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Thread: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

  1. #31
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    Quote Originally Posted by slicksta View Post
    Looks great.
    I've always found Tetras to be more of a challenge than discus.
    They seem to do better with traditional fish foods in my opinion such as Tetra Color Bits, Hikari Discus Bio Gold Pellets, Hikari Micropellets, flakes etc...
    I'd stay away from frozen and freeze dried foods. I know that it sounds like I'm recommending inferior foods but in my experience the Tetras really do much better with them.

    I'd add that with the frozen and homemade foods, you better be very diligent with vacuuming.
    Unfortunately there are only 3 tetras left, but they seem to be doing great. So far, by changing thirty gallons daily, the nitrates stay at <10ppm, usually @ about 5ppm. On the weekends I increase the water changes to 30g twice a day.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dee1958 View Post
    The only concern I would have in reading what you've done so far would be the amount of alder cones you put in
    Why does this concern you? is there something I should be watching out for?

    Quote Originally Posted by Revan View Post
    That is one heck of a tank. And you've aquascaped it wonderfully.

    I really like the Red and Blue Turquoise in there. They look close to wilds, which matches the setup, but you can enjoy a bit more coloration and patterning from them than wilds.

    As for homemade frozen food, I personally recommend the below mix. I copied it from King of DIY, so it's a popular recipe. Since you have the yellow I might consider losing the astaxanthin though.

    - Beef Heart 1 lb (trim it very well, remove every trace of fat)
    - Raw Shrimp 1 lb
    - Tilapia 1 lb
    - Peas 1/2 lb
    - Spinach 1/2 lb
    - Spirulina 2 tbsp
    - Astaxanthin 2 tbsp
    - Egg Yolk Qty 2
    - blended in food processor and frozen in sheets, later cut into cubes
    Thanks for the recipe! I already made my food using the items listed in my above post. It looks pretty similar, though I did not put mine in the food processor, I just ran it through the meat grinder a couple times. It made a TON of food, so I think I will be good for at least 8 or 9 months. They seem to LOVE the homemade food. I only feed a small amount at a time, so almost none of it ever even makes it to the bottom of the tank. What little does is quickly cleaned up by the rams and cory's.

    I will post updated pics once Flickr is up and running again.

  2. #32
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    As promised, Here are some new pics. I tried to get pics of as many individual discus as possible, but it is hard to keep track of each fish. Let me know what you think of them.

    20190605_185232 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190605_185115 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190605_184959 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190605_185026 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190605_185030 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190605_184939 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190605_184818 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190605_184929 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190605_184814 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190605_184750 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190605_184807 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190605_184727 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

  3. #33
    Administrator and MVP Dec.2015 Second Hand Pat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    Both the fish and tank look great Lyle You decided to mix some PBs with the German Wonders!
    Pat
    Your discus are talking to you....are you listening


  4. #34
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    Quote Originally Posted by Second Hand Pat View Post
    Both the fish and tank look great Lyle You decided to mix some PBs with the German Wonders!
    Pat
    Thanks Pat. I had planned on ordering either from a sponsor or from discus Hans but I got such a great price locally, I decided to purchase them at a LFS. They were sold to me as Red Turquoise, Blue Turquoise, Red Pigeon Blood, and Yellow Pigeon blood. I got all 12 for just over $700. It seemed that the same number of discus of the same size would have been at least double from sponsors and triple from discus Hans, not including his shipping costs.

  5. #35

    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    What is the one in the sixth picture

  6. #36
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    Quick update:

    It has been a few weeks since my last update. Only a few changes since then. I did have a single fish that developed a bacterial infection of some sort. He went into QT and was treated with Furan 2 and he has been dong great since. As you can see in the pictures, I have also started to grow some green algae on the driftwood. I have the light intensity almost ALL the way down on my bulbs, and mu nitrates stay at <5ppm, so I am really not concerned about the algae.

    The biggest update is that I added a few more Discus to the tank. I found some BEAUTIFUL Red and Yellow Marlboros and couldn't pass them up. After a QT period, I added them to the DT yesterday. So far all seem to be quite health and doing well. The Red's seem to be more outgoing and hang with the school more, whereas the Yellows tend to be more skittish and hide in the branches more.

    Here are a few new pics, please ignore the spider in the tank, It was a gift, given with the intentions of putting it in the tank, so I feel obligated to have it in there.

    20190624_083808 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190624_083635 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190624_084534 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190624_083445 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190624_083508 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

    20190624_083546 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

  7. #37
    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    That is a beautifully natural looking tank, Lyle. I'd have wanted all wild types in there but most folks like the colors you get from the domestic types. Very pretty tank either way.
    Mama Bear

  8. #38
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    Looks great man. Always wondered about the build quality of waterbox tanks. My LFS used to be partnered with them but stopped for some reason. I think it was to promote his own stuff.

  9. #39
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    Great looking tank! I actually used your set-up for inspiration. I am currently trying to figure out an automatic water change system and hoping you could provide info/pics on yours. Thanks!

    IMG_0884.jpg

    IMG_0885.jpg

  10. #40
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    Quote Originally Posted by des275 View Post
    Great looking tank! I actually used your set-up for inspiration. I am currently trying to figure out an automatic water change system and hoping you could provide info/pics on yours. Thanks!

    IMG_0884.jpg

    IMG_0885.jpg
    Nice looking system! I have thought about adding some plants to mine, but I need to bring the pH up a bit first.

    I don't really have an auto water change system set up yet. Right now I just have 2 x 44g brute trash cans, Both have float switches installed in them. I use 1 brute as a dirty water container. I have a 3/8" tubing hanging in the tank with a ball valve in line. I connect this tube to the float switch and when I open the ball valve, water is slowly removed from the tank until the float switch raises and stops the flow into the brute. As water is removed, the float switch from my ATO turns on a pump in my other brute can and adds clean water to the tank. it takes about 6 hours to do a 40g water change, but I don't need to be as cautious about water temp and parameters because it adds the clean water so slowly.

    I let this run overnight. In the morning I connect the, now empty, Clean water brute to my RO/DI and let it fill while I am at work. I have a LARGE RO/DI system, so it only takes about an hour to fill. I also place a power head in the brute to get the water moving and aged, and add my R/O Right to mix while I am away. After work I set it back up on the tank and start all over again.

    I am in the process of planning out an AWC system that will hopefully do away with the RO/DI water and allow me to filter the incoming water before going into an aging barrel an then into the tank. Right now I am wasting A LOT of water making RO for the tank, and a filter would not have any wasted water, I just have to test out a filter setup and see if it removes enough contaminants to do the job.

  11. #41
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    A couple of big updates with the tank. I finally got around to working on the Auto Water Change system and it seems to be working VERY well so far. It has only been running for about 2 days, but I have not had to even think about hauling water around for water changes and so far the water is in good ranges. I will continue testing over the coming days to ensure the water does not get too hard. If the hardness becomes an issue, I will have to replace the current filters with an RO system and feed some of the waste water back into the tank along with the clean RO water. I already have a plan for making this work if needed.

    My system is a pretty simple one. The tank sits against and in front of a window. Just outside the window is a hose bib which I am using to supply my water. I placed a digital hose timer on the bib and have a 1/4" line running from the timer into a filter housing a sediment filter and two GAC Carbon blocks. From the filter the water line is connected to a float inside a reservoir, which has a pump running in it to help age the water a bit. I then have a 1/4" line placed inside the main display. This line is run out the window and into an irrigation hose that we buried and ran across the back yard and past the fence into the wash behind us. This line is under siphon and the flow is controlled via an inline ball valve.

    As the water is slowly drained from the tank, My ATO kicks in and pumps clean water back into the tank. I have it set to change about 3.5g/hour, or 85g/day, which is about 50% daily. Every three hours the hose time opens and refills the reservoir. This allows for more of the aged water to be used rather than constantly adding new water to the mix.

    The second change was unexpected and not really my doing, but still pretty exciting. As if in response to the new AWC system, two of my discus (the two larges in the tank) paired off and spawned. Both are Blue Turquoise discus, about 5-5.5", and seem to be a good body shape and color. I installed the AWC on Friday and on Sunday, they laid eggs. I had not noticed any pairing off, or spawning behavior, but noticed this morning that they had cleaned off a section of one branch, and then watched as one laid eggs and the other followed behind to fertilize them. So far only one egg has turned white so we will see if they develop any further. I do not currently plan on actually breeding, and have nothing in place to do so, but this has me considering it.



    The Female


    20190714_183952 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr



    The Male


    20190714_183900 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr


    The Eggs


    20190714_185431 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

  12. #42

    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    Those are some pretty fish and congrats on the spawn is there any way you could put a divider in the tank so the parents could raise the fry without being bothered by the other fish, are you monitoring your ph since your doing something new and how are you removing chlorimines

    Jeanne
    Last edited by Sturiosoma; 07-15-2019 at 08:44 AM. Reason: Forgot something

  13. #43
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    Almost 24 hours in and only a handful of eggs have turned white.

    2019-07-15_07-27-19 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

  14. #44
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    Things are going ok. My one pair has now spawned 3 times and are preparing for a fourth. None of the eggs have turned into wigglers, so I may have a pair of females, I really don't know. I also have a couple of PB's that seem to have paired and spawned for the first time. One is a Red PB the other is a yellow PB. Despite having happy, healthy Discus, I am considering leaving the world of Discus. I LOVE my Discus, but I am to a point where I just don't have an opportunity to enjoy them. Instead, I find myself always doing water changes. I have VERY little time at home, so I find myself working on the tank whenever I have a moment, leaving no time to enjoy the tank and fish.

    I was not around long enough this last weekend to do my water changes, and so the Discus began to suffer after 3 days of no fresh water. I would just feed them when I walked by the tank, but could not find time to do maintenance. I hate that these beautiful fish have to suffer if my schedule gets too hectic, so I am considering switching to either a community tank (with no Discus), or upgrading my reef to this tank. Both require far less time and maintenance than this tank does.

  15. #45
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    Default Re: Waterbox 230.6 Blackwater Discus tank build

    OK, so there have been some changes to this system. It still has the Discus in it, at least for now, but I removed all of the sand, rocks, organics, and manzanita. I replaced all of these things with fake decorations. I think the tank looks fantastic even though I am a big fan of the more natural set-up I had before. I think this will be much easier to maintain and may allow me to perform fewer water changes. I also think the new look brings out the colors of the discus really well. Let me know what you think of the new look.

    2019-08-19_06-47-24 by Lyle Southard, on Flickr

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