My first step towards BB

[ericNH]

So I re-did my whole tank yesterday. It was a typical novice disaster involving 2 inches of sand, several large stones, and several random pieces of driftwood. And of course I tried planting it. No special substrate, no root tabs, just bought a bunch of plants and stuffed them into the tank. Here is what it looked like yesterday morning:

92127


Yes, I was lazy. But I kept hoping the plants would overtake the algae, and renovating a 125 gallon tank that was loaded up like mine was is intimidating. Anyway, now it looks like this:

92128


I love the new look. I took out all the stones, driftwood, and plants. I selected the best plants and cleaned them and put them in their own little pots, using fluorite red and a thin layer of sand on top to make them look cleaner. I removed most of the sand, leaving only a 1/8" layer. I scrubbed all the tank walls. And I gotta tell you I nearly gassed myself when I started digging out the old sand - the *stink*! Burned my nostrils! But anyway it's done! And I am happy. And my fish are happy.

[Filip]

Good work Erick.
It looks a bit empty right now for my taste but discus are for sure more happier in this clean environment.

And I hope you did put the discus out of tank, when you stirred and put out the poisonous methane sand bed.

[ericNH]

Yea, all the fish were held in my QT tank while I did this. The strength of the ammonia and all the dirty sludge from the sand would've killed them for sure.

[Phillydubs]

Nice work!! Way to admit that you got off on the wrong foot and try to correct it before disaster struck! Kudos to you, a lot of people would be stubborn before they learned...

I second Flip's motion, looks empty now! Add more fish!! Lol... Maybe a nice piece of drift wood? Something easy to remove and clean?

Not sure about that loach as well, I know most on this forum frown upon them and I think they prefer groups, I only see one. I hear they can get big and aggressive and also carry disease, but again, never had them so maybe someone else will chime in?

[ericNH]

Thanks for the words of encouragement Filip and Phillydubs :)

Regarding the clown loach, I agree that he shouldn't be in there. But I've had him now for over a year, and I'm reluctant to get rid of him. Used to have a group of four, but they were way too rambunctious as a group for the discus. When I tried to remove them I just couldn't catch this one, and with all the crap in my tank I just ended up just letting him stay instead of stirring everything up in an attempt to chase him down. The three I caught went to the LFS.

If I knew someone local who would give him a good home, I'd give him away. but I'd have to sure it was the right home - big tank, good clean water, etc. Anyone local want to pick up a clown loach? PM me, I'm near the NH - Mass border.

[MKD]

Congrat Eric!!! youre able to make that change. It's hard sometimes. 2 things for sure, your discus have more room and your maintain is easier.

[ericNH]

Congrat Eric!!! youre able to make that change. It's hard sometimes.

Thank you MKD :) Yes, it was hard to make the change. I don't have a fish room with a bunch tanks running to swap fish in and out of. Just a little 29g QT tank and my main. It took me 12 hours to get it all done!

[rickztahone]

Sometimes this is a difficult choice for many, but I did exactly the same thing as you a long time ago and have never looked back. Only difference was I had a gravel substrate and when I took it out, the sludge that accumulated on it was disasterous!

It does look a bit empty but I actually don't mind it. More swimming room and it focuses all the attention on the discus. However, I wanted to ask, what type of lighting are you using? It looks a bit dim.

[ericNH]

Oh I've only got the right half on in that pic. It has two switches, one for the left side and one for the right. I do about 5 hours on one side and 5 hours on the other each day.

It's er um, something I picked up used, with the tank, don't know exactly what - the fixture has four tubes total, 65 watts each, and on each side one tube is full spectrum and the other is blacklight-ish. I replaced the ballasts and tubes on it a few months after i got it. That was a while ago, don't remember exactly what I got. It's bright when it's on full power - that "after" pic shows it only on half power. My guess is that it's probably similar to a T5? Maybe?

[ericNH]

Two fish are in a tank. One says to the other, "Do you know how to drive this thing?"

[mkng07]

A change for the better. :) I like the clean look and I'm sure the discus don't mind the extra space too.

[fishguy456]

looking good!;)

[ericNH]

A change for the better. :) I like the clean look and I'm sure the discus don't mind the extra space too.

Thank you! Its another step in the right direction.


Step1: do 50% wc daily - took me about 2 months to take that one.
Step2: Remove 2" of planted substrate - took me almost 2 years to take that one.
Step3: Daily vacuum - working on it...)


I am slow. But making progress. :)

[ericNH]

looking good!;)

Thanks! Maybe in a few months, mine will start to look as nice as yours are already lol

[Jack L]

maybe you can mentor this user

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?122088-Challenging-start-and-quot-omega-quot-discus-don-t-fare-well

[Jack L]

So I re-did my whole tank yesterday. It was a typical novice disaster involving 2 inches of sand, several large stones, and several random pieces of driftwood. And of course I tried planting it. No special substrate, no root tabs, just bought a bunch of plants and stuffed them into the tank. Here is what it looked like yesterday morning:

92127


Yes, I was lazy. But I kept hoping the plants would overtake the algae, and renovating a 125 gallon tank that was loaded up like mine was is intimidating. Anyway, now it looks like this:

92128


I love the new look. I took out all the stones, driftwood, and plants. I selected the best plants and cleaned them and put them in their own little pots, using fluorite red and a thin layer of sand on top to make them look cleaner. I removed most of the sand, leaving only a 1/8" layer. I scrubbed all the tank walls. And I gotta tell you I nearly gassed myself when I started digging out the old sand - the *stink*! Burned my nostrils! But anyway it's done! And I am happy. And my fish are happy.

most on this board will approve of the change...
and the empty note, they won't have things to bump into and get scratched now... so that is a plus

[jsong]

I like the new look and agree fishes are much happier as a result of less clutter.

I raised 5 medium sized discus in a 36 gallon (Tall Bowed front) AQ for a year and they grew well, and I eventually sold the two pairs of mating pairs as by pure luck would have it they kept spawning new baby's constantly on the filter pipe. when I sold one mating pair then another pair started to mate. Since I wasn't into breeding them, the second pair also got sold to the same buyer. When I look back, the fishes were too big for the tank and they were about 5 1/2 inches and I raised them from 3 inches. I started with a gravel substrate and every week I would use the Siphon vacuum to clean out all the accumulations of junk. Needles to say I eventually did away with the gravel and went to a 1/4 inch bed of smaller/fine gravel. No more accumulations and I also got rid of all decorations except for a few tall plants to allow them to be separated and they loved it. Also I moved away from blood heart to pellets. It took a while, but after 3 months they eventually started to love the pellets and discus flakes. Water was so much cleaner and no more dead carcass in the water rotting away. The Discus never lost color and they were vibrant.

The decision you made on the new set up is a wise one and I would even go as far as to getting rid of those plants. Live plants I find are not all that great for Discus. Paint the bottom of the tank black, and back Blue and it would look stunning. Get a few tall and non-edgy drift wood. Put a few stones on the glass bottom of the tank where you bottom fishes can hide and find sanctuary. Enjoy the fish in a sparkling clean water. LED lighting system brings out an amazing shimmer to the tank.

My next Discus tank will be very different:
I am moving to a new home next year when they finish construction. I have my location picked out with reinforced floors to handle up to 500 gallon AQ. I will probably put a 125 - 150 Gallon (Max) so I should be safe. I also had the builder place a drain and a cold water outlet between the wall where the tank stand will be backed into. I want to be able to do water change without a hose straight from the filter system and I figured this is the best way to do it. I will probably go to either 2 ways for filtration system since it will have no or very little gravel: 2 X FX6 Filter or Dry/Wet Sump system from CustomAquarium.

I plan to make this tank all about the fish and enjoy the fish and not worry so much about tank decorations.

[navarro1950]

WoW that's looks wonderful !!

[ericNH]

most on this board will approve of the change...
and the empty note, they won't have things to bump into and get scratched now... so that is a plus

I'm guessing most will aprove, and also feel that I have a ways to go yet :) Thanks!

[ericNH]

I like the new look and agree fishes are much happier as a result of less clutter.

I raised 5 medium sized discus in a 36 gallon (Tall Bowed front) AQ for a year and they grew well, and I eventually sold the two pairs of mating pairs as by pure luck would have it they kept spawning new baby's constantly on the filter pipe. when I sold one mating pair then another pair started to mate. Since I wasn't into breeding them, the second pair also got sold to the same buyer. When I look back, the fishes were too big for the tank and they were about 5 1/2 inches and I raised them from 3 inches. I started with a gravel substrate and every week I would use the Siphon vacuum to clean out all the accumulations of junk. Needles to say I eventually did away with the gravel and went to a 1/4 inch bed of smaller/fine gravel. No more accumulations and I also got rid of all decorations except for a few tall plants to allow them to be separated and they loved it. Also I moved away from blood heart to pellets. It took a while, but after 3 months they eventually started to love the pellets and discus flakes. Water was so much cleaner and no more dead carcass in the water rotting away. The Discus never lost color and they were vibrant.

The decision you made on the new set up is a wise one and I would even go as far as to getting rid of those plants. Live plants I find are not all that great for Discus. Paint the bottom of the tank black, and back Blue and it would look stunning. Get a few tall and non-edgy drift wood. Put a few stones on the glass bottom of the tank where you bottom fishes can hide and find sanctuary. Enjoy the fish in a sparkling clean water. LED lighting system brings out an amazing shimmer to the tank.

My next Discus tank will be very different:
I am moving to a new home next year when they finish construction. I have my location picked out with reinforced floors to handle up to 500 gallon AQ. I will probably put a 125 - 150 Gallon (Max) so I should be safe. I also had the builder place a drain and a cold water outlet between the wall where the tank stand will be backed into. I want to be able to do water change without a hose straight from the filter system and I figured this is the best way to do it. I will probably go to either 2 ways for filtration system since it will have no or very little gravel: 2 X FX6 Filter or Dry/Wet Sump system from CustomAquarium.

I plan to make this tank all about the fish and enjoy the fish and not worry so much about tank decorations.

You must be so stoked about having the fundamental plumbing done for your new tank in your new home. That's going to take you to whole new level entirely. I appreciate the words of encouragement - thank you for taking the time to check this out :)

[ericNH]

WoW that's looks wonderful !!

navarro! thanks! I definitely did not expect it to look wonderful in anyone else's eyes but mine, especially considering the quality of the average discus tank here on SD! It's very gratifying to hear.

[fishguy456]

Thanks! Maybe in a few months, mine will start to look as nice as yours are already lol

you're kidding me! they look great, love the red melon, and the all look so big!