Makko's first Discus tank

[Makko]

I have had a reef tank for years. I have decided to ditch saltwater and try my hand at freshwater discus.
I was actually going give up my tank, but my wife really likes it and agreed to help with water changes if I keep it.
I plan to make water changes as easy as possible as that seems to be a main issue with discus.

Here is my tank I just added driftwood. Had to use rocks to hold it down. I soaked it for 2 weeks already, it still floats a little
I put white abs on the bottom. I don't like bare bottom look, so I'm hoping this works. If it gets ugly I may put a thin layer of white sand.
I spent a couple weeks taking everything apart, cleaning, and redoing for freshwater ( mostly ditching stuff )
The glass has more scratches that I thought and a lot of etching from saltwater. I tried to polished it out but failed. :-(

http://i.imgur.com/UbT8hqw.jpg?1 (https://imgur.com/UbT8hqw)

Here is my sump. Pretty empty so far compared to when I had a reef tank. less stuff to mess with is nice.
I left hookups for an Algea Turf Scrubber and UV filter. I don't have them in yet / if ever.

http://i.imgur.com/i15MiPY.jpg?1 (https://imgur.com/i15MiPY)

I also added a 55 gallon aging barrel to my fish junk closet. I have a heater ( laying flat thanks willie ), air pump, and water pump for tank.
I have a cheesy little WiFi power strip to run from my phone. I hooked the tank line back to drum in case it decides to pump by accident.
I have a line I run to a nearby sink for refills. Wish I could get a real water line to the closet.
The first time the float valve closed my sink line poped off lol. Tie Wraps didn't cut it for hose clamps under pressure.
I used 3/4 inch line for take refill. I may change to 1/2. 3/4 is a pain to move around, I think a few mins more pump time may be better.

http://i.imgur.com/WlS3I6v.jpg?1 (https://imgur.com/WlS3I6v)

Apparently the blue on my lights needs to turned down a bit ... it doesn't look that way in person.

[coralbandit]

Nice ! I like it ..
Can't wait to see how you do .

[danotaylor]

Looking good mate :thumbsup:
Make sure you get covers though as discus will jump for freedom without them...many a beautiful discus has been air dried on the floor around these parts :eek:

[peewee1]

Looking good mate :thumbsup:
Make sure you get covers though as discus will jump for freedom without them...many a beautiful discus has been air dried on the floor around these parts :eek:

I had that happen. I was watching, however. I was fast enough to beat both the dog and the cat to the scene of the slime. I got the fish back into the tank but his slime coat was shot but a dose of Prime and salt get it back after a few days. As I write this I am watching that same cleaning and making egg laying passes on a cone. Little does he know that he has paired with another male. Both fish are the gay I suspect.

[Makko]

I am looking at getting a cover. My wife likes the look of the open-top, so there's is a bit of contention and she usually/always wins those.

[danotaylor]

That could end up being a very costly point to be unyielding on...

[Leigh Ann]

Do floating plants curb that jumping instinct? I am starting a new tank as well and it's an open top.

[coralbandit]

I think floating plants help .
All my tanks are topless but I also lost 3 discus last year from my first group of 10.
I suspect the jumpers were chased out by breeding pairs as it happened after months of being in the tank and while a pair was forming .
Just me though ...

[Makko]

I think floating plants help .
All my tanks are topless but I also lost 3 discus last year from my first group of 10.
I suspect the jumpers were chased out by breeding pairs as it happened after months of being in the tank and while a pair was forming .
Just me though ...

I love your setup I watched your youtube video. Some very nice fish.
Having an open top is a big concern. When I torn down my reef tank I found a missing fish behind the tank. So I lost 1 fish to jumping in 4 years of a reef tank with around 13 fish.
Losing a Discus to a jump would really really be disheartening.

[rickztahone]

Definitely use a tank top. I had some clear brackets that are commonly used with topless tanks and add an acrylic top or fine mesh. It isnt a question of IF a discus will jump out, but WHEN. and it always tends to be your favorite. I lost my favorite 7.5" turk in this way. I know because I measured him after he jumped and died :(

[Makko]

My tank is a redsea 525.
These guy make a top I like. https://www.clearviewlids.com

Its about the cost of a nice discus. I'm working on getting permission.

[coralbandit]

Nice ! BRS has do it yourself screen tops ..
Not sure if hey are cheaper or better ..

[Makko]

https://i.imgur.com/S4wsAt2.jpg?1

I got 9 discus from Hans. They seem to be doing fine. They do hide a lot under my driftwood, but eat.
I have dialed back my lights a lot and mostly turned off my wave pumps. They seem to like it dark and little water movement.
I only run the wave pumps a few times during the day at 10% lowest setting, just to stir up the poop.

They like FD blackworms a lot. I cant get the FDBW to sink and they wont eat off the surface. Currently I use a clip and they eat off that.
It still wastes some but most of it is eaten.

Also I have 15 flameback tetras. I not sure I like them with the discus. They dart around a lot , so I'm not sure that make the discus more calm.
They also grab and are more aggressive feeding than the discus. I may remove them.

[danotaylor]

If your FDBW's are cubes press against the glass about halfway down the water column, they will stick to the glass

[rickztahone]

If your FDBW's are cubes press against the glass about halfway down the water column, they will stick to the glass


Yup, press them against the glass and you are all good. I used to use an inverted worm cone to feed my discus when they were babies but eventually just kept them on the cone since they were so used to it. I'm sure I have a video in my signature if you want to check it out :).

Beautiful group btw.

[Iminit]

Nice look tank and discus. Enjoy!! Yes stick the fdbw cubes to the glass. If loose add them and water to a cup for a min than spill in.

[Shan_Evolved]

Very cool. How old/big are your guys? They look great in color compared to my little ones

[Makko]

I go 4 inch ones from Hans. They are very nice I am super happy. I just hope I can keep them healthy.
I went with a little bit bigger as I had the budget. That does increase the stress a bit to keep them happy.

The checker board ones are more white than I thought, I am hoping they get more red as they grow.
That is just being picky as they are still beautiful.

I plan to do weekly videos, that is a great idea. Thanks Stan

[Makko]

My week 1 video. I noticed the fish seem to be breathing fairly fast. Do they look normal ?
I run a sump with good flow but no airstone. My water is at 84 so im concerned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvnJnJrnr3E

[two utes]

Nice looking group and set up you have there Mark. It looks like there's a fast flow of water in your discus tank, and if you direct it towards the surface of the tank and agitate the surface it may solve your problem

[Makko]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUGc24f3kms

Its been a while since I posted here. Here is a very very late update.

I had this tank with discus a little over a year and a half. I took it down 2 summers ago when my wife and I went on a 4 month road trip across the US. ( my job went full remote ) The video is a little before we left. I sold them in about 30 mins lol. I used that video on Craigs List and set the price what I paid so a little low. I still had 8 of the 9 I got originally. The guy that got them seemed into Discus, that was my main concern. I quizzed him down about his setup.

The one fish I lost was a water change that I got distracted by a work call and didn't recheck the water temp in my barrel. I swung the temp about 10-15 degrees. Total bonehead move. Four fish got sick 2 came back fine one died and one almost died / got stunted a little.

An interesting story was the big freeze in Texas in February of that year. We lost power several days the first 2 being really bad. I didnt have a backup generator ( another bad move). I did have a good battery air pump and plenty of batteries. When it started I didn't realize how bad it was going to get. Luckily when our water heater died a few years back I did not get a tankless water heater like most my neighbors. So we had hot water. I started by doing small water changes to keep the temp up and get the tank super clean. After a few hours we learned this was going to be a long ordeal. Inside my house was about 40 by that time. Again by luck I had 3 one gallon jugs in the trash. I wrapped by tank in many blankets ( not popular in a 40 degrees house ) I found that using the 3 one gallon jugs with straight hot water I could hold the temp in low 80s if I changed them every 40 mins.

I used my phone for a timer and every 40 I would change the jugs. It was hard. I got lucky again that night ( 20 hours in) as the power kicked on. The sump was super cold 40ish by then and the return pump started spinning up. I happen to be right there heard it and dove for the plug. bullet dodged ... We got 1 hour of power which was huge. Heated the house up into the 60s. Charged everything and got some news. After that we had 8ish hours of power off and about an hour on for the next couple days. By the second night I was wiped out. Luckily my son and wife took the early evening and I got some sleep. By day three power cycled on more and more and I could heat/kick on the sump some and feed a little. So all in all those are some lucky Discus.

After the summer road trip on the return leg we found a house in Colorado we really liked. Im there now and setting up a new tank in the basement. I plan to start a new thread as I get it done.