Convince me barebottom can look great

[brewmaster15]

If I'm going to do all this work to raise discus, I will start with the best stock. I put them into old, used, often beat up, tanks with a heater and a sponge filter to produce spectacular beautiful discus tanks.

lmao.. we are two peas in a pod Willie.

[Tshethar]

I have come to appreciate that there are different ways to approach the hobby.

I kept reef tanks in the 90s but haven't done salt water for 20 years now. Getting out of that corresponded in part with not having the budget for an expensive hobby that seemed to require an endless array of new gear, but I can also appreciate the fun of figuring some of that stuff out. (It was pretty rudimentary back then.) I admit, though, that the habit of tinkering with equipment could carry over in ways that could cause trouble if poorly applied to the discus hobby. It may well be that there are some things to “unlearn.”

In my case, I found that some of what I imagined might help seemed less useful than I thought. For example, I put in a purigen reactor as insurance to ensure good water quality in between frequent water changes, but then found out the discus didn't like my tap water to begin with. What they really needed was pre-filtration. So, the reactor wasn’t a problem, but it didn’t seem to really matter that much, and I had to spend more money elsewhere. Moreover, the driftwood leeched tannins the purigen then picked up, so the reactor ended up needing service despite not really pulling fish waste out of the water (since I kept up with WCs). Servicing and recharging it was a pain and while it never leaked, I worried that someday it might, so I ended up removing it.

Still, I get the impulse to experiment and sometimes it's fun. I think a certain amount of automation and "tech" can really help and even you guys with just the old BB tanks and sponge filters would probably confess to using something like a temperature controller, right?

In my case, anything that would make it easier to change water is something I would welcome. If I am ever able to have a fish room, I am going to have a way of using stuff like sprinkler timers and solenoids, pumps, stable plumbing, etc., to be able to fill and drain tanks without having to drag a hose to each one. (I will probably be 65 before this can happen, and I like the idea of keeping it sustainable for a long time.)

Additionally, I've run UV before and while it's debatable what it might do (or not do) for fish health, it definitely improves water clarity. For a display tank in the living/dining room, that counts for something. (I'm currently playing with a way to run my python through it when I add new water to the tank so that I might catch anything out of the tap that makes it through my prefilter...)

I have also seen some people using some gear in sumps and such that I like and wouldn't hesitate to do if I was running one and had some extra cash. (One example is the automatic filter rollers—would probably use one if I had a large display tank with a sump.)

If it feels like it helps protect the investment and isn't overly complex, then I say go for it, especially if you already have it, it gives you peace of mind, and/or it’s fun and isn’t likely to cause harm or neglect. Just be prepared to change course if or when you need to, keep an open mind, and see what seems to matter to the fish.