Setting up my 75 Gallon Tank Input wanted Please

[Ragnar73]

Okay this will be the first time I house Discus. I have a 75 Gallon Tank with small size gravel substrate. Décor is non natural as in no real plants. I have 2 370 GPH 4 stage Canister filters with UV filtration running on it. Temp is holding at 86 degrees. PH level seems to beholding around 8 GH is holding around 300ppm and KH is holding around 250ppm. The Nitrogen cycle will be completed soon. My plan is to stock 5 Discus I will be ordering from our Chicago Discus Vender. 3 Congo Tetras, 10 Endlers, 10 Cherry Barbs, 10 Blue Platys, 1 Kahuli Loach, and 1 Male Betta. Will this be to much for this tank to be healthy. Looking for feedback and thoughts regarding this information listed. Thanks in Advance

[Phillydubs]

First off welcome and enjoy the ride !

You have now idea what your getting into. Lol. Discushysteria!!

I would suggest you do a lot of homework. Your lucky to start here and lay out a plan first. Read read read. Read the stickies. Watch ALS talk and read some more.

A few points. Get rid of the gravel. If this is your first go round bare is best or some light sand. Paint the bottom sides and back of the tank first.

86 is way to high no need. 82-84 is fine.

What type of decor ? If it's rough or pointy toss it. Some nice driftwood is great for discus

Heck of a mixof fish. Some ive kept some others not so much. Just make sure they re peaceful and not fierce eaters. You my not think they are "aggressive fish" but if they are fast to food and too active your discus can spook.

[Ryan925]

First off welcome and enjoy the ride !

You have now idea what your getting into. Lol. Discushysteria!!

I would suggest you do a lot of homework. Your lucky to start here and lay out a plan first. Read read read. Read the stickies. Watch ALS talk and read some more.

A few points. Get rid of the gravel. If this is your first go round bare is best or some light sand. Paint the bottom sides and back of the tank first.

86 is way to high no need. 82-84 is fine.

What type of decor ? If it's rough or pointy toss it. Some nice driftwood is great for discus

Heck of a mixof fish. Some ive kept some others not so much. Just make sure they re peaceful and not fierce eaters. You my not think they are "aggressive fish" but if they are fast to food and too active your discus can spook.

Agree with what Phil has suggested. I have a 75 that I started with discus last April. It has gone through many changes. I would really read up and get things right from the start rather than have to make the changes. You can take a look at my tank journal and see photo evidence of the difference doing things right makes.

Get rid of that gravel for sure

[White Worm]

Walk before you run. If you don't have plants, you have no need for substrate. All it does is collect crap. Paint the outside of the tank a light color, for sure the bottom and back. Learn discus needs before you dive into a bunch of different tank mates. The barbs would be ok since they would clean up the small food mess. If you have 5 adult discus (I would do 6), you could go with some pool filter sand and driftwood as already stated. You want simple and easy to clean.

[Ryan925]

Walk before you run. If you don't have plants, you have no need for substrate. All it does is collect crap. Paint the outside of the tank a light color, for sure the bottom and back. Learn discus needs before you dive into a bunch of different tank mates. The barbs would be ok since they would clean up the small food mess. If you have 5 adult discus (I would do 6), you could go with some pool filter sand and driftwood as already stated. You want simple and easy to clean.

+1 again

Simple is best. One other addition. Don't worry so much about what your water params are as discus can thrive in a large spectrum. The key is stability. The most important being your ph. Do an aged water test. That us for more.important than gh, kh and tds. Fill a bucket and run an airstone in it for 24 hours and test ph. Compare to your tap. I am one that is fortunate enough to not age water just most have to due to ph swing

[Ragnar73]

Okay Thanks for the Advice Guys. Is the number and kinds of fish I suggested to much? Overcrowded? As I have already have my tank running I am going to stick with the Substrate and just be prepared for lots of water changes. The water coming out of my tap was tested at 7.4 but a few days into the tank testing showed it at 8.2 so I probably will need to do the aged water changes. I am going to fill one of my 5 Gallon Buckets as instructed to see if in fact I will have to age my water.

[White Worm]

It seems you have an idea of what you are going to do already. Its really about the mess and possible aggression of additional tank mates. You never said if you were going to get adults or young discus. If you notice, the consistent advice here is to get rid of the substrate and that is for a good reason. With the waste produced by discus, other fish, and amount and type of food you should be feeding, you are gonna wish you would have removed the substrate sooner or later. You will never get it clean no matter how much you try. A lot of water changes are good but it will not remove all the junk that gets caught in the gravel. You do have a better chance of success if you start with adults since they can adapt better than young discus that are in their growth period but they too will eventually show their displeasure one way or another. If you are going to have substrate, your best bet is changing 80%-100% daily. Since this is your first time with discus, pay close attention to the advice you get here and read a lot through this forum. The group here wants to make sure new discus hobbyists start out on the right foot. Ask Chicago Discus what they recommend and how they keep discus. You may find similarities to the advice you receive here. HTH.