a few there that are very spotted I wonder if those will stay and get more prominent

  2. #17
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    It is a beatiful tank!! I want more photos

  3. #18
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Quote Originally Posted by Phillydubs View Post
    You have a few there that are very spotted I wonder if those will stay and get more prominent
    Looking through Hans' tanks it seemed like Tefes have a lot of variety as far as patterning. Some are fully spotted while others are mostly solid brown/orange. I can't imagine the ones that are showing spots now would get less spotted, but who knows if they will end up fully patterned or not. Personally I prefer the look of somewhere in-between - partially spotted and partially solid color. It will definitely be interesting to see how they turn out!

  4. #19
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Well, I made an impulse buy today. I went to my LFS to get some otos because I'm having a bit of a brown algae bloom. Of course I had to browse, and what did I stumble upon but a whole tank full of the prettiest, healthiest looking rams you ever did see. I couldn't help myself. So along with the 8 otos that were on my shopping list, I brought home 6 GBR. They all went straight in the display tank, so while I didn't technically quarantine, they are separate from the Stendkers and that's what matters.



    Little buggers are extremely difficult to photograph...




  5. #20
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Two week update on the Tefes: No issues so far. They're starting to shape up nicely.








  6. #21
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    So these discus gave me a bit of a scare. I noticed yesterday they were breathing heavily and their gills didn't look right - a little flared and puffy. I did my daily 95% water change and adjusted the output on the canister filter to make sure there was good oxygenation. They looked better after the water change, but this morning they looked worse. Their gills were definitely inflamed, some of them were clamping one side. No other symptoms, just not breathing right. I've been doing full water changes and syphoning every day, and wiping down the glass frequently, so I was pretty confident the tank itself was clean. Just to check all my boxes I decided to clean out the canister filter during my daily maintenance, even though I just cleaned it out about 2 weeks prior. Lo and behold, when I cracked open the canister everything inside was covered in pinkish slime and white fungus looking crap. I've never seen anything like it in the ten years I've been running this filter. The only thing I can think is that it's the beefheart. I've never fed beefheart before, and apparently it just doesn't break down like other waste. Or maybe my filter just doesn't have the right bacteria built up yet to tackle these particular proteins. Either way, I think that has to be the source of irritation for the fish. I cleaned everything out with tank water, did a full water change, ran the filter for 10 minutes to flush it out and then did ANOTHER 50% water change. I added 1 tbs/10gals of table salt and an airstone to help the fish recover. It's been a few hours and I can already see their breathing returning to normal and the inflammation is going down. I'm planning on keeping up the salt for a few more days. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up a pre-filter sponge, and from now on the filter is going completely off until there is no beefheart left after feedings. I'm also going to start cleaning it out weekly. Hopefully that's enough to prevent this nasty buildup from returning.

  7. #22
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Meanwhile, while these finicky discus are having a meltdown in quarantine, the rams I bought on Saturday and threw straight in the display tank are breeding. Two different pairs laid eggs today. Nothing will come of these batches with all those white clouds in the tank, but it's fun to watch the process. I'm thinking I'll move the minnows back out to their "summer home" in my garden pond and see if the rams manage to raise any fry.

  8. #23
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Well, today was a bad day. I lost one of the tefes. The boss of the tank with yellow eyes. Yesterday after a feeding he bloated, and was gone in less than 24hrs. I tried salt, and then Kanamycin, but it was too late. He was the most voracious eater in the tank, and I think he over-ate. That combined with whatever pathogen was causing the gill issues earlier in the week and it was too much. The others seem fine, if a little timid in the absence of the pack leader. I'm considering replacing the canister with a simple sponge filter for my own peace of mind. I don't want to worry about what's growing in there where I can't see. In the meantime I flushed out the tubing and added a pre-filter sponge.

    Everything in the main tank is fine, aside from some algae issues. I'm still trying to dial in the right amount of light. Just growing pains for a new tank - it will balance out soon.

  9. #24
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Three week update, down to six:


  10. #25
    Registered Member Phillydubs's Avatar
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Wow this is all rough to read and hear! Goodness... you seemed off to the races with this group! I hit a snag myself and it blooows to say the least!

    Good to see you added a prefilter! I wish I or someone would have told you this sooner, maybe could have helped things
    Last edited by Phillydubs; 06-26-2017 at 11:39 AM.

  11. #26
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Honestly, if someone had told me my filter would be too dirty with my maintenance routine I probably would have just rolled my eyes. Like I said I've been running this filter without sponges for 10+ yrs and never had any issues with it aside from replacing the impeller twice. I've gone periods when I was still in school that I did water changes every 3 months and never cleaned or thought about the filter, and when I finally opened it up it was pristine on the inside. There were cherry shrimp breeding in it. Granted, that was a very different setup - fully planted with hundreds of shrimp and snails - so there was never any uneaten food. Anyway...lesson learned. Feeding raw meat in a bare-bottom tank makes for dirty filters.

  12. #27
    Registered Member Phillydubs's Avatar
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Yea, I was about to say, all that history and experience goes out the window with discus and then the beef heart!!

    Tough lesson to learn, I am going through my own now w filter issues and it causing issues to my fish, not fun!

    I feel for you!

  13. #28
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Quote Originally Posted by Phillydubs View Post
    Yea, I was about to say, all that history and experience goes out the window with discus and then the beef heart!!

    Tough lesson to learn, I am going through my own now w filter issues and it causing issues to my fish, not fun!

    I feel for you!
    Just read through your bio-ball thread. That's a bummer. I know this is heresy, but sometimes I think we hurt ourselves in the quest for cleanliness. I came from planted tanks, where there is much more of an effort to recreate a functioning ecosystem from top to bottom. Those tanks were super stable and clean, with a tiny fraction of the actual "cleaning" that I'm doing now. These bare-bottom setups sure are "clean", but the whole system seems way more unstable to me. I'll keep doing it this way because I trust the experts, but I'm really looking forward to when these guys are full grown in the display tank and I can go back to water changes once or twice per week.

  14. #29
    Registered Member Clawhammer's Avatar
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Quote Originally Posted by Demosthenes View Post
    Just read through your bio-ball thread. That's a bummer. I know this is heresy, but sometimes I think we hurt ourselves in the quest for cleanliness. I came from planted tanks, where there is much more of an effort to recreate a functioning ecosystem from top to bottom. Those tanks were super stable and clean, with a tiny fraction of the actual "cleaning" that I'm doing now. These bare-bottom setups sure are "clean", but the whole system seems way more unstable to me. I'll keep doing it this way because I trust the experts, but I'm really looking forward to when these guys are full grown in the display tank and I can go back to water changes once or twice per week.
    The huge quantity of water in the Amazon basin has unfathomable dilution power and the naturally low pH keeps organic compounds and bacteria to a minimum. Doing large daily water changes and cleanings is the only way to approximate discus' natural ecosytem unfortunately.

    I came from planted tanks too, and it also took a while for it to all sink in / make sense to me as well. Discus simply have different needs and #1 and #2 are clean water and large amounts messy food.

    Good luck, I look forward to future updates.

  15. #30
    Registered Member Phillydubs's Avatar
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    Default Re: 110gal Rimless

    Quote Originally Posted by Demosthenes View Post
    Just read through your bio-ball thread. That's a bummer. I know this is heresy, but sometimes I think we hurt ourselves in the quest for cleanliness. I came from planted tanks, where there is much more of an effort to recreate a functioning ecosystem from top to bottom. Those tanks were super stable and clean, with a tiny fraction of the actual "cleaning" that I'm doing now. These bare-bottom setups sure are "clean", but the whole system seems way more unstable to me. I'll keep doing it this way because I trust the experts, but I'm really looking forward to when these guys are full grown in the display tank and I can go back to water changes once or twice per week.
    I was thinking and echoing similar sentiments earlier today... I like the word "quest" because I often feel like I am on one to cure or help one "problem" only to harm something else. I even tried to say, well if you let those bio-balls go it would have been total disaster, which is also probably true, doesn't mean don't clean them and do it the right way, just slowly! I think patience is the key word here and the willingness to learn as we grow and suffer from mistakes to better our future as a keeper.

    Sometimes as we try our darnest to assist we end up hurting the cause. I myself am often brash and just plunge rather then step back and think it all out. We tend to react quick in this hobby and often times to our own demise.

    You still have a lovely group and you have to carry on for them. Losses happen, you live and learn I suppose right!

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