jdzzl03
02-17-2011, 06:32 PM
First and foremost I would like to say hello and thank you.
I am a long time reader and first time poster here at Simply Discus. I have been wanting to have a discus tank for years and am finally in a place to make that become a reality or so I thought until I came back to this site to do more research:). I have kept aquariums for over 20 years with success in breeding angels, african cichlids and just about everything else at one time or another. I recently moved and decided to try my hand at the King of the Aquarium.
My Background:
I have a 75g with a 350 magnum canister filter, two biowheels and a large sponge filter. My vision was to create a true community tank. I wanted cardinals and rummys with my Discus. My goal here is not to upset the traditional guard, I have done my homework. I know the benefits of the bb tanks, but I really prefer the sand and plants ect.. I have been working for two months to setup this tank. My plan was to have a school of around 30 tetras,some Sterbai corys and then 5-6 Discus. Before I came back to this forum I was planning on ordering from RFI at around the 2-3" size range. THANK YOU SD members for helping me avoid making this mistake. I have since revised my vision a bit. I now understand that I have little chance at success if I try to grow these juvies out myself and do not mind buying full grown adults. I also will be looking to purchase from Kenny as I am on the West Coast and everyone speaks very highly of him. My achilles heel with this entire setup is time. I travel frequently for work and do not have the ability to do the water changes. I am trying be honest with you and myself and realistically I can commit to doing one large water change weekly(80%). I might be able to squeeze in a smaller water change mid week if I am not traveling but at best I can do 1 large WC per week. I am willing to invest the money into this aquarium and have recently followed the Nitrate filter thread closely. I wanted your feedback before I commit to spending a lot of money on fish or a filter like aquaripure. The rummys and cards have been doing fantastic with PH around 6.5 GH and KH very low and almost no Nitrite / Nitrates. I also feed lightly on flake food twice daily. So my questions to the senior members are as follows (remember I am not trying to disrespect or reinvent the wheel, just trying to make this work with my workload)
1. Is this reasonably possible (ie not sinking thousands of dollars into a crazy setup)
2. Is 5 adult Discus too many for my setup (bioload, tank mates ect..)
3. Since I would have adult discus would it be possible to alter their feeding schedule (more flakes or freeze dried worms 2-3x daily) so I wouldnt have to feed the heavier water fowling foods more frequently(beef heart, black worms ect..) to help manage Nitrate / Nitrite spikes?
4. Any tips hints or suggestions on how I could tweak this plan to make it work?
5. I have seen different chemical products that are live bacteria meant to help with the bioload (Liquid Gravel Vac, Start Right, ect..), does anyone have any opinon if they work or would allow me to go to a weekly water change model?
Thanks for any help or suggestions you can provide. My biggest fear is I buy all these beautiful fish only to have them die off because this wasnt something that was feasible from the start. Thanks again!
I am a long time reader and first time poster here at Simply Discus. I have been wanting to have a discus tank for years and am finally in a place to make that become a reality or so I thought until I came back to this site to do more research:). I have kept aquariums for over 20 years with success in breeding angels, african cichlids and just about everything else at one time or another. I recently moved and decided to try my hand at the King of the Aquarium.
My Background:
I have a 75g with a 350 magnum canister filter, two biowheels and a large sponge filter. My vision was to create a true community tank. I wanted cardinals and rummys with my Discus. My goal here is not to upset the traditional guard, I have done my homework. I know the benefits of the bb tanks, but I really prefer the sand and plants ect.. I have been working for two months to setup this tank. My plan was to have a school of around 30 tetras,some Sterbai corys and then 5-6 Discus. Before I came back to this forum I was planning on ordering from RFI at around the 2-3" size range. THANK YOU SD members for helping me avoid making this mistake. I have since revised my vision a bit. I now understand that I have little chance at success if I try to grow these juvies out myself and do not mind buying full grown adults. I also will be looking to purchase from Kenny as I am on the West Coast and everyone speaks very highly of him. My achilles heel with this entire setup is time. I travel frequently for work and do not have the ability to do the water changes. I am trying be honest with you and myself and realistically I can commit to doing one large water change weekly(80%). I might be able to squeeze in a smaller water change mid week if I am not traveling but at best I can do 1 large WC per week. I am willing to invest the money into this aquarium and have recently followed the Nitrate filter thread closely. I wanted your feedback before I commit to spending a lot of money on fish or a filter like aquaripure. The rummys and cards have been doing fantastic with PH around 6.5 GH and KH very low and almost no Nitrite / Nitrates. I also feed lightly on flake food twice daily. So my questions to the senior members are as follows (remember I am not trying to disrespect or reinvent the wheel, just trying to make this work with my workload)
1. Is this reasonably possible (ie not sinking thousands of dollars into a crazy setup)
2. Is 5 adult Discus too many for my setup (bioload, tank mates ect..)
3. Since I would have adult discus would it be possible to alter their feeding schedule (more flakes or freeze dried worms 2-3x daily) so I wouldnt have to feed the heavier water fowling foods more frequently(beef heart, black worms ect..) to help manage Nitrate / Nitrite spikes?
4. Any tips hints or suggestions on how I could tweak this plan to make it work?
5. I have seen different chemical products that are live bacteria meant to help with the bioload (Liquid Gravel Vac, Start Right, ect..), does anyone have any opinon if they work or would allow me to go to a weekly water change model?
Thanks for any help or suggestions you can provide. My biggest fear is I buy all these beautiful fish only to have them die off because this wasnt something that was feasible from the start. Thanks again!