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Thread: Getting ready to get my first grow out tank set up

  1. #1
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    Jan 2018
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    Default Getting ready to get my first grow out tank set up

    Hey everybody, a short introduction - my name is Andrew and I'm from a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. I grew up with aquariums as far back as I remember. My brother and I shattered one when we were in an argument when we were about 8 and 10 when he threw a Happy Meal toy and at me and missed. Immediately the garage door opened as dad was home from work. We were sure dad was gonna kill us, but he just walked in - water raining from the living room into the garage and basement - and asked what happened. We shrugged our shoulders and said, "We don't know Dad, it just broke!" Much to our surprise, he responded, "Guess we better go get a new one."

    That could've been the end of it, but the old man always loved having a tank. In the years following, I got really into exotic plecos and kept many from green phantoms, gold nuggets, mangos, and royals. Even kept some piranhas. Had plenty of testras, angels, barbs, gouramis, and German blue Rams as well, among other things. I got out of the hobby about 9 years ago. Turned 21 and lived downtown and partied to my little heart's content - with no time for looking after a tank. A cousin of mine kind of picked up where I left off and I helped him get started in the hobby. Ive since settled down and about 5 months ago he called and asked if he could borrow my truck because he'd bought about 30 tanks and was building a fish room in his basement.

    That brings me to the tank I'm planning on setting up. A few years ago I bought a 75 gallon tank off a coworker and shortly afterward acquired a drilled 125 gallon tank. Both were previous saltwater setups. My cousin and I were going to take the plunge into saltwater together, but with a tank that large I just kept hesitating. Once he got his fish room up and running, I got the itch and haven't lost in since. Hemmed and hawed about doing saltwater, and we were going to do it together, but i just wasnt sold. Then he suggested discus. He explained how they had become easier to maintain since I got out of fishkeeping and that he knew plenty of people breeding them locally. That was it. I was doing a discus show tank.

    So that's where I am now. Haven't stopped researching for the last month and a half. I found a local breeder who raises Piwowarski discus in our local water, which has pretty high pH - a tad over 8.2. I always thought they were these difficult fish and needed everything proper, but in all my researching have found they just like clean, stable water. And between the plecos and piranhas, I know what it's like to age water and do large water changes often.

    I'm planning on using the 75 as a grow out tank, and am going to picture frame the 125 in a wall in my basement. The wall divides the living area from a storage room, so it will make a perfect fish room. I plan on running two 55s as sumps on the 125, one will be a fluidized filter bed fed by a DIY wet/dry filter, and the second will be a refugium with plants etc, and I'll also keep the heaters and pump in that one. I have some drawings I've made if that doesn't make sense, but the two sumps will be connected with a water bridge - essentially giving me another probably 75 or 80 gallons of water in the system. The display will have a few amazon swords and driftwood, and I will probably do a sand substrate.

    I'm planning on stocking it with:

    8-12 discus grown out from 3" in the bare bottom 75 w/ sponge filters
    15-20 sterbai cory cats
    30-40 cardinals or tummy nose tetras
    1 green phantom pleco and 1 mango pleco
    OR
    A school of about 25 otos

    The numbers will just depend on availability and whether or not I can find the majority of them locally (I know the plecos will most likely be wilds).


    So the background is out of the way. Now for a few questions:

    Is the 75 going to be large enough to grow out that many discus? I can get my hands on another 55 if I'd need to split them up as they get to the 4.5-5" size.

    Would it be in my best interest to stock the display tank before adding the discus in order to get it well established while they are growing out?

    Once they're moved over to the display tank, just how often are water changes needed (obviously need to keep an eye on nitrates)? By the time I get to that point, I will have it set up that water changes are going to be pretty simple- storing and aging over 120 gallons of water will be the fun part! I'm a plumber by trade so all the piping comes natural.

    Is an automatic feeder a good idea? Or would feeding in the morning, when I get home from work, and before bed be just as easy and produce good results? That might be a better question for the guy I'll be getting them from.

    I'm sure I will come up with more, but the first two questions are my biggest concerns.


    Thanks in advance, and I cannot wait to get a tank back up and running finally!

  2. #2
    Homesteader Filip's Avatar
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    Sep 2015
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    Filip

    Default Re: Getting ready to get my first grow out tank set up

    Hi Andrew and welcome to discus and to this forum .
    You have already done a solid research and you are headed to a succesfull start .
    You will be perfectly able to grow 8-10 discus to adulthood I.e. + 1 year of age and + 6 inch size in your 75 gallon BB tank. 12 discus might be slight overload for a 75 g tank , but it would still be managable if you are diligent with your daily siphoning and Water changing routines.

    Once you get them in you 120G and cut down on 1-2 daily , less messy meals , then you'll be able to cut down the WCs to a 2-3 times a week .

    I would buy discus only and grow them out first , before I try to mix them with other fish .Mixing fish always aary some risks and should be performed using strict quarantine procedure in order to minimize the risk of cross contamination .

    Your 3 times a day evenly spread through the day feeding routine sound just right Andrew . You won't need more than 3 full bellied meals to properly grow 2-3 inches to adulthood.

    Cheers and good luck Andrew.
    We are looking forward to see pictures of your new Piwo's in your new 75 growout tank .

  3. #3
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
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    2

    Default Re: Getting ready to get my first grow out tank set up

    Thanks for the info, Filip! I'll have too much invested in it to just jump into discus without research, that's for sure!

    One thing I'd like clarification on, if I were to quarantine the other fish before adding them to the 125 while the discus are growing out, would that be possible? I would deworm and all that fun stuff as well. Or is it still best to get the discus into the 125 first and then get other fish after that? I will definitely be quarantining everything in either a 29 tall or a 37 gallon tank (I think that's what it is at least) for at least 6 weeks prior to going into the display tank regardless.

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