1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fish keeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
My name is Andrew, and I have been keeping pretty simple fresh-water fish for the last couple years now. I am starting to get into the more difficult kinds to keep.
2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?
I have read the stickies and done quite a few hours of research and reading.
3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
It is a 75G show tank, 48x18x18, display, it has been set up for a few months now as a low-populated aquarium. I am looking to add adult Discus and live plants
4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
It has some onyx sand as a bottom layer, and gravel as a top layer, planted. Has a fake tree stump, rock overlay, fallen log
5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
I will be doing 30% bi-daily, once I have 6 adult Discus added. I have been doing 25% weekly, with the few fish that were in it. I will be aging my water, no R/O as of now.
6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
I have a Fluval 406 Canister, and a Fluval C4 as a HOB, I plan on adding sponges to both intakes to allow easy removal of large debris. I have a solid 300W Hydor heater, as well as a AC50 Power Head. Lighting I have an Aquasun LED and also a 48'' T5 with a glass canopy.
7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;
- temp 86
- tank ph 7.6-7.8
- Ph of the water straight out of your tap 7.8
- ammonia reading 0
- nitrite reading 0
- nitrate reading trace
- well water Yes I am well water.
- municipal water ____
8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
In my 75G I will have 6/7 Adult Discus, 4 Dwarf Gouramis, a small school of Rummy-nose Tetras, a half dozen albino bushynoses, as well as 2 cray fish (red/blue). I also have a Black Ghost Knife Fish, an Elephant Nose, and a red-tailed Shark i will be trying to keep in there as well. Throw in a few shrimp to see how long they can last
9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.
I will be feeding an alternate schedule of mixed foods, including but not limited to...HQ flake food, blackworms, bloodworms, soaked HQ pellets, frozen beefheart mix
10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows? Right now I do it for the pure curiosity of biology, I live in a small 1BR apt with a 170 pd mastiff so not much room now but I do hope to breed fish/shrimp/inverts in the future!