Hello from SoCal - Jumping into Discus!!!

[DiscusGino]

Hi, I'm Gino and have had aquariums since 1997 and had all varieties of water critters (Arrowana, Oscar's, Dragon Fins, Knife Fish, Tetra's Mollies, Turtles, Newts, Frogs, etc.). I have been keeping Salt Water & Reef systems for the past 6 years but never tried Discus!

I am in the process of taking down my neglected reef system and setting up a Discus tank since I have a new 6 month baby and want something slightly easier to maintain.

Below is what I have and what will be using for this system.
60 Gallon Cube with overflow
Sump / Refugium
LED lights
Apex Lite (Temp, PH, ATO, Water Alarm)

I will start a build thread starting from my tear down, cleaning, setup, clycling ,etc. to document my rebuild.

Hope to hear some great advise and read a lot of information in this forum from the experienced Discus owners!

[CrazyAngels]

Welcome to Simply Gino. Best of luck with your setup.

[Akili]

Having kept both salt water fish and reef too Discus keeping is as much work or even more if you start with Juveniles in my opinion, please take some time and read up on Discus as much as you can. Also watch this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXe3VKh7qF8

[DiscusGino]

Thank you for the video. I already watched this and probably 10+ other videos =)

[rickztahone]

Once again, welcome Gino. From my years of reading through threads, I have come to a conclusion (only mine), that cubed tanks do not offer the full benefits that longer tanks offer. This typically leads to failed discus tanks because the discus simply do not have enough space to get away from other dominating discus. With a 60g, you are limited on how large your group can be. Do you plan on having a sump as well?

[DiscusGino]

Once again, welcome Gino. From my years of reading through threads, I have come to a conclusion (only mine), that cubed tanks do not offer the full benefits that longer tanks offer. This typically leads to failed discus tanks because the discus simply do not have enough space to get away from other dominating discus. With a 60g, you are limited on how large your group can be. Do you plan on having a sump as well?


Hi Ricardo, Yes I am going to setup the sump with a refugium and Miracle Mud 2. I am still contemplating if I should get some bioballs... I don't plan on stocking heavy, probably a pair or 3 max with some cardinal tetras and cory's. Still also contemplating if I should go bare bottom or really light sand.

[rickztahone]

Hi Ricardo, Yes I am going to setup the sump with a refugium and Miracle Mud 2. I am still contemplating if I should get some bioballs... I don't plan on stocking heavy, probably a pair or 3 max with some cardinal tetras and cory's. Still also contemplating if I should go bare bottom or really light sand.

Do not go with 3 only. Discus need to be in groups of at least 5 or more. This is why I say you are in somewhat of a tight spot. A pair may be a great option, but you'd have to buy an adult confirmed pair, and it would be a waste to buy a pair and not breed it. You cannot simply buy two discus and expect them to pair up. One will harrass the other to no end.

The sump does help with water volume, so I would suggest 6 if you HAD to do it. However, with the smaller footprint, the discus may not have enough areas to hide away from more aggressive discus. I think it has to do with line of sight. Since the tank isn't long, it makes it so that no matter where one discus goes, the aggressor can always see them.

If you have any more questions, please let me know and I can help you out with all this ;)

P.S. - don't use bioballs. Use ceramic rings or something of its kind. Bio balls are overrated and aren't as efficient as people think.