Back in the discus hobby

[brewmaster15]

Not much going on here. Just having fun starring at an empty tank I added the DI resin to my r/o system which took care of the elevated ph I was experiencing. Thank you Al! Also added the manzanita wood which I had from my previous set up. And I added a 3rd storage tank. I set up my water storage tanks to be 2 x 44gal of r/o water and 1 x 44 gal of tap water. All of them have heaters and air bubbles. Enough water to replace the entire water column of my 125gal aquarium.

I also had the opportunity to meet up with Miranda of Chicago Discus on my recent trip from Saint Louis to Michigan. Very cool setup and Miranda is super nice and welcoming. I can't wait to place my special order.

I noticed that my pothos plants are losing some of their roots. The plants look healthy otherwise. Maybe this is due to the adjustment from being potted to emersed in water? Or is it because of the ammonia? I am not really worried about it at this point but want to avoid having to deal with rotting organic matters.
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Looking good and glad to help.

Initially when you put pothos thats been in the soil into a tank the roots will swell a bit and there a very tough covering on the roots.. Its not uncommon for that to be shed. I'm not surprised that they aren't growing much yet for you. Too much nutrients in the water, so there will probably be more than enough to support the plants as currently leafed out, they will put out new growth for leaves and as that happens they will start to send out more fibrous roots,

al

[brewmaster15]

1month..


20231101_120735.jpg

you can see the older thick brown roots..The white fibrous roots are new.

[Jandiscus]

1month..


20231101_120735.jpg

you can see the older thick brown roots..The white fibrous roots are new.

Very cool Al - and impressed to see that your pothos are developing new leafs under water :-)

[Jandiscus]

The tank is still cycling and so much fun to watch :-) I will say though that there is a benefit to having an empty tank for an extended period of time. It allows me to mess with it, try out things, change my mind, without bothering any fish. Currently I am still evaluating the addition of the manzanita wood. I like the look but it started to develop some type of organic growth that was white and hairy in nature. Nothing major and only in a few spots. I then remembered that I stopped taking care of things back 3 years ago when it became clear that I will have to give up on my discus hobby.

I removed the 2 branches and gave them a good scrub in my bathtub :-) I was surprised how much "dirt" I was able to remove, using a typical kitchen scrub pad. When I put them back into my tank, I noticed that there was still some minor flaking occurring. Again, no biggie. This is the stuff you get obsessed with if you have no fish in your tank. Finally, I was unsuccessful in putting those two branches back in place just the way I did initially. Obviously, they are still soaking and want to float. But still, in the spirit of making things easy and reproducible I will say that adding the wood is adding more challenges. No surprise.fishtank11323.jpg

[Jandiscus]

The other thing I want to add is a Purigen + Phosban reactor that is separate from the filter system. You can see the components in the picture in my previous post. I used to have this with my previous setup and it worked great. My thinking is that it will support water quality especially when I am traveling and using auto-feeders. I have two of those reactors but will only use one of them since this tank is half the size of my previous one.

If anyone has a recommendation on an inline pump, I would very much appreciate that. I have one that works well but it is noisy, especially when you start constraining the flow rate. I don't want to place anything into the tank so it would have to be external and have 1/2" inner diameter connections :-)

[Sandip]

If you change water on a regular schedule. Like once a day or even once in two days, then you don't need to use Purigen + Phosban reactor.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Jan, quick question. How are you going to mix your RO/tap. I noticed you have two bins for RO and one for tap. I am going to suggest to not mix the two in the tank with fish. Also nice start on the tank. It looks awesome and I like how you arranged the wood.
Pat

[Jandiscus]

Hi Jan, quick question. How are you going to mix your RO/tap. I noticed you have two bins for RO and one for tap. I am going to suggest to not mix the two in the tank with fish. Also nice start on the tank. It looks awesome and I like how you arranged the wood.
Pat

Hi Pat,

my thinking was to create a 75 r/o:25 tap blend. This would give me a ph of 7.3 and TDS of 120. I could do just a 50:50 using the two pumps and the hoses in the picture. That would give me a ph of 7.5 and TDS of >200. That's what I did in the past. Blending would occur while refilling the tank. Do you think it would upset the fish doing it that way? I could use the third storage bin to pre-blend but that would add another step. Thank you for your help.pumps.jpg

[Jandiscus]

If you change water on a regular schedule. Like once a day or even once in two days, then you don't need to use Purigen + Phosban reactor.

Agree Sandip. I am probably overthinking things.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Pat,

my thinking was to create a 75 r/o:25 tap blend. This would give me a ph of 7.3 and TDS of 120. I could do just a 50:50 using the two pumps and the hoses in the picture. That would give me a ph of 7.5 and TDS of >200. That's what I did in the past. Blending would occur while refilling the tank. Do you think it would upset the fish doing it that way? I could use the third storage bin to pre-blend but that would add another step. Thank you for your help.pumps.jpg

Hi Jan, I would suggest premixing and perhaps aging prior to using in the tank. I think mixing in the tank will have parameters bouncing all over the place.
Pat

[Tshethar]

The other thing I want to add is a Purigen + Phosban reactor that is separate from the filter system. You can see the components in the picture in my previous post. I used to have this with my previous setup and it worked great. My thinking is that it will support water quality especially when I am traveling and using auto-feeders. I have two of those reactors but will only use one of them since this tank is half the size of my previous one.

If anyone has a recommendation on an inline pump, I would very much appreciate that. I have one that works well but it is noisy, especially when you start constraining the flow rate. I don't want to place anything into the tank so it would have to be external and have 1/2" inner diameter connections :-)

A couple of thoughts on this... I like purigen for pulling organics out in between WCs but I tried a reactor with the same phosban unit and found that it to be a pain to service. With the wood plus discus waste it started turning brown quickly... too quickly for my liking. If you do use it, make sure you have quick disconnect valves or some kind of union so you can take it apart easily. I also found it a little difficult to contain the purigen.

If you do want an external pump that is quiet and could run something like that, the Sicce Syncra Silent ones are really good.

For my part, when I set up my tank most recently, I added an external power filter for mechanical filtration and I add some purigen in a bag to that. It's a little noisier than I would prefer but I like it for this purpose. I find myself changing filter floss weekly and rotating/recharging the purigen almost that frequently...

[LizStreithorst]

Hi Pat,

my thinking was to create a 75 r/o:25 tap blend. This would give me a ph of 7.3 and TDS of 120. I could do just a 50:50 using the two pumps and the hoses in the picture. That would give me a ph of 7.5 and TDS of >200. That's what I did in the past. Blending would occur while refilling the tank. Do you think it would upset the fish doing it that way? I could use the third storage bin to pre-blend but that would add another step. Thank you for your help.pumps.jpg

I hate those hoses. Just look at how they like to kink. You might want to look at this hose. Much better quality

https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Hose-D...10&sr=8-9&th=1

[Second Hand Pat]

I hate those hoses. Just look at how they like to kink. You might want to look at this hose. Much better quality

https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Hose-D...10&sr=8-9&th=1

Liz, you just have to make sure that hose doesn't have the anti-mold coating would might not sit well with fish.
Pat

[brewmaster15]

Screenshot_20231107_102255.jpg

These hoses are really good. I Just wish they made 3/4"

Still.. these are flexible, resist kinks, and are potable safe.

[Jandiscus]

I hate those hoses. Just look at how they like to kink. You might want to look at this hose. Much better quality

https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Hose-D...10&sr=8-9&th=1

Hey Liz,

I am with you. These were my original ones from my previous setup in Michigan about 7 years ago. I have since replaced them with new ones which are much sturdier. (Amazon $10/each).