First Discus tank but want planted

[gus6464]

Hi everyone,

Ever since I started doing freshwater tanks my dream has been to have a discus tank. I have finally convinced my wife to let me go from a 29g to a 90g tank (48x18x24). I know planted is not the common way to do things when it comes to discus but one of compromises of getting the 90g is that it can't be bare as it's going to be in our living room. Tank will be high tech with pressurized co2 and dual canister filters. The tank will be drilled with bulkheads connected straight to the canisters for a clean look. I am going to move one of my Fluval 305's from another established tank and wanted to know if this would work for the second canister.

I have a brand new Mag 3 pump I am not using and was thinking of getting this pond canister and connecting to it.
http://www.amazon.com/TotalPond-PF850-Pressurized-Biological-Filter/dp/B004DL0Y4O/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1377638811&sr=8-5&keywords=pond+filter

I know that for planted it's preferred to stock with adults and have no problem with that but what I really would like is to have a mated adult pair only with some rummynose tetras. Will only 2 in the long run have any issues?

So what does everyone think?

[discuspaul]

A 90 gal planted discus tank with just a proven mated pair of discus and some rummy-nose tetras is a very low bio-load situation, and should prove to be no problem from a routine daily maintenance standpoint to keep all the fish healthy and looking good. And there is little doubt it would look impressive too, and make you happy - for a while anyway.

However, you must also be prepared too for the consequences of keeping a mated pair - they will very likely spawn (over & over again) and then what ? - The rummy noses shouldn't present too much of a problem - I'm quite sure the discus pair could keep their young out of harm's way for the most part, but you may face some rummy-nose losses from the parents' protective aggressiveness in the bargain.
And for the sake of argument, let's say the pair does raise a brood, or broods, of fry - then what ?
Would you be prepared to deal with raising/growing them out in your beautiful display tank for a while, &/or having another tank or two to properly grow them out in, and then have to proceed to sell them (or give some away) - or - would you simply not bother trying to raise the young to saleable stage, by culling/somehow getting rid of the youngsters that you know you can't continue to accommodate in your planted 90 gallon.
There are other scenarios that I won't get into here for brevity reasons.
However, are you getting any kind of a picture yet ? Does it suit you ?
Think about it.

[gus6464]

A 90 gal planted discus tank with just a proven mated pair of discus and some rummy-nose tetras is a very low bio-load situation, and should prove to be no problem from a routine daily maintenance standpoint to keep all the fish healthy and looking good. And there is little doubt it would look impressive too, and make you happy - for a while anyway.

However, you must also be prepared too for the consequences of keeping a mated pair - they will very likely spawn (over & over again) and then what ? - The rummy noses shouldn't present too much of a problem - I'm quite sure the discus pair could keep their young out of harm's way for the most part, but you may face some rummy-nose losses from the parents' protective aggressiveness in the bargain.
And for the sake of argument, let's say the pair does raise a brood, or broods, of fry - then what ?
Would you be prepared to deal with raising/growing them out in your beautiful display tank for a while, &/or having another tank or two to properly grow them out in, and then have to proceed to sell them (or give some away) - or - would you simply not bother trying to raise the young to saleable stage, by culling/somehow getting rid of the youngsters that you know you can't continue to accommodate in your planted 90 gallon.
There are other scenarios that I won't get into here for brevity reasons.
However, are you getting any kind of a picture yet ? Does it suit you ?
Think about it.

Yeah everything you said makes total sense and I would rather not have to deal with fry. What do you suggest I do instead? Would it better to go with 5 4"+ instead?

[White Worm]

Vacuum the eggs out. You could also go with (6) 3-4in fish. Still wont be hard on the bioload. You also wont have to worry about breeding behavior for a while.

[discuspaul]

As WhiteWorm says, you could vacuum the eggs out each time there is a spawn - however I'm not sure if a continuous practice like this would unduly stress out the pair - I don't know the answer to this, but I don't feel I'd like to do it on an ongoing basis.
As for your last question Gus, sure, I'd suggest you consider getting 5 (or more, preferably 6 - or even up to 9 or 10 if your wallet permits) -3"-4" fish. That would make a great display with some rummy-noses, and would be within low or acceptable-bio-load limits. And if a mated pair eventually emerged, any later spawns would not survive in a community tank environment.

[pastry]

I don't know Paul, I think his tetras will be fine making sure no little ones grow. Really just depends on the tetras (I've had some lemon tetras eat duckweed like crazy and other lemons not... even those little mindless drones seem to have some unique personalities to the individual fish). My lemons eat any free swimmers they can get close to but then again I had a pair of discus in the past raise two small groups of fry to about 3 weeks to a month in a community/planted tank while I had a school of priscella (sp?) tetras which look similar to lemons. Sooo... I'd say the pair would be in heaven in that tank and if they have free swimmers then it's okay, you've got time to figure out what you want to do with them. If he needs some of my lemons, dear God I've got enough to go around! Those little SOBs won't stop multiplying in my tank!

[Crunchy]

I don't think there will be big issues. If they kept spawning, it's fine.

My fish spawns a lot & unsuccessful, but they are still healthy.

[SMB2]

I found Rummy Nose Tetras to be pretty good birth controllers. Any time the parents came over to eat, the Tetras attacked the eggs, and when they knew there were eggs, the caviar didn't last long.


http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac196/LongLure/Tank2013_Bysshe_20130221_15076-Version2_zpsbaf2527c.jpg (http://s899.photobucket.com/user/LongLure/media/Tank2013_Bysshe_20130221_15076-Version2_zpsbaf2527c.jpg.html)

[pastry]

Ha haaaa, Stan! Even though we both know that the odds aren't in the favor of the discus and we don't have intentions of those making it, it still kind of pisses you (me) off!!!!! Your rummy's are like my lemons!