New to the world of Discus - Setting up 230G lightly planted display.

[ColorfulRoundFish]

Hi Guys!

This is my first post on this forum - looking forward to many more!

I have been in the aquarium hobby for about a decade now, (aside from my new discus) I currently keep a 12" red devil in his own 100g and a wide variety of African cichlids also in their own 100g. I have looked up to Discus keepers since the start, and always wanted to keep them but never had the guts to pull the trigger.

My company recently moved to a new office space and I decided to go "all out" on a new discus setup for the office. I got a 230G tank on craigslist for $600, a 7'x2.5'x2' and two separate lifeguard 4 unit filtration systems plumbed through 4 bulkheads at each corner of the tank. Word to the wise: do not buy a used lifegard filter. Words cannot describe the frustration of plumbing this tank, but it was well worth it and saved me a bunch of money. There are four canisters to each loop paired to a 1000GPH pump on each, they flow mechanical -> bio -> heater -> bio.

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This tank is going to be my display tank, I do know what I'm getting into with a large "low-tech" planted discus tank. Yes, a bare bottom is objectively better, but there's a certain mystique about discus in a natural-ish looking setup.

Time is worth money, and I knew that in order to properly maintain a tank this size would be challenging. I plan on doing 2x weekly water changes. So I set up a water aging system with 3x 55 gallon barrels plumbed together with 1" bulkheads. This setup sits nicely in a janitor closet behind the tank. I draw cold water from the tap to fill all three barrels at once, and each barrel has its own 200W heater set to tank temperature as well as an airstone for circulation. Overkill? Yes. Worth it? Definitely. A 50% 110G water change takes me just five minutes of actual work and twenty minutes of waiting. The next step is to plumb an auto-fill valve onto these barrel so I never had to worry about re-filling.

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Then comes the fish. After a few weeks of work building my setup I decided it was time to buy the fish. I went with Uncle Sam's discus as they are local to me in CA, and I got my fish last week when they re-opened with new stock. I went the very next morning after I got the notification that they were back online, and hand-picked the best fish that I could with my limited knowledge. There are:

2x 4" Red turq
2x 4" Cobalt
2x 4.5" Blue leopard
2x Pidgeon

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The pair of red turqoise are my favorite of the group, I think their coloration and shape is excellent and they'll look incredible as they grow.

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They're being quarantined in a 40G breeder and I'm slowly acclimating them to light and weening them off of 'fish candy' bloodworms and onto freezedried blackworms and frozen beefheart. Discus appetite and personality is MUCH different from the 'big personality' cichlids that I'm used to, but I've found it to be incredibly rewarding.

My eventual plans are to have 20-24 discus in the display, some more basic sword plants, a school of cory cats for leftover food, and some oto cats to control the algae. The catfish will be quarantined for at least a month. I don't want to risk contamination.

So that's my current setup - I would love to hear peoples thoughts, cheers !

[rickztahone]

Welcome Conner! Great start and sounds very promising. I in this sized tank I would keep 18 full adults to be on the conservative side.

[Ryan925]

Beautiful tank

[Filip]

Welcome to discus and to forum Connor .
This display setup tank and your new discus looks very promising .I would agree with Rick for staying on the safe side with only 15-20 adult discus .
I would also advise you to get them off bloodworms , the faster the better , because they can be pathogen carriers.

Good luck Connor and please , keep us updated .

[ColorfulRoundFish]

Thanks for the input guys! I agree with Rick and Filip, a lighter stocking is the way to go.

Some updates:

The fish have been here in the 40G breeder for 8 days now and haven't ever had a big appetite. They see me walk up to the tank, and swim at the glass up to the surface, but still don't aggressively go after food. It takes them probably 15-25 minutes to eat a couple cubes of bloodworms or aquatic foods FDBW, and they still leave behind about 25% of it to be siphoned out. Their bellies never look 'full' or bloated but they are still energetic, happy with extended fins, and pooping solid and often so I'm not too worried.

Today they ate FDBW out of my hand which was pretty cool. I'm going to juice some garlic tonight to soak the cubes and see what happens. I think I'm just used to my Red Devil who will attack food and splash water seven feet up the wall.

They have also formed a definite pecking order, the two leopards are the biggest by maybe a half inch and jealously control the food if it floats into a corner of the tank. The two cobalts are the lowest on the totem-pole and will likely become the runts of the group. I think some of this will be mitigated once they are in the display tank where they'll have much more territory and I can feed them at opposite ends ect.

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Week 1 of discus has been incredibly rewarding and a little challenging. Slowly falling in love with the personality of these fish. More updates to come. Cheers!

[AquaWoman]

I'd also agree with the more conservative numbers on stocking. Don't be too concerned with the aggression, it's natural for Discus. One question, are those rocks real and will you be moving them to vacuum? They look heavy and I can picture myself fumbling around with slippery heavy rocks and I'd very likely break some glass. Heh, but I know my limitations.
I do so love the look of a natural looking tank though.

[ColorfulRoundFish]

I'd also agree with the more conservative numbers on stocking. Don't be too concerned with the aggression, it's natural for Discus. One question, are those rocks real and will you be moving them to vacuum? They look heavy and I can picture myself fumbling around with slippery heavy rocks and I'd very likely break some glass. Heh, but I know my limitations.
I do so love the look of a natural looking tank though.

The rocks are real, they are all different types of granite from my yard. I tested them with acid and pressure-washed them before they went into the tank. The two big ones are probably 45lbs with flat bottoms and are resting on a thin closed-cell foam on top of the glass, placing them in there was a two-man job haha. They definitely aren't going to be moved during cleanings. The smaller ones are maybe 5lbs and can be moved to siphon up the poo and delightful fishy-bits that'll inevitably accumulate.

Natural tanks are the best. When they're done well they really do a great job of highlighting the fish. Discus are too beautiful to be stocked in a blank tank IMO.

[Jenene]

I must say I am really impressed with your set up. Have you had discus before? You obviously know what you are doing here.

The tank is gorgeous. I agree I was worried about the rocks- I would be the one to drop it once it got a little algae slime on it but that's just me and my luck. They are beautiful though and seeing that you knew enough to test them was even impressive.

I am really jealous of your janitorial closet. I am pretty sure I am not the only one here drooling over that. I have big barrels all over my living room. We don't really use the room but just knowing they are out there drives me insane.

Nicely done Connor. Looking forward to the progress. Enjoy them!

[ColorfulRoundFish]

I must say I am really impressed with your set up. Have you had discus before? You obviously know what you are doing here.

The tank is gorgeous. I agree I was worried about the rocks- I would be the one to drop it once it got a little algae slime on it but that's just me and my luck. They are beautiful though and seeing that you knew enough to test them was even impressive.

I am really jealous of your janitorial closet. I am pretty sure I am not the only one here drooling over that. I have big barrels all over my living room. We don't really use the room but just knowing they are out there drives me insane.

Nicely done Connor. Looking forward to the progress. Enjoy them!

Thanks for the encouragement!

I have never kept discus before, but I've had tanks for the better part of half my life and always wanted some discus. I did enough research and figured out how to build what I would need to be successful with these new fish. My eventual goal is to breed, there's plenty more space for breeder/growout tanks but we'll see how far that goes..