New here

[whitedevil]

Hello

I am new here and new to discus, Ive touched on the project a bit but finally got it up and fully running tonight

45g tall
10g sump w/ cpr overflow box

100# of eco complete black
coralife t-5 HO 39wx2 6700K
via rio titanium heater
1 big chunk of mopani

Ph is the issue, tap is 8.7 got a tap water filter just a DI unit for the pwc before the livestock goes in.

I also keep others and breed other fish
I currently have established two 10g's one qt one egg/fry tank
a 52g FBH planted semi aggressive community river tank, planted with only natural decor ie DW and a half a rack off a 8pt buck that was found last year during shed hunting. I also have a 40g tall guppy love nest, natural selection breeding, havnt had a defective fry in over a year with this method and makes great food

40g tall
3 pygmy corydoras
a ton of guppies

52g FBH
5 angels, two adult breeders 3 adopted blue juves mutts
12 zebra danios long and short fin
7 tiger barbs
6 black "kuhli" loaches
18 mixed corydoras(they do breed outside of their sub specie)
1 RNP
6 assassin snails
1000 ish MTS

I was refered here from another discus forum, I am in the far nw burbs of chicago, attend GCCA swaps(no meetings as 1 car and times it falls). I have done alot of reading on tihs site so far and might have made an intro but forgot if I did. I will make a picture post when I get back home tomorrow evening. This has to be the best site Ive had the fortune to come across on this species.

You folks know your stuff and are teaching a father and son(me but 29) with over 45 years of combined experience a thing or two. This build doesnt seem to have a budget and well everything is excellent quality stuff and he wont settle for anything less with the livestock either.

Any more info is appreciated, We have everything else down for the most part but the Ph is bothering us a bit, Ph from tap is 8.7 on a good day, over 9.0 after a storm, we got the API tap water filter (DI unit) and a good 10# chunk of mopani to tie the anubia and ferns off to and to bring the Ph down a little bit. I am thinking Co2 is almost a must to help bring the Ph down.

He isnt a fan of stained water tanks, I tried( I love em!) so using peat and stuff isnt going to work. I really dont use chemicals besides water conditioners and ferts and dont really want to if I can avoid it.

Well done rambling, Thanks for the welcomes in advance and keep up the great info!

[1Chuck9669]

Welcome to Simply Discus!!!

While your pH level is high you might be able to acclimate you Discus to tolerate you pH. I keep mine in a pH of 7.4. A high pH like you have indicated will be a problem if you intend to breed. The eggs will be too hard to fertilize in a pH above 5.5 or so. Are you going to use an aging barrel for water changes? You might try aging your water a few days and try testing your pH level from the aged water. Use a heater and an airstone in your aging barrel. This is also a good way to add a water conditioner before you add the water directly to the tank. I suggest Seachem's Prime. Prime will skew your ammonia levels when using a water test kit such as an API test kit. Anyhow, I suggest surfing the Simply site quite extensively before you add any Discus to your set-up. There are many informative posts here! Best of luck!!! I was wondering how your Angels are doing with the tiger barbs? I have heard that barbs are fin nippers.

Best Regards,

[kaceyo]

Welcome to Simply. I'd suggest that you establish your plants and get the water in balance before adding any discus. With the pH that high you'll need to fine tune it and you don't want to have pH fluctuations with discus in the tank.Are you planning on having other types of fish in the tank also? Your other tank seems pretty crowded and you won't be able to do that with discus.
Good luck and post some pics when you can.

Kacey

[whitedevil]

yeah its crowded and I am working on the thinning, I had to tear down my 40g Tall rio negro angel only tank(had corydoras too) for the hundreds of guppies I ended up with in the big tank with inadequete filtration, I am running bigger now and multipes.

I do not plan to add discus for atleast 8-12 weeks possibly up to 15 weeks from now. I am going to use a handful of my tetras to bio cycle the tank and am taking delivery of a huge plant package at the end of this week.

here is the tank as it sits right now
http://i47.tinypic.com/wbvy1e.jpg

I do want the PH down and I am hoping the DI filter will help that, and I also have 50# of organic peat waiting to be bagged and used to lower the PH but have heard peat can cause a crash so I am doing alot more research on that. I have a dummy tank I can use to test to get the amount correct or can follow a recipe, either way works for me, recently laid off and now tending to duties that got passed for the past 5 years around the house.

I do have neutral regulator here that I have not used yet, it was on sale and figured why not. like I said before I prefer not to use chemicals and do it naturally.

That leads to another question. I have had two Rio negros set up before and had the Ph at a 5.2 constant. Is there a way to replicate a BW environment but without the stained water?

[Jason K.]

you can run an r/o unit and mix with aged tap water to reach your desired ph levels. i'm not far from you and have well water my ph comes out of the tap at 7.4 but stablizes at 8.0+ so i mix r/o and tap to keep the ph 7.4-

[whitedevil]

I made another thread titled weird water issues about the Ph issue I found today , I ditched most of this stuff in school so now I regret it but still young enough to learn.


ALso here is my build so far

here is my build so far

I might have posted before but here we go again maybe

the build is not but half way done so far

Start of build to last nights accomplishments

seal testing
http://i49.tinypic.com/2uidlpg.jpg

sump
http://i48.tinypic.com/2rma146.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/1zwvw2.jpg

pile o goodies
http://i48.tinypic.com/ojnllt.jpg


installing clearview background with seaview
http://i50.tinypic.com/e66q9z.jpg

installed
http://i46.tinypic.com/2gvjuo2.jpg

patience is not a virtue, I got excited and wanted to see a close to end result
http://i49.tinypic.com/2ly4kch.jpg

back of tank from top
http://i50.tinypic.com/207qhyd.jpg


way it sits till plants arrive at the end of the week
http://i46.tinypic.com/1zzm2hh.jpg

39wx2 t-5 HO's
100# of eco complete and then the sump.

[Jason K.]

nice looking set up, can't wait to see it planted and stocked. any idea's what you after as far as strain's?

[whitedevil]

He wants solid reds and solid blues.

No peppering and no none red or blue colors on the respective fish itself. I am trying to get a snow white discus out of him as "payment" for building the tank for him and doing all the research that he had questions about, then all the manual labor into it.

either way I also cant wait to see it at the end of the week when the plants get here. this is my first organized aquascaped build so we are gonna see what Ive learned from keeping planted tanks for a couple years now and taking care of them.

[Tropical Haven]

Whitedevil welcome to Simply and it looks like you are well on your way, can't wait to see your tank with discus in it.

[whitedevil]

wait a minute, where in gilberts are you, I am behind the dundee post office and lovers lane.(sad but thats the brightest landmark in dundee LOL)

I tend to find myself at that pond/park on tyrell rd alot.

[Jason K.]

seems that their are quite a few fish people in that area, i buy my fish not far from their. also got my 75 gallon off craig's list right in that area...:)

[whitedevil]

I thought this area was bad for a hobbyist, its hard to find a decent LFS and any real selection of livestock. its the same species in different morphs.

[Jason K.]

I thought this area was bad for a hobbyist, its hard to find a decent LFS and any real selection of livestock. its the same species in different morphs.

there's chris at windy city, you got william palumbo, tropical haven, absolutly discus. all these guy's are near. not to include all the other sponsor's you can order from this forum.:)

[whitedevil]

I follow the GCCA guys around, hit their swaps and such but what I mean was for fish in general the selection is blah. I am half tempted to put my car up to get a small loan to start a LFS in my area. all we have is chains and LFS's that seem to be money oriented not customer service oriented(which this hobby lacks alot of unless you deal with people online then the possibilities are endless)

Ive never shipped in fish or shipped em out, a virgin so to speak and am a little nervous doing it especially with discus.

I know Chris and another guy ED from naperville and now Scott but other then that around me I supply alot of the private trade fish.

I cant keep guppies or MTS for the life of me, I sell them before they are born. they are quality fish with very distinct colorations. I am giving almost all my tropicals away to two close friends that run the petsmart by me. I just think in general we are at their mercy not them at ours.

[whitedevil]

here is an update

7 glolights and two SAE's occupy the tank now
http://i45.tinypic.com/104ktgp.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/wj8f3m.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2008js0.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/jpyiiu.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/23vhox2.jpg

[underwaterforest]

What's with the two co2 tanks? Got a beer faucet hiding somewhere in that thing?:D

[whitedevil]

one is empty, bought 2 so I dont have to wait the 3 days to get it filled by the local guy.

[underwaterforest]

It's too bad I was just thinking that having a nice draft beer while watching the fish swim in the aquarium is a perfect combo.