Dad's 85 Gal Bare Bottom Tank

[marktanseng]

Hi Simply Discus!

My name is Mark from Davao City in the Philippines. I've previously kept several discus in a 70 gal planted tank.

Recently my dad asked me to do a whole new setup for him (the tank was in his house). So I had this brand new frameless 85 gal (120 x 45 x 60 cm) tank with stand custom made with the intent of keeping low maintenance fancy goldfish. BUT...I caught the discus bug AGAIN and decided to go for a bare bottom discus tank!

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The tank is currently on a fishless cycle with the ff. specs:

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FILTRATION = 2x Eheim 2217s (filter pads, blue sponges, ceramic rings, and a bag of Purigen once cycled, on a UPS), 1x sponge filter (temporary)

LIGHTING = FROK submersible LED lights (love the color fading effects)

TEMP = 29 C room temp


Planning to stock with an assortment of 7 pcs 3.5"discus and 12 rummy nose/cardinal tetras, and possibly a pleco.

Since this is in my dad's house (although I live just behind it ) I'm planning this tank to be as LOW MAINTENANCE as possible. I hope some of you can answer some question I have, which are:


1. Can I get away with doing 1x 50% WC weekly? (considering I'm heavily filtered )

2. How is my stocking plan?

3. Currently, I'm getting a pH reading of 8.4 on my API test kit. Should I look for ways to lower it?


Any help is greatly appreciated. Will post updates on this journal as the tank progresses...



Thanks!

- Mark

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[Phillydubs]

Nice looking tank! Very clean...

For starters, no, you can't get away with once a week water changes. Unless you want to get away with letting your dad have some oddball shaped looking discus. At 3.5" they are still sub-adult with a tonnn of growing to do...

You want to do 1x a week water changes get 5" + fish and you could do it with light feeding and a big solid water change weekly with some poop sucking inbetween...

Did you try to age the water? Is the ph steady there? I always say, steady is ready, but it needs to be steady, factoring in your WC water and regiment...

[Debow]

Welcome Mark!

Nice start with the bare bottom tank! You are off to a great start.

[marktanseng]

Thanks for the reply Philly!

Trying to weigh the cost-benefit between more expensive adults vs the higher maintenance for juvies and decided to let dad decide (since he is paying for the fish anyway!)

For the meantime, I'm optimizing my maintenance procedure To answer your question, I do age the water (or at the very least, throw in some Prime). Also bought a 15m length of garden hose to be used as both DRAINAGE and RETURN for the aged water from two big buckets outside the patio. Drained water will be used to water the garden outside Yep, just trying to do my share as an environmentally-friendly discus keeper!

I also learned today that a GRAVEL VAC WITH MANUAL HAND-PUMP isn't much use to create vacuum for a 15m long hose! FORTUNATELY I discovered a better way by accident when I was pumping back water to the tank with a powerhead: After turning on the powerhead, wait for the water to reach the tank, then simply turn off the powerhead and PRESTO, the water flows back to the powerhead with A VACUUM!

Going back to pH, if ever I can't get it lower, would it be best to just chuck in some driftwood?

[marktanseng]

Thanks for the warm welcome Debow! Looking forward to learning from the folks here at Simply

[marktanseng]

TANK UPDATE:

- Installed FROK submersible LED RGB light (loved tinkering with the colors
- FISHLESS CYCLE: Ammonia starting to be processed by filter...now waiting for Nitrite to drop... WC 15-20% daily, adding Ammonia every other day...

Posting some pics and a vid for ya'll. Happy discus keeping!

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[Jenene]

Welcome to the forum Mark!

Your project looks great. That would be a fun thing to do. I love spending other people's money.

One thing that "jumped" out at me in the pics is that there is no top? I have heard many stories about people finding their discus on the floor. I am just overly aware since I just lost 3 fish in a short time out of my rimless reef tank. It was heartbreaking. (I do have a lid on my discus and now on my reef as well.) Just a heads up on that.

One thing you may want to point out to your dad is the cost will end up about the same whether he chooses to buy smaller fish and raise them- the food, water, electricity and time will most likely equal the difference of just buying the larger fish. If he were really into maintenance and raising them I would say it's really fun to watch them grow. I grew out eight smaller discus and it was interesting watching them grow and change. If he wants immediate gratification with less work go for the big guys. Just my two cents anyway.

Looking forward to seeing this tank stocked! Send pics please. We live for them.

[Phillydubs]

Looking good bud! Keep up the slow and steady pace and be patient! Always worse to rush!

You should really try to age your water, or at least test if it makes a difference. You can fill a bucket with an airstone, test from the tap then let it sit 24 hrs and re test, see what the diff is. You don't want there to be a swing. Tossing just some prime in, really isn't going to help if in 24 hrs your ph goes from 8-9, understand?

Also, I hope you relayed the message to pops that bigger fish mean more flexibility with care and maintenance ?

[marktanseng]

One thing that "jumped" out at me in the pics is that there is no top? I have heard many stories about people finding their discus on the floor.

...I grew out eight smaller discus and it was interesting watching them grow and change. If he wants immediate gratification with less work go for the big guys. Just my two cents anyway.

Hi Jenene,

Thanks for the heads up! I never considered discus would jump. Would lowering my water level help? Was aiming to have as minimal equipment as possible to create a "floating" effect for the fish

Yeah I would also prefer bigger fish around 4" so they won't have to be fed/cleaned as often. After setup will turnover maintenance to my dad's househelp so I wanted to make it as painless for them as possible lol

Will definitely post pics as things progress. Sorry about the skewed pics. The originals were right side up but turned after I uploaded them. Any tips how to make them "right side up"?

[marktanseng]

You should really try to age your water, or at least test if it makes a difference. You can fill a bucket with an airstone, test from the tap then let it sit 24 hrs and re test, see what the diff is. You don't want there to be a swing. Tossing just some prime in, really isn't going to help if in 24 hrs your ph goes from 8-9, understand?

Also, I hope you relayed the message to pops that bigger fish mean more flexibility with care and maintenance ?

Thank Philly! Will try to do that. Still doing daily 15-20% WCs. My latest pH reading (from tank) is 8.2 though KH is 6. Would that be a possible reason why I get high pH levels?

[Jenene]

Hi Jenene,

Thanks for the heads up! I never considered discus would jump. Would lowering my water level help? Was aiming to have as minimal equipment as possible to create a "floating" effect for the fish

Yeah I would also prefer bigger fish around 4" so they won't have to be fed/cleaned as often. After setup will turnover maintenance to my dad's househelp so I wanted to make it as painless for them as possible lol

Will definitely post pics as things progress. Sorry about the skewed pics. The originals were right side up but turned after I uploaded them. Any tips how to make them "right side up"?

Hi Mark,
Lowering the water might help a tiny bit but when you watch them you understand the risk. Many times over their lives they will scuffle for places in the pecking order which involves chasing and flipping around. Also they startle and spook very easily and will often swim up and crash into the sides. Also at night any movement in the room such as a shadow will set them crashing. Many of us use a small night light or use the moonlight setting on our lights to minimize this. Some discus can get serious injuries or die by hitting too hard. If there is no top they could just go up and out. Newer fish will startle more but being smaller the risk would be a bit less that they would go all the way out. For what they cost and how attached we get I thought I should say something. A low profile glass top may not ruin the beautiful effect you are going for. I completely understand. I hated putting a top on my rimless reef, but would never forgive myself if my clowns were the next to go over the edge. I was lucky to have made a small black screen that is barely noticeable on that tank. That kind would definitely show on yours. Hence maybe glass or acrylic if you decided to do it.

Yes, painless water changes will be the best bet for all involved- humans and fish.

As far as the sideways pics. I believe the only way is to have a moderator catch it and flip it for you. No worries. We can still enjoy them!

Can't wait to see this evolve. It will be an amazing project that will be enjoyed by many.

[Second Hand Pat]

...

Will definitely post pics as things progress. Sorry about the skewed pics. The originals were right side up but turned after I uploaded them. Any tips how to make them "right side up"?

Hi Mark and welcome to Simply. On your picture question do a small edit (like a crop) prior to uploading and see if that helps. As for discus I would suggest a bit of research on your part (and perhaps your dad) to gear up for the new fish. Here's a start http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...CH-THIS-VIDEO!. The video in the first post is a must watch and well worth your time.
Pat

[Filip]

Thank Philly! Will try to do that. Still doing daily 15-20% WCs. My latest pH reading (from tank) is 8.2 though KH is 6. Would that be a possible reason why I get high pH levels?

Welcome to the forum Mike .

You got a nice plan for your tank and your new discus journey . The only thing that I would like to correct is your WC regime . Try to manage at least 2 +50% WCs per week and try to find a way of aging your water if you are about to do big % WCs , which I personally think that you should , especially if you choose to go the 1-2 times Wc per week route .

The 2 main problems with big straight tap WCs are microbubbles (dissolved gasses) in tapwater and pH swings (especially downward when tap is less pH than tank water is ) , so try to address and manage them both .

Good luck with your discus Mike , and keep us updated .

[marktanseng]

PHILLY: Tested my 24 hr aged tap water (not aerated) and came up with a 7.8 pH. Would you know why it actually increases to 8.2 once in the tank? Temp of the aged water is 26 C while my tank temp is 29 C if its any help...


JENENE: Duly noted Definitely wouldn't want to lose them that way. Do you keep your discus in a BB tank? Would they be more skittish in that setup than a planted setup?

Luckily I managed to scrounge up a used piece of grey double wall polycarbonate that can be cut to size to cover the tank. Not as clear as acrylic but it might just do the trick


PAT: Thanks for the pic tip and welcome! Yup saw it been lurking the pinned posts for a while hehe its a great video.


FILIP: Thanks for the tips! 2x 50% WCs weekly is doable with aged water. Already have my relatively "painless" WC regime in place (one hose for draining/return from the garden).


THANKS FOR THE REPLIES EVERYONE!

[Jenene]

Hey Mark. My discus are in a bare bottom. I learned to appreciate the ease of care. I do have a giant piece of driftwood in there. Every once in awhile I have one clumsy fish that gets a scratch banging against it but they heal almost over night with clean water. Here is a pic from a few months ago.

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