Newbie

[Scotti]

Hello everyone. New to the Discus world. Got my tank set up wrong so I'll be removing a lot of the decor and substrate, but I've been a fan of discus for quite a long time and finally decided to try and join the family.
Thanks and look forward to years of fun, excitement and learning curves..
Scotti

[two utes]

Welcome to the hobby and Simply Discus. Lots of great information on here to help make your journey pleasant.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Scotti and welcome to Simply. Be sure to check out the stickies in the beginner section. Nice to see you are catching mistakes early in the process. :)
Pat

[Akili]

Hi Scotti and welcome to SimplyDiscus!!

[Scotti]

One or more questions for now if you'all would help me out? I've got a 75g with an API XP Large canister for filtration. Is that going to be adequate or too much? I've also got too much driftwood and several plants. Plus my sand rock mix is too deep. A lot of my mistakes I've recently identified were realized after watching a talk by Al (owner of Simplydiscus.com)yesterday that was my first eye opener I've done the tank all wrong. I've also got a 40 breeder I'd like to set up in case down the line my discus spawn or I need a hospital tank.
I just realized after rambling here for a few minutes I should be posting these questions in different areas and please excuse me and I will from now on, but if anyone can clarify the filter issue for me, and a good fry or hospital tank setup, I'll do it right from now on. My apologies... My first two discus look stressed so I'm tresses about them. Thank you all!
One last and so important Q: what's the best method for heating my 75g?

[Kyla]

i had 2 api xp canisters running on my 80g and the discus didnt seem to mind the flow. one had a single output nozzle and the other was a spray bar output. the thing to be careful about with canisters is that they collect debris and when it is out of sight it is out of mind too and ppl tend to neglect the maintenance of the canisters. all that decomposing material in the filter is sill in the water column and is negatively affecting the water quality. so just make sure u open that canister and clean it out well as often as possible.

it would be a good idea to put a "pre-filter" sponger over the intake tube to collect the debris before it is drawn into the canister. u can take the sponge off and give it a quick rinse under the tap and replace it regularly and that will cut down on the debris that gets into the canister.

its great u found this forum, the hobbyists here are a great resource! i loved that video too, and i still watch it occasionally while i do tank maintenance.

cant wait to hear how ur tank progresses, def keep us updated (with pics too if possible!)

[Scotti]

Thank you Kyla. I also forgot to mention my air pump. It's a beast and at the moment I have a very large air stone in the tank which in itself creates quite a bit of current

[Ryan925]

Thank you Kyla. I also forgot to mention my air pump. It's a beast and at the moment I have a very large air stone in the tank which in itself creates quite a bit of current

Welcome Scotti nice to see you caught your issues early. I just did a big overhaul on my 75 after lots of good info from the experiences members here. My tank was moderately planted. I started off by reducing my plant load to a minimum. Today I just did a substrate change and swapped my gravel for sand. I am so happy I went for it. Was a lot of work but definitely will be worth it.

I am using an eheim pro 4+ 650 canister. At first I thought the flow was too much for my discus. I had it throttled back but now run it at 100%. They get used to the flow quickly and now don't mind it. There are also plenty of areas to get out of the flow of they choose

[Akili]

One last and so important Q: what's the best method for heating my 75g? Two 200W heaters will work out fine with a 75 gallon tank.

[Scotti]

Once I figure out how to, I'll post a pic of my current ( wrong) 75g set up. I hate to but I'm probably not the only one here doing this. I know moving the to another tank for an overhaul will be stressful so I best do it while there's two and not 8. Another Q: should I remove the power head and I'll call it a wave maker but it is a smaller unit for additional current? If I add a second canister filter will that be too much current or just add a HOB?

[Ryan925]

Once I figure out how to, I'll post a pic of my current ( wrong) 75g set up. I hate to but I'm probably not the only one here doing this. I know moving the to another tank for an overhaul will be stressful so I best do it while there's two and not 8. Another Q: should I remove the power head and I'll call it a wave maker but it is a smaller unit for additional current? If I add a second canister filter will that be too much current or just add a HOB?

1 single canister on my 75G is plenty. I do have a nano pump in the tank but so was only running that during the hours my co2 was on. I no longer run the nano pump. My canister is plenty on its own

[Akili]

Once I figure out how to, I'll post a pic of my current ( wrong) 75g set up. On the posting page click on the image button ( a square box looks like tree in it ) found in the toolbar directly above the message area in the reply box. Once clicked a pop-up window will display asking you for the Image From computer and URL and make your choice. Load from your computer or URL services like Photobucket, imgur, ImageShack Hope this helps

[Scotti]

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[Scotti]

Sorry for the duplicate pics. No patience.. Anyways, I wanted to show where I'm at and correct ALL I've done wrong which is just about everything. Too much wood. Too much sand n rock. Too much everything. Input is welcomed. I'll be changing or minimizing the substrate, removing most or all the driftwood, changing to mostly low lying plants with a few taller leggy ones in the back that are easy to clean in and around. Anything else... Let me know...

[Ryan925]

All your ideas are great. I was in the same boat. Too much wood plants and gravel. I started by removing most plants and wood. I just this passed weekend swapped gravel for sand. So happy I went for it.

Heres mine. Also 75100368100369100370

[Scotti]

That's so nice and bright

[Scotti]

I had black Caribsea sand in my last cichlids tank and it looked great, but different animal now..

[Ryan925]

That's so nice and bright

It's amazing how much difference removing the dark substrate makes. Tank instantly brighter and fish already look much different. Almost night and day with some of them. My blues are much much brighter and my eruption looks entirely different.

[Filip]

Discus do tend to get brighter and display better colours with a light sand bottom. Other fish from my experience , tend to get washed out colours with bright bottom and unlike discus they display brighter colouration with darker substrate types.

[Ryan925]

Discus do tend to get brighter and display better colours with a light sand bottom. Other fish from my experience , tend to get washed out colours with bright bottom and unlike discus they display brighter colouration with darker substrate types.

100381

The change is astonishing 100382

[Filip]

Great change Ryan .
I have also noticed a great change in colouration and brightness of my Red turks right after the switch .
But unlike many of us ,you have done a great job documenting it right on the spot .This comparison pics or the whole thread should be used by the forum for their begginer Stickies section . A great way to persuade a newbie to switch from gravel to sand bottom.

[cedar]

i just added sand to my 125 that was bb and I can't believe the difference in color. the tank was dark bottom and they are have a lot less peppering. I'm happy I did it even with the extra work.