If you build it, they will come - Jims Discus Journal

[fishy_jim]

Hi Jim, however you decide to position your wood I suggest you point the end with the most branches toward a corner of the tank. Sometimes if/when discus spook they can hurt themselves of the tips of branches. Nice point of wood BTW
Pat

Thanks for the suggestion, Pat! I will definitely keep that in mind.

[fishy_jim]

Tank looks great. Is the bottom painted? And the back? Another option for the wood may be to cut the long one and have it stand up on the roots. Looks like enough height for the discus to swim under. Shame about the light!

Hi Tom, the back has a white vinyl applied and the bottom you are seeing is the leveling mat, happens to be white. I will be putting down a super thin dusting layer of PFS to hide any reflections. I love your idea of standing it on the roots - I will see if that would work and still be sturdy. Thanks !!

[Iminit]

Stand it up with that long piece hanging off the table to get a good idea where to cut. Save the cut off and rubber band an anubias to it .

[fishy_jim]

Feel like I made some progress today on my tank. I added about 1/8" of PFS, placed my driftwood after I have been soaking it in one of our bathtubs (wife not happy about that) and filled the tank with water from the tap. I then hooked up the filters and got them churning. Media I have in them are the foam pads it came with, and matrix, and I also threw in the carbon it came with. After the cycle is complete, I plan to replace the carbon with purigen. I then dosed the tank with Prime to dechlorinate the water. This leads me to a question, when doing water changes, do I add prime to the water when aging it or immediately before adding it to the display tank?

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Tomorrow I have on the agenda to hook up the heaters and the inkbird temperature controller. I got the one with wifi so it should be easy to set that all up and tidy up the cords and items under the tank. Im then also going to start the cycle process. I'm doing a fishless cycle with Dr Tims One and Only and ammonium chloride. and I will post how that goes along the way. The plants I ordered that Im attaching to the driftwood should be arriving next week.

[fljones3]

I add Prime directly into the tank water when changing.

[Iminit]

Yes prime goes in with the new water. Also if you have other tanks running you can just take media from them to jump start your tank. This send bacteria right into your filter. Next when you add your new discus for best results it pays to change water daily. Many change up to 90% daily for the first month at least. I change 50% for the first month than state spreading the water changes out. With all the water changes the cycle doesn’t matter. It’s slowly building up and the water changes are keeping the water clean.

[jeep]

This will be nice! Looking forward to your progress!!

[fishy_jim]

Also if you have other tanks running you can just take media from them to jump start your tank. This send bacteria right into your filter.

Im worried to do that because my other freshwater planted tank went through 2 rounds of ich in the last 4 months after adding new fish. The ich is done and has stayed away but I don't want to risk it with the discus. Im using Dr Tims One and Only bacteria so hopefully that will kick it in gear.

[fishy_jim]

This will be nice! Looking forward to your progress!!

Thanks Brian!

[fishy_jim]

Stand it up with that long piece hanging off the table to get a good idea where to cut. Save the cut off and rubber band an anubias to it .

BTW ... wouldn't work that way, needed another leg to make it work. I appreciate the feedback anyways !

[fishy_jim]

I add Prime directly into the tank water when changing.

When doing that, do you dose based on the amount of water you are changing or by total tank volume? Thanks

[fljones3]

When doing that, do you dose based on the amount of water you are changing or by total tank volume? Thanks

Technically, the water you change but it does not manner since Prime can be dosed up to 2x without impact.

[fishy_jim]

Cycle has been started, now we wait. Plants to arrive this week to attach to the driftwood and a few rocks. That will be next weekends project. Tank is all set and running. Had an issue with not being able to register the inkbird app so I had to set up manually. Temp is at 83 degrees currently and holding steady. Plan right now is to order the fish after Christmas after the holidays.

2023-12-10 17_12_49-DISCUS TANK VITALS - Excel.png

[Adamski77]

moving forward... great to see...

[AquaticNerd]

This leads me to a question, when doing water changes, do I add prime to the water when aging it or immediately before adding it to the display tank?

Whichever way you choose, don't add prime to your aging tank/barrel and let it sit for long. I added my prime (actually used Safe since it was more economical) about 5 minutes before changing the water.