FLBlue's 75G

[FLBlue]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

Hello everyone, I'm working on setting up a discus tank after years of fish keeping. I stayed away from them due to their cost and fear of losing them, but after years of keeping fish I feel like I need to cross them off my bucket list. I watched the video from Al that Joey posted years ago quite a few times since making the decision and have been reading as many threads on this forum as possible. I currently keep a 125 gallon clown loach tank, 40 gallon planted South American theme, 40 gallon planted Asian theme, and 5 different Neocaridina shrimp tanks 20gx3, 10gx1, 5gx1.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

I'll be setting up a Marineland 75g bare bottom tank. This tank was recently fully planted tank that I took down.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

The tank will be bare bottom with no decorations. It currently has a painted black background, I am planning on painting the bottom (outside) with white plastidip. Will painting the bottom white offset the black background? I would really prefer not having to remove the black paint to repaint it blue, but would really like to avoid peppering and blackening of the discus. What are the thoughts on keeping a black background while having a light colored "substrate"?

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

I will be using South Florida tap water treated with safe that will be aged and heated in a 55 gallon Brute garbage can. I will be using a Superior Pump Thermoplastic Oil-free Utility Pump, 1/4 HP to drain and fill the tank as quickly as possible as I plan to do daily water changes until I get them to a desirable size. I'm attempting to set myself up for the quickest and easiest water change system possible short of being fully automated. I'm sure I will be tweaking the setup as I gain more experience. I currently use a python to change all my tanks but those receive 25-50% water changes weekly not the daily changes I plan to do on this tank as I grow them out.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

All my tanks are filtered with sponge or matten filters from Swiss Tropicals, the 75g was being run on a HMF. I run air to all my tanks in my fish room from a single large air pump. I really do not want to setup one of my AC110 or FX6 again as I prefer air. I plan on running 2-3 Aquarium Coop sponge filters instead of the HMF, will this be enough filtration? I'll be using an established sponge filter from the clown loach tank to seed the new tank and will then build up the bacteria colony using ammonia. I will be using Eheim heaters to keep the tank at 82-84 degrees and have led lighting.

8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

I plan on ordering from Han's Discus, but am local to Jack Wattley's as I'm located in South Florida. I've read nothing but good things about Han's on this website, but the reviews are mixed on the current Jack Wattley, am I correct in skipping the local option and going with Han's? I was planning on ordering 6-8 3" or 4" discus but continue to go back and forth on whether to get 6 or 8 and whether to get 3" or 4" discus. In your opinion how much time growing them out am I saving by buying them an inch bigger? I would like to end up with large thick beautiful fish. Opinions?

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

On food I was planning on buying pre-made beef heart either from Gabe from Jack Wattley's or ordering a large order from Han's is there a reason not to go local?
(a) I see most people encourage feeding freeze dried black worms, but I am not able to find them anywhere in stock Aquaticsuppliers is back ordered, is there another supplier that is recommended?
(b) I feed most of my fish either New Life Spectrum pellets or Xtreme, will the discus eat those or are they mainly a crisp/flake feeder?
(c) Any other foods recommendation to stock up on before making the discus purchase? I would like to have the freezer/drawer stocked before making my order.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

I plan to grow 6-8 discus as large as I possibly can in a bare bottom 75g and eventually converting or upgrading the tank into a scaped tank with manzanita wood covered in anubia petite and different buces.

[captainandy]

I love clown loaches but you actually have a large tank dedicated to clown loaches?

[FLBlue]

I love clown loaches but you actually have a large tank dedicated to clown loaches?

Yup, the 125g is a clown loach tank with 11 clown loaches ranging in size. There is also 5 fully grown denison barbs and 2 angels in there with them, but the tank is centered around the clowns.

[FLBlue]

Well, I picked up a 125g ensemble from Petsmart today for a good price, so now they'll be going into a 125g. I'm hoping the larger body of water will help in growing them out.

[Iminit]

Welcome! Yes the 125 is the better option . But it will mean changing more water. With the 125 you can also get more discus at once. Many use sponge filters I use a canister on one tank and a wet/dry on the other. Sponges are good while doing the big water changes but my filtration is better when staggering the water changes. Growing them big mean lots of water changes. Also get a qt tank. You will never want to add any fish to the tank once started without qt for at least a month. Sometimes buying from different vendors has cause people big losses.
I have a pair of clown loaches for 8+ years. They are in a 90g community tank. Years ago I did keep them with discus. So that tank may be a place to add any discus that are having problems in your main tank. Sometimes a fish will stress out or just get bullied. And a qt tank is needed to keep them healthy. Lots to learn . Go back and check out the discus Kenny sells monthly. They are probably the nicest looking discus you’ll see. Hans has great discus that to me seem very strong and grow big. Kenny’s just has some unbelievable discus. Also I have successfully merged both of these Discus in one tank. And merged Hans with Uncle Sams Discus in another. So it can be done. Good luck and waiting for pictures.