TankZen 180 Gallon High Tech Discus Tank

[TankZen]

I got this journal over on planted tank and since I now have Discus figured I better get one started on here also... So here you go from the beginning...

My plans for the tank:
Eco complete 18 20lb bags
4- 96watt CF 10,000K and 6,700k coralife
CO2: 10lb Pressurized diffused with Cerges Reactor
Fertilizers: EI 2x a week
Filtration: Eheim 2262 Canister, AC110 (HOB)
Current: Eheim 2260 pump (running Cerges Reactor, UV and heaters)
2- Hydor ETH 300 In-Line Heater
1- 18w turbo twist sterilizer

Plants:
Star grass
Green Cabomba
Ambulia
Broad Ludwigia
Dwarf Lily Bulb
Moneywort
Red Tiger Lotus
Limnophila Aromatica
Rotala Rotundifolia
middium amazon soward
Polygonum sp. Kawagoeanum
Anubias nana var. 'Petite'
Needle Leaf Java Fern
Java Fern 'Trident'
Java Fern
Amazon Sword
Brazilian Pennywort
baby tears
Red Wendtii
Lutea
Crypt

Fish plans for this tank:
5 Red Turquoise Discus (Born June 7 2011)
4 Aqua Green Scribbles Discus (Born June 7 2011)
Rummys 11

Clean up crew:
10 Ottos
5 Julii Cory Cats
Cherry Shrimp

Here is the tank. Picked it up from craigslist 3 years old with stand lights filter $700 gotta love craigslist!! It's all-glass aquarium and stand.
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05235-1.jpg

8/17/11: Pre Co2 some of these plants melted...

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05622.jpg

8/22/11 Co2 up and runnin!

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05623.jpg

8/30/11 Starting to fill in...

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05666.jpg

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05659.jpg

Under the tank: Not totally done yet....

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05675.jpg

Checked my readings last night and so happy :icon_bigg...after only 3 weeks this monster is finished cycling!! Fishless method. Just adding lots of plants and seeded sponges from one of my Eheims.

Cherry shrimp were added last week and are loving this big tank...this is a big upgrade from their 20G! They grow really fast in this tank and look very deep red!

Well we took your advice...canopy is on!

Well...It wasn't quite that simple. A little more DIY needed before we could add the canopy. Previously, our lights were sitting on top of glass covers... however with the canopy and glass tops on the tank there wasn't enough air flow and the lights got really hot. Also I really hate having glass tops on the tank. I think the more air flow the better especially when CO2 is added. So my husband added wooden braces in the canopy. The lights are secured 4in above the water and no tops needed. This also allows for better light distribution. He also hooked up two LED lights for night time.
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05704.jpg

Power strip secured in the back of the canopy for lights to plug in.
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05705.jpg

We made some good changes to our filtration system. We found our flow was a bit too crazy. Plants blowing over and also with the high flow we couldn't see the pearling on the plants as well as we wanted to.

Our new filtration system....We run the Eheim 2262 filter at night only. The Eheim 2260 (pump only) which runs our co2 and our HOB AquaClear 110 runs during the day. Our Co2 along with these pumps turn on 2 hrs before the lights come on and turn off 2 hours before the lights turn off. So 2 hours at night we have no pumps running... this is the sweetest time to watch the tank because the pearling is crazy :thumbsup:!!! You can see little streams of bubbles every where!

9/17/11 Alright enough talk....time for some new pics. Plants are starting to grow crazy.
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05739.jpg
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05730.jpg

Picked up 9 Discus (4 months old) last weekend: 5 Red Turquoise and 4 Aqua Green Scribbles.
They are my first Discus and now I think I'm hooked!! They are such cool fish.
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05785.jpg
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05784.jpg
Blue Scribbles Parents:
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/malepair2.jpg
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/femalepair2.jpg
Red Turq. Parents:
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/femalepair1.jpg
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/malepair1.jpg


Discus are settling into their new home... I love it when they school.

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05816.jpg
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05820.jpg
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff423/tankzen/DSC05818.jpg

[Second Hand Pat]

Beautiful tank and love the composition. Looks quite complicated. How do you clean this beast?? lol The parents yours?

[Chillinfish]

Beautiful plants! I've never had luck with them in the warmer temperature.

P.S. if you want the discus to lighten up a bit(not a requirement), I would reccomend using a lighter substrate.

Andrew

[Chad Hughes]

Gorgeous tank! I'm a sucker for a well planted, thriving tank.

Best wishes!

[x2h]

nice man. congratulations!

[Darrell Ward]

Nice tank. Good luck with it. IMO, a poor environment for juvenile discus however.

[TURQ64]

Filthy environment that the parents are in from the photos you posted..You already have my view from your other thread..Good luck

[TankZen]

How do you clean this beast?? lol The parents yours?
They aren't mine. The guy that owns them travels to South America to get wild discus he is the Director of Marine Sciences at UNC...however, these one's aren't his wild ones he got them from a from a breeder in MD.

I have plumbing run to the tank so I can do semi automatic water changes. It's plumbed to the a Eheim 2260 pump that pumps the water out of the tank and then the water comes back in through the spray bar. When we drain the tank the water runs under the house and out to a 250 Gallon reservoir we have under our deck so we can reuse the water. My yard plants go crazy for the fertilized tank water!! I'll have to get a picture of the reservoir it up.

Second Hand Pat, Chillinfish, Chad Hughes, x2h, Darrell Ward- Thanks for all the nice complements! :)


Filthy environment that the parents are in

You are entitled to your own opinion... I've never had negative comments like that posted on my journals before...

[TURQ64]

You are entitled to your own opinion... I've never had negative comments like that posted on my journals before...

I'm not sure what your journals are, this is simply an internet forum. But my comment isn't negative, it's factual. YOU posted the photo's of the parents in dirty breeding tanks with sponge filters that have the look of not being cleaned in years...If you like, we can run a poll on the parent photo's you posted, and see if this is just my opinion, or a community concensus.....Gary

[Harriett]

Looks to me like you know what you are doing with the tank--it is lovely. Fabulous that you are reusing the tank water, I run mine out to the garden as well. Your engineering skills are enviable, LOL. Is the structure holding the lights wood or metal? Looks like metal to me. Is it freestanding on the lip of the tank and can be easily removed to clean in there? I see the equipment all fits nicely under the tank, but would have been excellent to have a 20 lb CO2 tank rather than a10 so you don't have to change it out as often [been there, done that]. How long does a tank last for you? Everything is growing beautifully! I used to have some issues with needle shaped or fragile leaves shedding and it was a pita to keep the tank looking the way I wanted it to. What temp are you keeping it at? Very nice progress on your project, it is a joy to look at. It is debatable how well the discus will grow out in a planted tank when they start out this young ...best growth is from feeding good meaty foods 4-6 x a day which is hell keeping up with hygiene in a big planted tank...you will probably hear comments to this point. If you feed frequently but stick with FDBW and good pellet/flake, worm flakes, etc rather than any MEAT or fish, you may do well. Really watch how much you feed so you don't overfeed, it the ticket. Remember, you have to clean when you clean gunk and poop like you have OCD in a planted tank with youngsters. I am a giant fan of the set up but the plants can only uptake just so much. Do you have a crew of cleaners? Cories, etc?.
Best regards, again, it's very lovely!
Harriett

[TankZen]

Harriett- Thanks for all the nice complements : )

Your engineering skills arewonderful. Is thestructure holding the lights wood or metal?
I have to credit that to my husband. The top canopy is wood. Before he modified it the light fixtures sat on top of glass tops on the tank... I really hate glass tops because they restrict airflow which is so important in a co2 enriched tank. Also the lights got hot sitting on the glass. So my husband added some wood ledges that the light sit on inside the canopy... now they sit about 4in off the water which allows the light to be more evenly dispersed plus they don't get as hot. He also added a power strip so all the light (4 96W CF and nightlights) are all plunged in on top. It is a real Pita to take off so we do tank maintenance with it on....
Temp-82

Funny you point out 10lb co2 is too small. It just ran out yesterday…only lasted 3 months. Yesterday I swapped it out and got a 20lb tank. Planning to add more Corries… I have some now but need more. Also have shrimp.
Just put in an order for FDBW off simply discus…excited to try them : ).

[stephcps]

Beautiful tank and lovely fish!!!

[Stag]

It looks good Zen. I am going to pick up a few of those fry as well. For the price I want to see if I can grow them out proper.

[walt3]

tank looks rediculous!!!!!!!!!!!! by that i mean i love it! wow! very pretty lush garden you have. i hope your babies grow well. maintenance in my lightly planted 75 is lots of work so i can only imagine.......... good luck it looks great. :)

[MikeF]

Great tank. Love the pictures, showing the progress in the tank.
MikeF

[ericatdallas]

Filthy environment that the parents are in from the photos you posted..You already have my view from your other thread..Good luck


You are entitled to your own opinion... I've never had negative comments like that posted on my journals before...

Maybe it's just the lighting or the camera... the water looks yellow, but to my untrained eyes (at least regarding the photos in this thread), it doesn't look back if you assume the lighting is a bit weird.

Love the tank though. Super complicated. I don't even have a clue what all those valves are doing :P

I think a lot of people here (myself included) would have preferred you grew out juvies and then put them in a planted tank though.

[Maria Ashton]

Your tank looks beautiful, really does. Good luck with it all.