JWCarlson's first discus tank

[Iminit]

I’ve had the tidal for 4yrs with no problems. Now the eshopps isn’t that big. I bought that from market place for $100. Had to buy a pump for around $70. No holes to drill it comes with an overflow similar to an HOB. Also a great filter.

[jwcarlson]

I've got a Tidal 110 on the way. Will give it a shot. I suppose I'll get it running and then start eliminating a sponge a week or something. Seems a shame to "waste" all these cycled sponges. I suppose I'll probably leave one in either way.

Thanks for pushing me over the edge and I'm pretty comfortable with HOBs as I've always had them. My oscar tanks always had Penguins years ago, I think I had two 450s on my 75 back then. I always liked those, but I've read nothing but bad stuff about them since.

[fljones3]

I've got a Tidal 110 on the way. Will give it a shot. I suppose I'll get it running and then start eliminating a sponge a week or something. Seems a shame to "waste" all these cycled sponges. I suppose I'll probably leave one in either way.

Thanks for pushing me over the edge and I'm pretty comfortable with HOBs as I've always had them. My oscar tanks always had Penguins years ago, I think I had two 450s on my 75 back then. I always liked those, but I've read nothing but bad stuff about them since.

Just cut up your sponge and put it in the tidal (perhaps on top of the new sponges). Don't waste good bacteria.

[Iminit]

Nothing wrong with the marineland hob. Before the eshopps that’s what was there. With the tital you can add the sponges right into the media basket add some matrix or your favorite media above the sponges just the transfer the bacteria. In mine I have at the bottom the sponge that comes with it then enough floss to cover the sponge at about 3” than a bag of matrix to cover that floss. Being discus I rinse it all out twice a week.

[jwcarlson]

I can cut up the sponge, but unless the media compartment is the size of a small canister filter, there's no shot it's going to fit all the sponge. I'll come up with a plan once I lay eyes on it.

[jwcarlson]

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They're dealing with the new surrounds alright now.

[jwcarlson]

My Tidal 110 showed up and I got it set up this weekend. It perfectly fit the sponges from one of the big tower sponge filters, so that went into the basket. There's two more on the ground that I want to get rid of, but I am holding off because I have a bunch of new tanks coming. A friend of mine from high school is selling his 125, 90, 55, and 40 bowfront (all with stands and filters) for $350 which is less than I paid for my 75 with stand. Trickster knew how to get me... wife even approved it. We have about 1300 square feet of unfinished basement and she said as long as they end up down there she's fine with it. So it will shake up how everything currently stands. I think the discus might end up in the 125 with a larger supporting crew (more tetras and probably some sterbais).

Then am pretty seriously considering growing out another set of discus, maybe some of Liz's if she has another batch available. My struggle is that I might have great interest in growing them out and then less interest in the adult/display aspect... if that makes any sense. I am a sucker for breeding stuff, though. So that's a legitimate concern if any of these fish start laying eggs.
I am in no hurry and the new tanks will probably mostly sit empty for quite some time. I'll likely transfer the current community tank in a 37 (a footprint that I hate) into the 40 maybe. I haven't thought much on it yet, though.

Anyway, as far as this crew goes, they were pretty photogenic tonight and I measured a few of them. The solid turquoise is right at 5" and he was at least 1.5" smaller than the others when I got him to start eating this summer. So now that the blue diamond is eating again, I hope he starts growing well as well. But I know some amount of potential is already squandered there. I measured two others and they were both right at 5.5" or perhaps a bit over.

Here's some on the refill after the water change tonight.
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Thanks for looking!

[fljones3]

Sweet looking group!

[jwcarlson]

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Tom (iminit) was nice enough to ship another set of cuttings for my discus to destroy. Haha

[solasis]

Looks good! My amazon swords are getting destroyed as well haha

[Iminit]

Got to say I’ve never had discus eat plants. Have you guys seen them eating the plants? A55AD654-19B2-42EC-A259-83E173835C88.jpgC667529F-485A-4266-B6A4-4DB1BBA2EAA8.jpg. The second tank you can see my wet/dry. They come like this with the media and an overflow box. For me these are simple and work great. Instead of a ball pit this one used a plastic and floss roll. 800gph flows through that dense roll. Goes through a few sponges and some media and back to the tank. A sump does away with the ball pit. The water goes into socks that remove all the large pieces of waste. You clean these socks often. Then the water flows into whatever media you add to the next stage or stages. Then it goes up and flows into the return sump. The overflow here oxygenates the water before going back into the tank. I’ve never used a sump.

[jwcarlson]

They don't eat them, Tom, they just rip them to pieces and leave the plants floating. Then swim off with a smug look on their faces.

Thanks for the pics, I am really struggling with what I should do with my new tank windfall. Part of me wants and oscar again, but another part of me wants more discus, and then another part of me thinks it would be cool to breed them (discus) just once. And then a bigger part of me understands that I can tend to struggle with impulse control. So the 125, 90, 55, 40, and 29 are going to sit empty for a bit. Gotta figure out how I want to set everything up in the basement too.

I'll have to blow up the pics on my computer, tough to see much other than the obvious beauty of your tanks on my phone!

[Iminit]

Here’s some better pic. First system came as is I just added the pump. Aqua link from eBay.65E97BB9-52CB-4009-965F-3CD695C09D4F.jpgF7A85B5E-42A7-4B64-8FCD-AF562D67EDDF.jpg81788841-BDC4-4FC6-8F86-12C43364560F.jpg.

[Iminit]

This unit is an eshopps. This unit is for a 75 to 125g tank. Again came as is I just added a pump. Bought this off marketplace for $100.8BEC44A8-B6B3-4D37-BE5F-4458BFB3BABC.jpgAC2A246F-7A8A-4BF7-ADF4-DFA74F3919B0.jpgF7DEF277-010F-4F85-8CBF-E3715726D37C.jpg

[Iminit]

And this last unit I bought at different times. First for $60 I bought the sump.Attachment 133894 this sump was a wet/dry to begin with and came with all the parts but the media. That I bought off eBay for about $20. I also bought new hoses a bulkhead seal cause this was designed for an outside pump. And some pvc 90s and other parts to give me more head room. Also needed a different overflow box. Attachment 133895Attachment 133896. This overflow can move 1000gph my pump is good for 1200. So I’m not running it at full power. These dc pumps are very nice and cheaper to run. They run on 12 and 24v. These filters are very cheap to run. Maintance is cleaning sponges in tank water while doing water changes. For the 2 with the rolled media about twice a year I clean them. I rinse them in tank water till clear. The black media is a harder plastic the white floss. This is a harder to find media but lasts longer. That stuff is about 4yrs old and has been cleaned about 8 times. The above system the green part is’nt as tough as the black part. This stuff works great and seems to fill the whole chamber but it does seem to wear down quicker. The first bay on the left has been replaced with new media about 2 months ago the second now has the media from both the original bays. The water pressure falling on it crushed it. I will replace this side in February. This media is cheaper. About $20 a chamber but seems to only last about a year. And that’s it nothing else get replaced. The ball pit I’ve never even attempted to clean.