Is this a reasonable plan?

[Onewolf]

I'm putting together a new 90gal tank that I would like to setup as a Discus/Angel/community tank. My plan is to eventually stock it with 4-6 Discus, 2-3 Altum/Angels and 10-12 of Cardinal/Rummy Nose tetra shoals. I plan to have the tank fairly well planted as well. I have two Penn Plax Cascade 1200s I plan to use for filtration.

Currently my biggest concern is access to enough reasonably soft water (We are in central Florida with rather 'hard' county water supply). I plan to install a whole house water softener soon which will hopefully resolve the hard water issue.

Does this seem like a reasonable plan?

Thanks.

[jmf3460]

its a start. Welcome to SD first of all and I am saying that on behalf of the moderator team. your plan sounds reasonable, but I think you should consider purchasing a larger tank. The 90gal is an oddly sized footprint FME. Its the same with and depth as a 75 but its taller, too tall. Unless you are a person of incredible height, you will need a stool to be able to reach the substrate with your siphon hose during water changes. Secondly, angles are similar to discus in that they are a shoaling fish so 3 angels will bicker amongst themselves to the point of someone being stressed to death. for a mix of the two I would go with the minimum of a 6' footprint (125gal or more)

[Onewolf]

Thanks for the quick reply.

A wider tank is not an option because of WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) and we prefer the visual affect of the slightly taller 90 tank with the tall stand/canopy (Aqua Wood Grande Crown) we ordered. We already have the 90 tank sitting in the garage and I've already started a fishless cycle on the two filters.

We could potentially forego the Angels and go with Rams of some sort?

[Jenene]

Welcome to Simply Onewolf, you have found a wonderful community here.

Jacklyn has made some great points. I am thinking you may have some people say that starting out with a planted tank may be challenging. Are you planning on younger fish to grow out or adults? If you want to grow them it is really hard yo keep a tank with substrate and healthy plants while growing them out. Many would suggest a bare bottom while they grow and then adding the substrate later on.
Also a group of just four you may see aggression as well. Six or more would spread it out more evenly.

It sounds like you have a vision and it can be achieved. I am just thinking maybe small steps toward the final picture will be your best chance at success here.
Let's see what the others say. I always learn something from them. This is a great place to be with this passion. Enjoy the journey!

[jmf3460]

Thanks for the quick reply.

A wider tank is not an option because of WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) and we prefer the visual affect of the slightly taller 90 tank with the tall stand/canopy (Aqua Wood Grande Crown) we ordered. We already have the 90 tank sitting in the garage and I've already started a fishless cycle on the two filters.

We could potentially forego the Angels and go with Rams of some sort?

Going the DSAC (dwarf south American cichlid) route is an excellent alternative to angels. And you have come to the right source for that, I have kept and keep many dwarf SA cichlids, in fact they are some of my favorite species. Here are some species that you can google and I have listed them in order of my favorite to least favorite

laetacara curviceps
laetacara dorsigera
cleithracara maronii
dicrossus filamentosus (I currently house a group of 10 with my wild discus, they are quite the little fish)
apistogramma (lots of species for this genus my only experience is apistogramma agazzii)
German blue rams or bolivian rams (nice fish but short life span IME)
nannacara anomala
guianacara (haven't kept but on my list of types to keep one day)
biotodoma cupido (haven't kept but high on my list, like probably my next species ill purchase)

[Adam S]

I wouldn't mess with a water "softener." I have one here and always use the bypass valve when doing water changes. Tds is about 420-425 ppm from the tap but around 500 ppm from the softener. I have used it in the past for fish with no ill effect, but it's a waste of salt if you are going through hundreds of gallons of water a week.

Concerning plants, you could use terracotta pots from the hardware store and leave the bottom bare. It's a really clean look and makes maintenance much easier.

[Kyla]

What are your current water parameters? Just wondering whether it will be adequate as is.

[fishbubbles]

Hey onewolf, I'm in South Florida and my TDS at the tap is around 380. I installed a reverse osmosis system to blend my water and use a mix of RO and Tap to drop my TDS to around 250 for my display tank. My breeding tanks get a mixture that is around 80 TDS

[Neptune]

I do half water softner water and half RO water. Works well, the fish are happy.

I know you said you already have the tank, but for an FYI you can get a 120 gallon fatboy that is 4X2X2.

[Onewolf]

Thanks for all the replies/information so far. It has provoked some adjustments to the plan.

Btw, increasing the footprint of this aquarium is not an option. We already have the tank and we have ordered the cabinet/canopy. Not to mention when this discussion started with the wife she was thinking 38 bow front. I was able to negotiate that initial tank size up to a 46 bow front, then 65 tall, then 72 bow front, and finally 90 gallon. Any larger footprint and it would be too intrusive into the room space. With that being said, I recently found two 110 gal (48" x 18" x 30" tall) tanks on Craigslist for cheap that would have been "intriguing". But then both my wife and I like the 'look' of the tall tanks (I know they are not fun to deal with).

Assuming this tank goes ok, we are planning to do another larger tank in our 'Great Room' as a 'bar back'. My wife seems to think 6ft wide is wide enough. She doesn't know it yet, but she will soon agree that 7 ft wide would be better and then 8 ft wide would be even more better. Muhahaha.

[Neptune]

ya always tell the wife you want a 400 gallon tank but will settle for a 220!

That's why this is in the beginner section! HAHAHAHA

[Ryan925]

Thanks for all the replies/information so far. It has provoked some adjustments to the plan.

Btw, increasing the footprint of this aquarium is not an option. We already have the tank and we have ordered the cabinet/canopy. Not to mention when this discussion started with the wife she was thinking 38 bow front. I was able to negotiate that initial tank size up to a 46 bow front, then 65 tall, then 72 bow front, and finally 90 gallon. Any larger footprint and it would be too intrusive into the room space. With that being said, I recently found two 110 gal (48" x 18" x 30" tall) tanks on Craigslist for cheap that would have been "intriguing". But then both my wife and I like the 'look' of the tall tanks (I know they are not fun to deal with).

Assuming this tank goes ok, we are planning to do another larger tank in our 'Great Room' as a 'bar back'. My wife seems to think 6ft wide is wide enough. She doesn't know it yet, but she will soon agree that 7 ft wide would be better and then 8 ft wide would be even more better. Muhahaha.

That's pretty good negotiating skills.

Don't worry she will get the discus bug. We all want more fish which means bigger and bigger tank

I usually just show up with the tank in the back of the truck then make it up to her later lol

[fishbubbles]

That's pretty good negotiating skills.

Don't worry she will get the discus bug. We all want more fish which means bigger and bigger tank

I usually just show up with the tank in the back of the truck then make it up to her later lol

It's better to ask for forgiveness than for permission when it comes to new tanks!

[Jenene]

You guys have it all figured out. Now from the female perspective to win the guy over... Cover the reef tank up for three days to get rid of a dinoflagellates issue, forcing him to sit in front of the discus tank- two cocktails, great music and some innocent conversation about how beautiful they are and how many more varieties there are to be had, I went fro a 75 to a 125. Bingo!

[Ryan925]

It's better to ask for forgiveness than for permission when it comes to new tanks!

It's amazing what a gift certificate to the spa will mend