Wild Blue/Brown/Red Discus Biotope

[Phillydubs]

No autodrip, just filled it up before I left. Pretty heavy filtratin, 50w UV, 5 big canisters and a fluidized sand filter. Main reason for the water quality in my opinion are the floaters an/or plant roots I have growing into the tank, on all 3 tanks in fact. I usually only do water changes when the water level grts too low for my liking (aesthetically). Usually every 2-4 weeks, depending on which tank/cover it is. The blues lose the most water as the cover is quite perforated from the factory. The other 2 are custom made and don't allow for a lot of evaporation.

What plants do you have in the tank now? Types? What do you do to prep them for the tank? I am thinking about trying this... Like I said I am going away. I am tempted to add some this week but worried if something were to go wrong and I am not arround. May just look into it and do it down the line...

[Swedgin]

I've got pothos and Pennywort in this one, water lettuce with the greens an philodendron +pothos with the heckels.
No special prep, rinse well and chuck in

[Phillydubs]

Thanks for the info! Do you find you like or prefer one plant over the other, or that ones do a better job? Or are they all equal in that regard and its just personal preference and look

[GVB]

nice, love the setup. good luck

[Swedgin]

Thanks for the info! Do you find you like or prefer one plant over the other, or that ones do a better job? Or are they all equal in that regard and its just personal preference and look

I don't have any hard data, but the water quality seems to be the same with either. Pistia can be messy, as they restrict surface movement and they collect a bit of gunk between them.

Looks wise they really work though, and the fish seem to appreciate the cover.

Pothos is just a means to an end, I don't like the way their leaves look, makes me think of Chinese restaurant decor. So I only have the roots growing in and I hide the leaves as best I can.

[Swedgin]

At this point this thread and the My Hobby my story contest thread have been merged, so this one and the next few posts might look a bit odd and out of context.

Hi everyone, welcome to my contest thread. It’s going to be about my new tank, a 655 gallon (2480 liter for the old world folks) wild discus biotope. It will replace my current 220 gallon blue discus tank, link can be found in my signature.

Stocking plans are so far:

11 Uatuma/Beruri Semi Royal Discus
(importer and/or exporter seem to have mixed up the locations, so no telling who is who. Doesn’t matter though, they’re all beautiful
Here’s a picture of them in their current setup:
A872736A-FAF4-42C7-B00E-5C6394E79C2A.jpg

2 Nhamunda Red
47337003-8DB8-4F1C-B463-84B37DA9BB10.jpg
F279FF02-DCEF-40AF-A0B9-4EF528FF680C.jpg

2 Paraconi Red
FF974A87-6BF5-4247-8D63-4EC8B7C746B1.jpg
245027E2-838C-4E18-B27B-43E3D39F2FC3.jpg

1 Iripixi Red
E6BE605D-5618-4BED-8DD9-D2E930BA535F.jpeg

1 Iripixi “Ica bar”
3AC4C2B6-413D-4FE1-8157-28007EA38E42.jpeg

4 Iripixi Semi Royal
DE732394-8F6E-4119-A095-FD73C9A03300.jpeg
F70A8C75-03F5-4B10-A4F8-8A5151F12A9F.jpg
FAD539F1-7E46-4B1D-8D8B-15AD5F5171BE.jpg

[Swedgin]

E6A0281B-0F0E-4202-B746-BF02029DE871.jpg

3 Iripixi Royal
46CAEA19-EC85-4E80-8E8C-0EA04E354487.jpg
153B7030-4807-479D-A33B-46C7BAB84DFB.jpg
8A91EBC4-DF23-4F4D-A48E-A4586C16A8BE.jpg

1 L095
405615C8-8F36-46FE-B8D4-D977BC1E44DB.jpg

I have to use google pics for the plecos and cories, as they are either not yet in my possession or I don’t have any pictures of the ones I already do own.

1 L091
E410D2F4-8D5E-4295-B88C-85216B24EB15.jpg

3 L239
1A15B32C-A18B-479E-B1EB-B305C7D643B0.jpeg

2 LDA31
1C22A1B6-9212-4EAF-8BC6-5A2019DD26D6.jpg

2 L114
C86F040D-2F36-42C6-89F3-91EC5DD71B9F.jpeg

1 L128
E55A70F3-5DB5-4625-A4C7-39D26E9EB8CC.jpg

2 LDA16 red/brown morph

11 Corydoras amapaensis

4 Corydoras serratus

12 Corydoras CW028

1 Corydoras CW049 (sole survivor of a previous group)

2 Ivanacara adoketa

Please see post #8 for the rest of the species pictures.

[LizStreithorst]

We can't hardly find wilds of that quality here in the States. You're fish are drop dead gorgeous and they will have 655 gallons to play in. I'm looking forward to seeing the tank build and seeing the fish in their new home.

What will the dimensions of the 655 gallon be? I can't imagine doing wipe downs on a tank that huge. I wish you great success.

[Second Hand Pat]

What a bang up way to start a thread Tobi with pics of all the wilds and some very nice ones too boot. Any pics of the 650? Like Liz, curious about the dimensions also!
Pat

[Swedgin]

Dimensions will be 310cm x 80cm x 100cm (height) on a 90cm high cabinet. The original plan was a 40 cm longer one, and it would have fit, but would probably have looked awkwardly squeezed into the space.

No pictures yet, they cut the glass yesterday and will start glueing in situ on Monday or Wednesday. Till then I will have moved the 220 somewhere else as that’s the spot for the new one.

The cabinet should be delivered by the 24th latest. Things are a bit slow in the Middle East right now due to Ramadan, othewise it would be going a bit quicker.

I’m glad they are doing the glass work soon, as I need the exact inside dimensions to get a custom background done, which takes about 3 weeks from order to delivery from Serbia. Will post pictures of the background templates that I’m looking at in the coming days.

Tomorrow I’ll order the lights and some other bits, full list etc to follow.

I’m so excited about the whole thing and keep visualizing what it’s going to look like. We’ll all soon find out I suppose.

[Second Hand Pat]

So 310cm x 80cm x 100cm is about 10ft x 2.5ft x 40 inches tall. My 230 is 6ft x 2ft x 32 inch tall. My 230 is tall enough. I hope you have tools Tobi as you will need them. It will be a super tank.
Pat

[Swedgin]

It’ll be fine, I’m quite tall myself and the total height including cabinet will be exactly the same as the 325, which I have no trouble cleaning at all. Syphoning with the water change hose is easy enough, there won’t be a whole lot of obstructions in the tank, few rocks and some wood for the plecs to munch on, thats it. For the glass I use a magnet, I know it’s frowned upon by some, but I’ve had zero issues/scratches since the tanks have been running.

[Swedgin]

2 LDA16 red/brown morph
2A3DBFDB-FD9B-4D1D-B851-AEB81B6EC0F8.jpeg

11 Corydoras amapaensis
B9E42E9D-62DD-49E6-AFA5-12CEE44D94AC.jpeg

4 Corydoras serratus
DB817E80-DB47-4DB8-B421-2BCA7D6BC5BA.jpeg

12 Corydoras CW028
3A72F6D6-BF0E-443D-8523-1A96977B92B7.jpg

1 Corydoras CW049 (sole survivor of a previous group, DO NOT USE SEACHEM PARAGUARD ON THESE)
BFC073E9-2404-40C6-850B-C1BD46396050.jpeg

2 Ivanacara adoketa
98D28507-1778-44BF-866A-02102D18C14E.jpg


Too many fotos for one post, so continued here

[Gabriel13]

Wow! Can't wait to watch this thread grow. Your wilds are hide awesome!

[Pices]

It’s hard to pick a favorite among all those wilds. I just went through this thread oohing over one, then another. Your current set up is stunning. Can’t wait to see the new build.
Patty