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Thread: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

  1. #1
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    Default Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Hi, I’m Andy and this is my first post to introduce myself and my discus. After a multiple decade absence from the hobby, I have decided to wade back in. I have spent months compulsively reading current and past posts to refresh my knowledge and gain from the collective experience of all of the members here. I have chosen to pursue a path which I believe to be well thought out but is different from the 75-gallon, bare bottom, sponge filter, large daily water change approach often espoused, with good reason, here.

    THE TANK

    My tank is 225 gallons, has a thin ½” sand substrate, and driftwood with attached anubias. Nothing is planted in the substrate. Dual overflows feed a 75-gallon sump. Mechanical filtration is limited to filter socks, chemical filtration is via a purigen reactor, and biological filtration is provided via fluidized reactors with K-1 type media. The dual return lines each have UV lights plumbed inline. I know this is overkill but that is who I am. The substrate gets thoroughly vacuumed and interior surfaces get thoroughly cleaned twice per week. Also a gyre pump runs for 30 minutes every four hours, which concentrates the detritus into one corner of the tank and is vacuumed up daily. Water changes are accomplished through a continuous water change system that feeds 300 gallons per day of a pre-heated mix of 2/3 RO/DI water and 1/3 filtered well water. The wastewater is added to a pre-existing rainwater cistern system that is used to water our gardens.

    Water parameters have remained rock solid with PH of 7.0, 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites, 3-4 ppm nitrates, 2.3 dKH and TDS of about 120. My untreated well water has TDS of about 360, but is otherwise stable and pretty good, which is the reason for the blend of RO/DI water and filtered well water.

    I cycled the tank about five months ago and the cycle went smoothly and was processing 4ppm ammonia through nitrites to nitrates after about three weeks. I had a more difficult time, ironically, with my two 29-gallon bare-bottom quarantine tanks, which took two months to cycle and then I lost the cycle (the day before the first fish arrived) when I squeezed out the sponge filters – similar to what was chronicled here by Shan. I quarantined in black plastic totes with 100% daily water changes until the cycles re-established. It was quite a PITA.

    THE FISH

    My goals for the hobby are modest. I have no desire to breed discuss or even necessarily grow them out. I simply enjoy observing them as I sit at my desk working. Starting with adult discus in a lightly planted community tank is perfect for me. I introduced the community inhabitants to the display tank almost five months ago, consisting of a handful of BN plecos, two dozen Corys and a large school of Rummy Nose tetras. All have adapted well, and the BN plecos laid eggs for the second time last night.

    Based on the extremely positive comments by Al, Willie and Amanda, among others, I contacted Ceyhun of Winnie’s Discus to inquire about obtaining some of his discus. Ceyhun was in the process of relocating his breeding facility to his new home in Coram, NY at the time and kindly advised me that he wouldn’t be open for business until the move was complete and his discus had adapted to their new home. In hindsight, this was fortuitous for me as it allowed my tank to stabilize for four months with the other community fish in the tank.

    A few weeks ago, I reached out to Ceyhun again after seeing his “test” post on Simply Discus and he invited me to visit his facility as he was preparing to re-open. I eagerly accepted and drove the 75 miles to his home a few days later. I was extremely fortunate to be among the first visitors to his new facility. For those of you whom have not had the pleasure of meeting Ceyhun, I would encourage you to do so. He is a wonderful person, a true class act, and his discus are beautiful, as you can see below…

    I prefer the look of single strain tanks and was fortunate that Ceyhun had a nice selection of adult Turqs that he was willing to part with (and a few of his adult Golden Turquoise Intermediates as well). All in all, I left with 17 adult discus of various sizes loaded up in buckets including a dedicated “hero” fish bucket consisting of a few fish that suffered minor injuries during the move to the Ceyhun’s new facility, which are otherwise beautiful and healthy and in need of a good home. Over the next week, Ceyhun was in constant contact with me to ensure a successful transition of the discus to my tank. The hero discus were plopped and dropped into the main tank and the other 14 discus went into rather crowded quarantine tanks. Fortunately, everything proved compatible and within a week all the discus were together in the main tank active and eating.
    While my fingers remained crossed, everything has progressed well over the past two weeks. The discus’ colors have really developed, and they seem to like their new home. Over these few weeks, I certainly can see the wisdom of a bare bottom tank, as the increased waste load has required frequent filter sock changes and there is a noticeable increase in detritus.

    I look forward to our future conversations and hope you enjoy the photos below.
    IMG-2136.jpg
    Andy

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Those are some gorgeous Turquoise discus. Your setup is similar to what I have planned for my 210 once my juvenile fish grow up some. Plants on the driftwood, not in the substrate.

    Tank looks nice!

  3. #3
    Silver Member Willie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Absolutely spectacular tank. I love the discus, but the driftwood is even more mind blowing. What kind of lights are you using?
    At my age, everything is irritating.

  4. #4
    Registered Member + MVP danotaylor's Avatar
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Great storyline Andy. Beautiful d8scus and your set up looks spectacular mate

  5. #5
    SimplyDiscus Sponsor Winnie's Discus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Oh, what a tank! You put together a great set up and I am super pleased that the fish look comfortable and happy in it. Look at all those colors, blues are really popping.
    Thank you Andy for your kind words and such a great review. It was a pleasure to host Andy. He's been very patient with me and the timeline of my move. I am glad we had a chance to meet, talk over discus and especially happy to be a part of his return to the hobby.
    Ceyhun @ WinniesDiscus.com

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    They look stunning! Also, that is well written, good stuff.

  7. #7
    Registered Member Shan_Evolved's Avatar
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    Shan

    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Stunning mate.
    Amateur discuskeeper, Professional doofus

  8. #8
    Moderator Team AquaticNerd's Avatar
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Absolutely phenomenal looking tank, and even more stunning fish! I love the simplicity of the scape and those large pieces of driftwood really makes the scale of the tank and its inhabitants stand out.

    Well done!

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Thank you all for your very kind words. I will post better pictures of the Discus over the next day or so.

    Willie,
    The lights are the Titan 1 model by Ultum Nature Systems. They provide nice color spectrum but aren't dimmable, which is a drawback. Hanging fixtures work best with my setup and this is what i ended up with for better or worse.

    Andy

  10. #10
    Registered Member two utes's Avatar
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Lovely set up. I like same strain discus in a tank. Good luck with everything
    We're here for a good time...not a long time

  11. #11
    Silver Member Iminit's Avatar
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Great looking tank!! And discus!! Good luck with it!!

  12. #12
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Beautiful Andy!!!! I really love how all of the blues look together. So glad you went with Winnie’s- his fish really are spectacular!

  13. #13
    Registered Member pastry's Avatar
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Oh WOW... yep, I could stare at that tank all day
    -Elliot

  14. #14
    Registered Member + MVP danotaylor's Avatar
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Andy does the tank has cover glasses?

  15. #15
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    Default Re: Andy's Discus Journey with thanks to Winnie's Discus

    Hello Everyone,
    I thought I would post a short update and, since I replaced my eight year-old phone over the weekend, better pictures of the discus I got from Ceyhun. Other than one discus that seemingly sulks in the corner, all of the discus are active and have adapted to their new home. I put the sulking one in QT for 10 days to make sure he was ok. He ate well and was more active in the smaller tank alone; however, upon returning to the main tank he retreated to his corner where he spends most of his time. I haven't seen him being bullied, so i guess he is just a shy little bugger.

    Yesterday afternoon, i found eggs on the driftwood. Not sure from whom they came, but they were consumed overnight. The plecos laid another group of eggs as well, the fourth. Those "suckers" breed like rabbits, or maybe rabbits breed like plecos. A few babies have escaped the cave and survived grazing on the algae n the driftwood.

    Finally, one discus developed a couple of pimples. Truthfully, it bothered me more than it seemed to bother him. Nonetheless, I moved him to QT where I could increase water changes more easily and after less than 24 hours the pimples had largely disappeared. On the main tank, i increased the amount of the continuous water change, started to change filter socks daily, thoroughly cleaned the sump which had a minor build-up of detritus and rinsed the sintered glass media in the media reactor which also had a build-up of detritus. I haven't seen any change in my water parameters but the system is certainly cleaner now.

    I hope you enjoy the pictures below...Discus eggs.jpgDiscus 1.jpgDiscus 2.jpgDiscus 3.jpgDiscus 4.jpgDiscus 5.jpgDiscus 6.jpgDiscus 7.jpgDiscus 8.jpgDiscus 9.jpgDiscus 10.jpgDiscus 11.jpgDiscus 12.jpgDiscus 13.jpgDiscus 14.jpgDiscus 14.jpgDiscus 16.jpgDiscus 17.jpg

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