going discus, first big boy tank

[dbuxton]

Hey all, Devin here. I've had many different fish tanks and different fish over the years, but i recently landed a killer deal on a 60 gallon setup and have decided to make something of it. Initially I was going to go for angelfish, so my setup isnt quite right for discus, but I'm hoping being in this forum I can get a killer setup worked up before the addition of these beautiful fish. hopefully that image comes through right. I recently added 2 yellow/black mollys and 2 cory fish to the tank as i was going to go for a decent community tank, but with the small amount of research ive done on discus they will probably be departing to a different tank once i get the setup i desire. looking forward to all the info this site has to offer. and hopefully someday someone will be able to use anything i post on here for their own benefit. That being said if anyone wants to chime in on any changes/setup necessities please do so. I started watching the video on the beginners tab, tons of info. Will revisit it with pen and paper later.
cheers.
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[Mando]

What size discus are you planning to get? if juvies, go bare bottom until they grow out. Also, I would not introduce any fish just yet to avoid QT'ing discus in another tank. How long has your tank been running, is it cycled?

And, welcome to the forums and hope you enjoy the information here. Congratulations on your deal and giving discus an opportunity! What strain of discus are you looking for? any suppliers in mind? always check reviews before buying. There is a nice sponsor section on these forums where you can browse through reputable suppliers.

[dbuxton]

What size discus are you planning to get? if juvies, go bare bottom until they grow out. Also, I would not introduce any fish just yet to avoid QT'ing discus in another tank. How long has your tank been running, is it cycled?

And, welcome to the forums and hope you enjoy the information here. Congratulations on your deal and giving discus an opportunity! What strain of discus are you looking for? any suppliers in mind? always check reviews before buying. There is a nice sponsor section on these forums where you can browse through reputable suppliers.

looking at around 3" fish to start, and i did hear that about bare bottom in the video in this forum. i will definitely be pulling the gravel when the time comes just as a precaution. i do not have a strain in mind yet, theyre all pretty fish. but there is a sponsor here from queens (im front upstate ny) that i may look into. tanks been setup for 3 weeks now. Right now I'm trying to get my water figured out. Now that im going discus ive realized that my water cant support them safely. We recently bought a new home and Im running off well water. its very very basic (7.8-8.0 out the tap) and we have sulfur water to top it off. Setting up for angelfish I didn't think going crazy on water quality was super important so I just used conditioner for setup. I used the 20 gallons of water from my established tetra tank as well as the old filters/bio bag to help aid in cycling. When i tested the water yesterday I had less than 1ppm ammonia, very little nitrite, and 20ppm nitrate. I bought an r/o filter system that I will be using to filter any future water changes to the tank. Ill be remineralizing it with kent r/o right for cichlid and discus. then re-test and see what ive got. I havent done anything with ph buffers etc. but i have time. with the cost of these fish being so high i don't want to take any chances with poor setup. so having a somewhat empty tank in the dining room is fine for now. I'll be donating/selling back the 4 fish that I have when I order/receive my discus.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Devin and welcome to Simply. If you are going with discus I would suggest restarting your tank and doing a fishless cycle. This is to avoid cross contamination with other fish. You might also consider pulling the gravel and using sand, or even better go bare bottom until you get a handle on discus. You will find young discus are little poop machines when feed well. I am just trying to give you the best start possible with discus.
Pat