Hello....Starting a 55

[metfan581]

Hello,
I am going to be making a discus tank.
I have bought a 55 gallon, a penguin 330, and 2x 100wt Rena-Cal heaters.
I was planing on making on a planted discus tank.
I would like your opinions/suggestions....
What do you suggest cycling the tank with? tetras?
What do you suggest the water be like? temp=84 ph=6.4 ??? my tapwater=7
All help is appericated.
thanks,
metfan581

[Ardan]

Hi, Welcome:)
temp 84 to 86F is good, your ph 7 is good (if it stays ph 7 after 24 hours in a bucket, i.e. ph 7 at tap, then 24 hours later in a bucket = ph 7)
tank filter and heaters look good
I would cycle the tank by adding pure ammonia (so test reads 5 ppm) and run filter, keep ammonia level up , after about 2 wks it will start to drop and nitrite will start to go up, keep adding ammonia to bring to 5 ppm daily. once the nitrites get to 0 (after 4 to 6 wks) the tank is cycled. then do a 90 % wc to drop nitrates. ready for fish

if you use tetras, they may add disease to the tank.

I would put 4 to 6 discus in this tank, "from a reputable breeder who has good healthy stock" (look in the sponsor section)

hth
Ardan

[metfan581]

thanks

i have been reading many articles such as;
http://aquaticconcepts.thekrib.com/Articles/PAM_Discus.htm
which is very helpful

except im still confused on which light i should get for this tank
right now i have 2 eclips natrual daylight 15 wt bulbs what do you suggest?


thanks,
metfan581

[Ardan]

I like bare bottom tanks for discus especially if you are just starting. Easier to clean , which is good for the discus. (clean, low nitrates, I do 50% water changes each day with my discus, some do more, some less, depending on bioload, food, your water etc)
But if you want plants I would ask about lights in the plant section here. :)

hth
Ardan

[architect1]

I can give you young opion. leave the tank as it is don't mess with the water or add any cemicals. Its just a no fly zone. My 55 and 120 gallons are ph of 7.2 to 7.8 roughly. Temp 86F

fist fish i put in where a week after I set it up they where blue dwarf grammies.
Then the plants the same day. I weighted a week to put in my discus. 6 is what i would recomend.

The sea and the pleco went in as soon as the plants did. my plants and take are clean. The plants swords, valls, anubis and some others there are a few but its the tempature is the main killer of most plants. The only thing I have to do is do 30% water change 2 times a week. 1 a week is minimum but I do as many as i can cause well the python makes it so much easire.

The one thing I can say is what i do and everyone else is vary different. some have had bad luck and good luck. your ither vary good with discus or your not. Its a hobby have fun live and learn from what you do. the main goal is to have fun at what your doing.

I'm 20 in college and I spend my money on discus/ and i have been doing this for 2 years with discus and I find there worth every peny. So from me to you good luck and have fun.

[Dissident]

If you are new to Discus and new to plants I would chose to start with one or the other.

Determine what you want:
Low-Tech Planted
High-Tech Planted

What is more important? Plants/Discus?
If you don't have a solid grasp on one or the other you will run into alot of issues right from the start.

If you have a final 'goal' in mind there are a lot of us here that would enjoy helping you get set up.

You don't mention what kind of lighting you have, that is the most important aspect of a planted tank.

The filter you got is not very good for planted tanks. Canister filters are the best way to go. You can get a RenaXP3($100ebay) or a Jebo828($50ebay) and be much better off for the plants.

What type of plants do you want to keep?
Will you be growing out discus in this tank or buying them as adults?

[alpine]

MetFan, Very Important to make sure you have a strong biological filtration to start with before adding five discus.By fishless cycling, introducing a trusted sponge source from someone you know or last(I do not believe on this one) by buying some lesser fish and putting them through hell as the cycle takes its course and run the posibilty of introducing all kind of diseases to your dream future discus tank.

roberto.

[architect1]

Also when your buying anything from the fish stores i like to see whats the water peramiters tempeature. what fish have been with the plants.

I bought some rams and they where with some kind agressive and fast fish. I soon find 3 died day after anotherone. I knew that there was some agression but I didn't think I just wanted the rams. so when buying watch for whats in and around the tank.

Id also buy discus from a local breader the stores charge you an arm and a leg.

[Dood Lee]

If you are new to Discus and new to plants I would chose to start with one or the other.

Determine what you want:
Low-Tech Planted
High-Tech Planted

What is more important? Plants/Discus?
If you don't have a solid grasp on one or the other you will run into alot of issues right from the start.

If you have a final 'goal' in mind there are a lot of us here that would enjoy helping you get set up.

You don't mention what kind of lighting you have, that is the most important aspect of a planted tank.

The filter you got is not very good for planted tanks. Canister filters are the best way to go. You can get a RenaXP3($100ebay) or a Jebo828($50ebay) and be much better off for the plants.

What type of plants do you want to keep?
Will you be growing out discus in this tank or buying them as adults?

I have to echo Dissident's statement. If this is indeed your first foray into discus, I highly suggest you either learn to keep a planted tank first, or go BB and learn to keep discus. Trying to do both at the same time is difficult.

[architect1]

I found it was fun doing both. i really never had to much truble with grown plants though then when i got the discus. I just droped the plants in give them some excel and root tabs for the valls. the lights I reserched the co2 I'm still in the process But I find it fun.

[metfan581]

I have to echo Dissident's statement. If this is indeed your first foray into discus, I highly suggest you either learn to keep a planted tank first, or go BB and learn to keep discus. Trying to do both at the same time is difficult.

well my 10 gallon was planted
my 20 was angles and
i have been helping my neighbor for about 2 years whith his planted 29

i'm thinking of the lowlight

[Dood Lee]

I found it was fun doing both. i really never had to much truble with grown plants though then when i got the discus. I just droped the plants in give them some excel and root tabs for the valls. the lights I reserched the co2 I'm still in the process But I find it fun.

Well, for some it is easier than others. And it also depends on experience and knowledge. There are some people (on this board and others) who seem to absolutely have no concept of keeping fish in general. It surprises me that they feel they can keep discus just by following what other people have done. When people ask for advice on planted tanks here, I always give the same response - go and research. This board has many knowledgeable people, I'm sure, but it really isn't the place to learn about planted tanks. Other boards, like the www.plantedtank.net forums, can offer much more in terms of information.

[architect1]

Oh i totally hear you on that. some people thing because there so big and beautiful that there easy. i have had the cheepes to now the exspencive. i find the more expencive fish are easy to keep for me.

The plants i just put them in and feed them exel and root tabs. But at the end of the day I can't get the swords to grow the full hight of the tank. I can get them to grow alot of leaves but not tall. I'm no pro in anyof this but I do it because its fun and I love to learn and try and profect what I'm doing.

thats whats good about this hobby. if the first way didn't work try something different till you get it right.

[metfan581]

ummm
I don't know....
I am probably going to add fake plants then mabey later one amazon sword then in the long run start adding more plants