Finnishing out my 100gal

[amyandlars]

I have a BB, with potted plants that is in some serious need of finishing out the species school. I figure the potted plants and glass dimensions means I have 91 gals.

So far I have a school of 7 cory's, 1 platy, 3 Adult Discus. I don't plan on adding anymore cories, adding 10 more platies, and another 4-5 discus. The last Discus will be going in last since I plan on getting 3in, and growing them out to 4in before adding them.

I stink at figuring out what is a safe bioload, is this safe, considering I only plan on doing 2 w/c's a week 20% each time. Also can I add 2 BN pleco's in this mix? Do I even need any BN's since it's BB?

[Tropical Haven]

With the final amount of fish that you plan to have in that tank you will need to do more than 20% water changes twice a week or your levels will start elevating and then you will start having problems with your discus.

[Harriett]

Amyandlars:
1. Adding the new fish you are talking about sounds fine to me with a 91g water column--with a few caveats--please read..
2. I am assuming you will be doing your grow-out / QT for at least 6 or more weeks, yes?
3. Bristlenose like to eat protein that collects on the glass from the discus slime, which is a great thing, since the protein is a bacteria magnet that you don't want in the tank. QT the bristlenose and new platies, etc also.
4. Back to the tank: what kind of filtration do you have in the tank?
5. My opinion is that 20% 2 x week won't fly. I suggest 50% at least 3 x week. Some of us do massive water changes [> 90%] with very good results for our discus.
Hope this will help
Harriett

[Apistomaster]

Discus do not cause anymore biofilm to coat the glass than any other fish. This is a natural phenomenon common to all aquaculture systems. Don't know how that urban myth ever began.

Ancistrus sp.3 are about the best of all the plecos to use for algae and scum control. I have never had any bother discus. I raise over 1000 bushy noses a year so naturally there are many times where I have to keep them with discus. They do not usually breed in the warmer water temperature I keep my discus in but their young grow out faster.

[Harriett]

I think your post that discus don't make more biofilm than other fish is interesting, Larry---what I have always seen in my tanks is that my discus tanks do have more film than any non discus tank I have [or had]...wonder why that is? All are filtered about the same, water changes are certainly more frequent than in the other cichlid [Africans] tanks....oh, well, personal experience is unique, huh?
Best regards
Harriett

[amyandlars]

Harriet, everything will get a 6 week + QT. I plan on growing out the Discus in a seperate tank with 75% daily w/c's until they reach 4-4.5 inches. That is why I would like to add them last.

Filtration is 2 Marineland biowheel HOB filters, that are both loaded with filter media.

I'm pretty sure that I can bump up my w/c's to 30% 3-4 /week, on the main tank.

[Harriett]

If you did 30-40% [better] changes 3-4 x a week I think you'd be ok. Here's one more suggestion, if I may: one thing that I do in my tanks that helps hugely is to keep BIG old prefilters on the intakes---I use spare sponges from my biggest air filters--and I pull and rinse those every couple of days, while doing water changes--I find that the filtration systems stay way cleaner and the water quality looks better.
Just one [more] last note, I always attempt to overfilter my tanks--they seem healthier for it, I've found.
Good luck with your project, have FUN!!!!
Best regards
Harriett