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Thread: Feedback on Plans for 125 Gallon

  1. #1
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    Question Feedback on Plans for 125 Gallon

    Hi all!

    This is my first time posting on these forums, and I'm just looking for some thoughts/input regarding my current plans for a 125 I will be setting up sometime soon. The dimensions of the tank are 72.5"x18.5"x23.5"(LxWxH), and I've done a fair amount of research so far into the layout and stocking, however no source of information would be more beneficial than laying out my exact plans and taking the advice of those more experienced than I am in keeping these fish. Although I'm not at all new to fishkeeping in general, I am to keeping Discus in specific, and I'm aware these are fish with rather specific prerequisites for tanks they're put in to along with maintenance, and not meeting these comes at the expense of the fish's health and ability to thrive, hence why I'm looking for feedback and to perfect my current outlines before moving forward.

    As of now, my planned stocking goes as follows:
    6x Symphysodon aequifasciatus (Discus)
    18x Nematobrycon palmeri (Emperor Tetra)
    18x Hemigrammus bleheri (Rummynose Tetra)
    6x Kryptopterus vitreolus (Glass Catfish)
    10x Corydoras habrosus (Dwarf Spotted Cory)
    10x Pangio semicincta (Kuhli Loach)
    12x Otocinclus vestitus (Silver Otocinclus)
    3x Garra spilota (Spotted Garra)


    Initially, I had planned to set up the tank as I commonly do with all of my smaller tanks, that being a roughly 1.5-2" layer of Fluval Stratum and a densely planted tank with various rocks and wood interspersed at random. However, after only a brief amount of looking more extensively into Discus, this type of scape obviously would not work, especially for the juvenile size I will be buying these Discus at (around 3"), as properly cleaning a setup such as described is near impossible. Instead, my current plans involve a very thin layer of white sand just covering the bottom of the tank, and terracotta pots of various sizes scattered throughout the tank, some containing plants with Fluval Stratum as media while others will be scattered in a multitude of positions for both aesthetic purposes and the added benefit of additional areas for the loaches to retreat to, along with possibly some various wood intertwined between the pots. Also, I feel as though I should mention I am aware that some of the species listed above do not meet the exact same temperature requirements as Discus necessitate. I plan on keeping the tank at a steady 82 Fahrenheit (~27 Celsius), and if any complications occur where any of the given species are unable to adapt to these temperatures, I have plenty of other tanks ready to be able to house them at their needed temperature range, but I'm going into setting this tank up under the assumption all species will be able to handle the temperature as it isn't an extreme compared to their preferred range.

    For plant species I've decided on as of now that can thrive in the higher temperature and setup, I've chosen the following:
    - Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Green'
    - Anubias barteri v. 'coffeefolia'
    - Echinodorus bleheri
    - Hygrophila corymbosa v. 'Angustifolia'
    - Aponogeton ulvaceus
    - Nymphaea zenkeri
    - Vallisneria americana
    - Cryptocoryne balansae


    I've tried looking for plant species that will be able to tolerate temperatures Discus need to be housed in while also not being a hassle to clean as a result of being too dense or uncontrollable growth. The primary goal I'm trying to reach in housing these Discus is their health and ability to thrive as well as being an captivating display, and although breeding is normally a product of reaching these conditions, it is far from being my goal walking into planning out this tank. For filtration, I'm using a canister filter that runs 1,056 gph using pot scrubbers as bio media and poly-fil for mechanical filtration. My general water parameters from my tap tend to be slightly more acidic than neutral (around 6.6-6.8 pH I assume, as I've yet to take a direct sample from my tap, yet my tanks I run now all stay around the 6.3-6.5 pH range, with minimal factors that could be lowering the pH to that degree besides Fluval Stratum as substrate), and a hardness of around 53.7 ppm GH and 35.8 ppm KH. I plan on doing around 50% water changes daily once they've settled in, and once at an adequate size lowering the frequency to around every other day or so, depending upon their condition. I'm eager to receive feedback regarding this current setup, and completely open to any recommended modifications or advice, as I have no prior experience owning Discus, and I'd like to aim for planning out an ideal layout before any plans become immutable.


    Any responses are greatly appreciated, thanks!

  2. #2
    Registered Member smsimcik's Avatar
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    Default Re: Feedback on Plans for 125 Gallon

    That's a lot of words to get through but I think I understand what you are wanting to do.
    Unfortunately, the set up you describe is one of the hardest ways to keep discus. A heavily stocked planted discus community tank is beautiful but a challenge even for the most experienced discus keepers. It can be done with varying degrees of success, but it's not something a discus beginner should be trying to tackle.
    What you have described will work with 6 adult discus. Not 3" juvies. But even with 6 adult discus, I think you are over stocked with all the other fish you want to include in there.
    If you have to start with 3" juvies, they need to be grown out for several months by themselves in a smaller grow out tank until they are about a year old. Once they reach full size and maturity, transfer them to the 125 gallon display tank. If you try to grow out 3" juvies in that planted tank set up, they will not grow much and may even develop disease issues.
    There are many stickies at the top of the beginner's page covering how to buy and grow out juvies discus. There are threads here if you do a search covering planted discus tanks and how to maintain them. You need to do some reading and research before you start just to learn how to properly grow out 3" discus. I'm not trying to be dismissive, but there is a lot of info that needs to be covered here that can't be done in a single reply.
    Last edited by smsimcik; 05-24-2021 at 02:20 PM.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Feedback on Plans for 125 Gallon

    Thanks for your reply!
    I think I might not have been clear enough regarding my intended set up for this tank. Originally, I had wanted to heavily plant as I do with all of my other tanks I run currently, but after realizing it would be impossible to manage such a tank properly, especially when growing out juveniles as you mentioned where the tank needs to be pristine. However, what I had wanted to do was put the plants I had listed above in pots so they could easily be moved to clean, and the tank itself would be borderline bare-bottom, besides an extremely thin layer of white sand just covering the bottom that would be turned over entirely and cleaned each water change due to it's minimal depth, likely less than 1/2", solely because I just tend to not like the reflectiveness of a bare bottom tank, although if needed I have no issue omitting it entirely. If I had a setup such as this where I could easily access all parts of the tank to clean daily with water changes, would it still be inadequate for growing out juveniles?
    Also, as for the overall stocking, I thought so somewhat myself, but would it be better paring down the number of tetras or omitting a species? And, I have taken a look at some of the stickies but I'll be sure to read them over again, especially before moving forward in actually finalizing the tank and stocking.
    Thanks again!

  4. #4
    Registered Member smsimcik's Avatar
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    Default Re: Feedback on Plans for 125 Gallon

    Ok, what you're describing now is better for juvie discus. If your primary interest is in growing out nice discus, than I would not keep more than a few tetras for dither fish and maybe some cories or bristlenose for cleanup crew.
    The plants are optional, but if you have them, keeping them in pots is easiest. I have kept all the plants you listed and they have done fine at 82F.
    I would get at least 10-12 3" discus in a 125 gallon tank. A group of 6 would just get stressed out and hide all the time .
    Depending on how often and how much you feed, you probably need to do daily 25-50% water changes for them to reach maximum potential. If you are going to use a canister filter, keep it clean. Discus slime gunks up a canister filter faster than anything. I stopped using canister filters for discus years ago for that very reason.

    Others may chime in here soon with ideas. If Willie offers any advice, do whatever he says. He has more experience than me. Lol.
    Last edited by smsimcik; 05-24-2021 at 03:01 PM.

  5. #5
    Silver Member Iminit's Avatar
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    Default Re: Feedback on Plans for 125 Gallon

    Lol this looks familiar. Great info already and lots of great info here! But for me I’d still grow out your discus in a smaller tank 50-75g. This tank will later be used as a qt tank or hospital tank. Planters do work. I find it’s best to familiarize the fish with plants. Here’s a pic of my 50 grow out tankC7144FFA-34E4-434B-ADBF-52DE60B2BAFB.jpg and my 30976B06BA-9232-445E-9845-0761E54CF1DF.jpg.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Feedback on Plans for 125 Gallon

    Thanks! Such gorgeous fish!

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    Default Re: Feedback on Plans for 125 Gallon

    Quote Originally Posted by Iminit View Post
    Lol this looks familiar. Great info already and lots of great info here! But for me I’d still grow out your discus in a smaller tank 50-75g. This tank will later be used as a qt tank or hospital tank. Planters do work. I find it’s best to familiarize the fish with plants. Here’s a pic of my 50 grow out tankC7144FFA-34E4-434B-ADBF-52DE60B2BAFB.jpg and my 30976B06BA-9232-445E-9845-0761E54CF1DF.jpg.
    Those look really great, and I agree with your choices!

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