My discus dream tank journal

[ChloroPhil]

Nice!

Can you put rays in planted tanks without them digging up your plants?

I'm assuming you're going to plant it as you posted in the planted/show tank space?


Josh

I'm not going to put rays in here, there isn't enough room and I don't want them eating my shrimp. Yes, it's going to be heavily planted. However, thanks to the incredible width there'll still be plenty of room in front for the discus.

Here are some of my latest aquariums. They're broken down now to be sold to make the move easier and to pay for the big tank. I've still got a ton of Anubias nana and A. nana 'Petite' available. If anyone needs some for a tank shoot me a PM for prices. All proceeds are going toward getting the best discus I can.

75 Dutch style Angelfish tank


90g West African tank


Thanks for watching!

[exv152]

That's gonna be one mother of a killer-tank! You mention shrimp, what other fish do you plan to have?

[ChloroPhil]

That's gonna be one mother of a killer-tank! You mention shrimp, what other fish do you plan to have?

Thank you!

Along with the discus I hope to have [the money to buy] Sterbai cories, Ottos, Green Neon tetras, Marbled Hatchetfish, and possibly another type or two of Tetra. My wife likes Rummynose a lot. They might add a nice brightness to the mix of cool blues and greens of the fish and plants. The discus are going to take up a lot of visual space and I want to make sure the schoalers don't make the tank seem too "busy". The focus should be on the plants and discus.

Regards,
Phil

[darkknight87]

Those are some AMAZINg looking tanks.
Id love to have tanks that were that full of plants but Ive never had any sucess with plants.
THose look great. Im sure this big one will look incredible

[ChloroPhil]

I know it's not that exciting to most of you, but this is the first time I've been able to use all the unions, valves, and whatnot that I drooled over in my former life as an installer. Modular hard plumbing is a thing of beauty and general convenience. With these I'll be able to control the flow to any part of the tank, do an emergency quick drain via the closed loop (CL), and all the other nifty stuff that I've wanted to do for years.



At first I'd considered doing a Mazzei CO2 system but then I remembered the AquaMedic reactor I had and thought it best to save money for fish. The reactor's going to be plumbed on the intake of the CL to maximize CO2 dissolution and distribution. The CL downdraft tube is going to be teed off with the gate valve in-line with the pump and the reactor on the T like a Mazzei injector, only on the in rather than out direction. The gate valve will give very fine control over direct flow into the pump. The more the valve's closed the greater the flow going through the reactor. Any gas that escapes the reactor will be pulled through the pump's impeller and chopped up before being sent out into the tank. I don't intend to use anything but CO2 to regulate the pH in the tank and that'll be controlled by a Milwaukee SMS122 pH meter/controller.

Both the CL and the sump will be running off Pan World P40-X pumps with an approximate total flow of 700-750gph after accounting for head loss.

Fun stuff,
Phil

[ChloroPhil]

Those are some AMAZINg looking tanks.
Id love to have tanks that were that full of plants but Ive never had any sucess with plants.
THose look great. Im sure this big one will look incredible

Thank you! I love my planted tanks.

Success with plants isn't impossible or even difficult to come by, I promise. Just buy my products, follow my proprietary system, and for only $29.95 per month with a low installment fee of $2,000.00 you too can grow plants like the best! Seriously though, start simply and go carefully step by step and you'll get there.

Cheers,
Phil

[lpiasente]

beautiful tanks

[ChloroPhil]

beautiful tanks

Thank you.

[yikesjason]

This is going to be such a rock solid tank with that hard plumbing. Maintenance will be a breeze. I am excited just to add a second canister to my tank. It is so MacGyver'ed together.

Are you not worried about the discus eating the green neons? The do make for a nice school though.

[ChloroPhil]

This is going to be such a rock solid tank with that hard plumbing. Maintenance will be a breeze. I am excited just to add a second canister to my tank. It is so MacGyver'ed together.

Are you not worried about the discus eating the green neons? The do make for a nice school though.

Jason,

I know how you feel about adding that second filter! I was the same way whenever I had the chance to upgrade/add hardware. Over time I've realized that my maintenance style and personal aquarium keeping habits favor using a sump rather than canisters. They make maintenance so much easier and I can use them as a collectoritis tank instead of making a mess of the display.

The last thing I'll ever do again though is hook canisters up to bulkheads. It was a mistake both times I tried it. ugh


Regarding the schooling fish, I'm not sure about them being eaten. I don't doubt that a huge fish will try to snack on a few of the smaller ones. I'm just not sure I'll be able to grow wilds out to the point where I should be concerned. I'm getting the discus from Hans so I know they'll be good and have a lot of growth potential but in the end they're wild fish and there's no telling how old or what their size potential truly is.

Cheers,
Phil

[yikesjason]

What type of discus did you decide to go with? Are you starting small and growing out in another tank, or are they going strait into the big tank fully planted?

[ChloroPhil]

What type of discus did you decide to go with? Are you starting small and growing out in another tank, or are they going strait into the big tank fully planted?

I'm not sure exactly what I'll be getting. It depends on availability when the tank's ready for fishies. I hope to get some Tefe Greens with good green color and a little bit of red. As far a coloration goes, this is my perfect discus:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/T...2-21-08057.jpg

It could use a little body work though.

The tank's going to be barebottom with some potted plants while the fish grow out. The big grow-out plan is to make a movable eggcrate divider that'll keep the little ones corralled in a "small" portion of the tank to limit the area that I have to worry about vacuuming. The plants, lights, and soaking wood will be on the other side of the divider. As the babies grow out I'll move the divider closer and closer to the far side of the tank. This'll let them slowly adjust to the higher light and plants. Once they're big enough that I take the divider out that's when I'll do the big aquascape.

The great thing about this tank setup is the ability to control flow almost completely. Opening and closing valves will allow me to dictate the strength of the current based on what the fishies look like they can take. With any luck it'll also help keep the food and poo near the front for easy vacuuming. Having 7-9 discus in an effective volume of 260 gallons won't put a huge strain on the biological filter. I expect that small daily detritus removals will be sufficient in conjunction with 25% weekly WC.

[yikesjason]

That sounds like a masterful plan. How long do you expect to grow them out? Or is that more "play it by ear"?

[ChloroPhil]

That sounds like a masterful plan. How long do you expect to grow them out? Or is that more "play it by ear"?

I'm anticipating 9 months, so probably somewhere around September or October. It'll really depend on the fish though. No matter how big they are if they don't adapt to eating pellets, worms, and other plant-friendly foods the heavy planting will have to wait. I don't anticipate moving for a few years so I can afford to be as patient as the fish need. It'll pay of big time in the end. If things start getting really boring visually I may add sand and some schooling fish to add a little more interest.

[yikesjason]

It seems like lately, you have had a lot of time on the forums. I remember reading about your Hoa Rainforest tanks and not seeing any updates for a long time. Now, you all over the place.

By the way, the Hoa Rainforest tanks were some of my early favorite tanks when I was starting in planted tanks.