Redoing my tank

[Lewjo11]

Okay I think I want to redo my tank. I currently have gravel in my tank. What is the best way to do this.. put the discus in a bucket while I completely empty the tank and spray paint the bottom then add fresh water? Don't see this as being a quick think will the fish be okay in the bucket for the day. The new tank set up will end up being an unexpected cycled tank? What's the best advice I just bought a 55 gallon tank I will fill and use for my water changes with a pump.

[Ryan925]

Okay I think I want to redo my tank. I currently have gravel in my tank. What is the best way to do this.. put the discus in a bucket while I completely empty the tank and spray paint the bottom then add fresh water? Don't see this as being a quick think will the fish be okay in the bucket for the day. The new tank set up will end up being an unexpected cycled tank? What's the best advice I just bought a 55 gallon tank I will fill and use for my water changes with a pump.

I removed all of my gravel last year. I lowered the water level. I pumped some of the water into a 30 gallon Rubbermaid tote with a heater and airstone. Then I removed all the gravel and cleaned the tank. I replaced gravel with sand. I filled tank and let run for several hours before adding fish back.

You will want to monitor levels daily to be sure you don't have a mini cycle and change water accordingly. I dosed stability just in case.

[Filip]

If you just bought 55 G tank, why don't you just transfer them there along with your filters and heaters from this tank .
That way you can take all the time you need for job to be done .
Many discus in a small bucket for more than a day sounds risky to me , and your filter needs to be bypassed and running throughout the whole proces to preserve the nitrification bacteria .

[Ryan925]

If you just bought 55 G tank, why don't you just transfer them there along with your filters and heaters from this tank .
That way you can take all the time you need for job to be done .
Many discus in a small bucket for more than a day sounds risky to me , and your filter needs to be bypassed and running throughout the whole proces to preserve the nitrification bacteria .

Great idea

[Lewjo11]

Sorry wasn't clear. The 55gal is a storage bin. A big plastic barrel. I plan to fill this with water and throw a heater in it. Will so 50 gallon water changes with it on my 90 gallon tank. I don't own an extra tank to put my fish in. I was thinking sand but isn't plain bottom better.

[Ryan925]

Sorry wasn't clear. The 55gal is a storage bin. A big plastic barrel. I plan to fill this with water and throw a heater in it. Will so 50 gallon water changes with it on my 90 gallon tank. I don't own an extra tank to put my fish in. I was thinking sand but isn't plain bottom better.

You could use that storage bin to house your fish temporarily. Obviously the more volume of water in the better.

BB ie best for ease of maintenance but a thin layer of sabs is perfectly acceptable

[Lewjo11]

You could use that storage bin to house your fish temporarily. Obviously the more volume of water in the better.

BB ie best for ease of maintenance but a thin layer of sabs is perfectly acceptable

Can't it's sealed.

[Ryan925]

Can't it's sealed.

Then I would do a large Rubbermaid tote. Worked for me

[Lewjo11]

So it's not a good idea to try and do this in one day?

[Lewjo11]

I have 4 discus 4 inch 3.5 inch 2.5 and a 2 inch. I can buy a 10 gallons tank for 30$. Does this sound like a good idea

[Ryan925]

I don't see any problem doing it in one day. I did it in a few hours

[Lewjo11]

Cool I'll just put them in the bucket till the tanks I get all the gravel out

[Ryan925]

Cool I'll just put them in the bucket till the tanks I get all the gravel out

Ya if you are going bb should be quick process. Shouldn't tank more than an hour to remove gravel and clean tank and fill

[Lewjo11]

Was planning to paint the bottom sand texture.. question if I decide to add sand later is is purchase pre cleaned so I can pour it in later.

[Ryan925]

Was planning to paint the bottom sand texture.. question if I decide to add sand later is is purchase pre cleaned so I can pour it in later.

Always rinse it really well

[fishbubbles]

Was planning to paint the bottom sand texture.. question if I decide to add sand later is is purchase pre cleaned so I can pour it in later.

Just to be clear, you're going to paint the bottom of the glass not the top portion?

[Lewjo11]

Always rinse it really well thanks for all your replys. One question. I always thought gravel was important for the helpful bacteria and overall cycle of the tank? Bare bottom won't everything just look dirty .

[Ryan925]

thanks for all your replys. One question. I always thought gravel was important for the helpful bacteria and overall cycle of the tank? Bare bottom won't everything just look dirty .

Gravel does contain some BB but the bulk is in your bio media. You can have a mini cycle after removing the gravel so levels should be monitored

BB may look dirty between wcs but the point is you can see and remove every bit of debris in the tank

[Filip]

BB is not an aesthetically pleasing like sand or gravel bottom , but it is much cleaner and friendlier environment for discus , have no doubt about that Lewjo.
No professional discus breeder /seller ever uses any sand or gravel in any of his breeding , growing or keeping discus tanks .
Commercial display tanks and wildcaught discus tanks are exception.

[Kyla]

U can see all the droppings on the bottom of the tank between water changes. At first I felt this looked "dirty." After a while I realized just how much filth accumulated on a daily basis in the substrate because now I could easily SEE it sitting there, instead of hidden in the gravel. This made the bb tank look cleaner to my eye even between wc simply because I KNEW it was cleaner and I knew how much cleaner the whole tank was after I siphoned off the droppings etc

[Onewolf]

Discus Noob here.... I'm starting to put together a 40 gal breeder tank as a Discus grow tank. It will be BB but I didn't want a totally clear bottom so I spray painted the (outside) bottom with textured 'stone' paint. I think it will look pretty good.

111995

111996