My soon-to-be discus tank.. opinions please

[Liones5]

Hello,

I am moving in a few months and since I have to tear down my 90 gal tank anyway, I am contemplating setting it up as a 'biotope' style discus tank.

This is my hardware:
quadruple-tube fluorescent light (forget brand)
Eheim Pro 3e 2078 canister filter 400gph
in-line 300 watt heater
CO2 setup with monitor - will keep pH between 6.7-6.9 (or whatever other parameter I set it to)

I intend to plant lightly with swords, etc mostly along the back and sides, and have a few pieces of 'tangled' looking mopani wood (imagine the Amazon is pusing it downstream). Substrate will be laterite or aquasoil with light-colored sand on top.

For supporting cast, I want cardinals and hatchetfish, maybe one other school of small tetras, and cories and otos for the clean-up crew

I intend to let the plants/tetras settle in and grow up for a month or two before adding the discus (I know adult discus will eat baby cardinals, etc.)

Could I successfully grow out 6-8 juvie discus in a set up like this?

What varieties of discus would be good for a 'beginner?' I like red turqs and blue diamonds, and other striated varieties - any suggestions?

Thanks!
-Andrea

[mikel]

If you want to grow out juvies, it is best to use a bare bottom set up so that you can feed intensively, and also siphon effectively to keep the water pristine. Once your discus have grown out, then you can change the setup to a fully planted tank with the smaller fish in tow. mike

[Liones5]

Can't I do just as many feedings/water changes with a planted tank?

[Harriett]

You can...the results all in all are just more challenging to achieve. In terms of discus health, when you have a substrate and you are feeding intensively 5-6 x day to grow out juvies, there is no question that food debris is going to end up in the substrate. Bacterial proliferation results and impacts water quality very quickly--you would need to vacuum the substrate thoroughly daily and chances are it will still not be nearly as clean as a bb tank would be--that is alot of work for you and potential stress for the fish..secondly, if the whole idea is to have a great planted tank, you cannot maintain plant health by changing the water every day--your project sounds like a wonderful tank long term, butI really encourage you to have patience. Start the 90 as a great planted tank and let it mature WHILE you grow out juvies in a bb tank where you can feed aggressively, do your water changes, andgrow them out big and strong. In a year you can have the show tank you are dreaming of with great discus and wonderful aquascaping. THe strains you are thinking of are very hearty: turks in their many variations and pigeonbloods are genetically real strong and solid and grow to good size. I think that learning how to do a good planted tank is a separate activity from learning to raise and maintain healthy discus...both take some experience. Combining them is realistically decreasing odds of success for one or the other.
Does this make sense to you? I know how exciting the concept of the big planted discus show tank can be---but it pays to really slow down until you master the basics of each. Been there, done that when I first started, too.
Respectfully,
Harriett

[Ed13]

Harriet gave you some great advice. If you can't spare the time, space, or money to grow them in a barebottom tank you can always get discus bigger than 3"-4", increase the number of plants, but you still won't have 100% succes but it'll probably good enough but not the best way. Wait much longer than 1 month to add the discus if you go this route. I would still have to say that Harriet's advise is the best possible method for you the tank and the fish.... or get adults.
Good luck

[Liones5]

Thanks for the input... Do you think I could grow out 6-8 juvies in a 55 gal bare bottom?

-Andrea

[ShinShin]

Yes with large daily water changes. As the discus mature, 8 will require still large daily water changes.

Mat

[Autumn Wind]

Listen to Harriet, very sound advise and it happens to be exactaly what I am doing now. I've had my planted tank set up since January and bought juvies that I am growing out in a seperate bare bottom in May.
During this time my planted tank has had time to mature and I've done most of the re-arranging and have it just the way I want it. I've already added the other tank mates and by the time my discus are ready they will have a nice established enviroment to enter and I belive it will be much less stress on the discus.
I look at my planted tank now and I can't imagine even trying to maintain it while feeding 7 discus 5 times a day! This has given me a great chance to learn (as Harriet said) to raise my discus and about the planted community which are very different in care demands and when I am ready to combine the two hopefully I have increased my chances of sucess.
vanessa

[dpt8]

You could grow out the discus you want in a 90 gl. with a little gravel or tiny sized gravel, or sand. Then, you could add driftwood and change over to planted once discus reached adult size.. I've had good experiences doing just that but didn't add the plants.. 15 or so 3" in a 90 gl. would go very well. Then cull a couple you don't like as they grow out..