My 75 gallon

[spiffyfish]

Hows it going everyone, thought it is finally time for me to start my own thread. This will be my first attempt at keeping discus, and was the first stand i have build for a tank. Let me just say i will never build another one out of metal as i am way too anal and this one has taken me longer than expected. My tank is just your average 75 gallon, and i built a sump from a 10 tank, with an eshopps overflow. I will be getting discus from kenny im hoping by the middle of next month once i finally get the stand done and tank cycled.i will have the stand completed tomorrow night then i will spend about 3 days rusting it. Let me what you guys think of it so far, i know it isnt much and i dont have awesome fish to look at yet but it will be soon. Thanks for looking.http://pictures.sprintpcs.com//mmps/RECIPIENT/041_084c915819f4a502_1/2?inviteToken=sEp4P22gzz5Wy8toa0Sx&limitsize=258,258&outquality=90&squareoutput=255,255,255&ext=.jpg&iconifyVideo=true&wm=1

[Chicago Discus]

I think its great :)

[TNT77]

Thats a cool looking stand. Great job.

[spiffyfish]

Thankyou, theres a few things i would have done different but that is the first and the last metal stand i am building it was a nightmare. The next one will be out of wood and stained.

[Bud Smith]

Thankyou, theres a few things i would have done different but that is the first and the last metal stand i am building it was a nightmare. The next one will be out of wood and stained.

Your stand looks good and I like the wood in your tank - what is the plan - sand and plants or are you going to be part of the BB club
You can't go wrong with discus from Kenny Good luck

[shoveltrash]

<boing> LOVE your tank/stand!!! the metal is VERY cool.
and........congrats on your order from Kenny!
(whispers in tiny voice: I'm expecting fish from Kenny mid-Jan too :D)

[spiffyfish]

Thankyou everyone, the tank will have sand and another piece of wood once i get it from Rafael. I cant wait to finally get this done and get somefish after looking at everyone else fish for the past year ;).

[Second Hand Pat]

Chris, stand looks well built. Took you a year looking at these gorgeous fish to commit? must have been a hard year of looking without doing ;)

[spiffyfish]

Pat yes it was very hard seeing everyones tank and fish, but the waiting and learning will be very much worth it. To be able to come home after a long days work and enjoy my fish will be really nice.

[Second Hand Pat]

Chris, took me four months between joining and getting some discus. Definitely worth the wait.

[spiffyfish]

here's a little update, finally got the stand done over the holidays and all the plumbing for the sump. got the tank running monday morning, added some safestart, and will just be letting it run for a few days and then start doing water changes. im hoping the safestart will get the tank cycled faster than i am expecting, but im in no rush dont want to kill any fish. sorry for the crappy cell phone pics, i will take nicer ones once i get fish and add the sand and the wood gets water logged so i can place it where i want it to be. thanks for looking.

71247
71248
71249

[louielayadiscus]

kool good job and goodluck!

[chiligum]

That is a top job done right there mate.
No don't blow it now, you have waited this long, just wait that last little bit and it should all be perfect.
I am great at dishing out advice but if that was me, the fish would have been in there ages ago already!

[spiffyfish]

Thank you, i know i should have had fish a year ago. Now that the tank is up and running i cant wait. Will be doing a water change tonight, and test the water.

[ghurlag]

Nice work on the stand, sump, and plumbing. Should be killer with fish in it!

[PC1]

Man that stand is KILLER. I wouldn't know where to start to make a stand like that. Very cool!

[spiffyfish]

Thanks Rafael, this is chris ive been hoping to get those few other pieces from you for this tank and a friends. Hopefully it is just delayed from the holidays.

[PC1]

I think so, Parcel post is the least priority so I think with all the holiday mail it is running slower :(

[spiffyfish]

Spoke with Kenny yesterday, should be set to get 8 fish from his january shipment when he gets it in.

[BaileyF]

that stand is to die for. your much better having done the research before jumping into keeping the fish. I did it the other way around and sadly quite afew discus's lives were lost in the attempt to learn (granted i bought parasite infested fish... i just didn't know) . I wish you luck and i look forward do seeing your fish

[spiffyfish]

ok everyone let me get your opinion, is this too much wood, should i use both pieces or just the one i had originally? sorry i am not good at taking pictures at all.
7135071351

[Dennis The Mennis]

The attachments are not working for me. I am getting this error message "Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator"

[spiffyfish]

Sorry that was my bad i was messing around with it :p

[Dennis The Mennis]

I prefer the look of more wood.

[spiffyfish]

Yes to me it looks much better i was just concerned if there wood be a problem with swimming room.

[Second Hand Pat]

Chris, take your wood out of the tank and set them on a towel. Play with arranging the branches together to look like one piece of wood. When you are happy with the look place the arrangement back in the tank and place it just off center.

[Bill63SG]

I'm usally a more guy,but I liked it more with the single piece.

[TNT77]

I like both pieces..but both on the bottom will be hard to clean..maybe try to take the one on the right and turn it so it looks like it is hanging down into the tank...if you have glass tops with the plastic backstrip drill a hole in the backstrip and ziptie the piece so it hangs down.

[shoveltrash]

if you have glass tops with the plastic backstrip drill a hole in the backstrip and ziptie the piece so it hangs down.
I really like this idea (stealing it thanks Tara!!!).
I actually prefer the simple look of one piece of wood.....however, if you mounted them from the top, hanging down, it might look really cool with the 2! (and much easier to clean as per Tara's advice).

[spiffyfish]

It looks like it is going to be a pain to clean the way i have it, i tried switching them around several ways and this i thought looked the best to me at least. When i had the one on the right standing up it was really tall and i wouldnt be able to run the glass top on that side, or would have to trim it. I really like the way it looks with the 2 pieces, i guess i will see how well it goes once i get fish and how hard it is going to be to get around them while cleaning.

[shoveltrash]

I think it'll be fantastic either way, once it has Discus in it! :D

btw it's easy to trim the wood, if you want to stand that piece up.

[spiffyfish]

ya i was thinking about trimming it, i may try and do it differently before i get fish or i might just leave it and see how well the fish can move around all of it and go from there.

[spiffyfish]

heres a few crappy updated pictures of my fish i got from kenny, i will try and get some better ones later.

[spiffyfish]

72054 72055

[shoveltrash]

tank looks MUCH better now :D.
how are your fish doing?

[spiffyfish]

Thankyou Trish, they are doing very good. Im having a little trouble getting them to take to colorbits, and i have a stubborn tiger turk that only eats when he wants to but other then that they eat FBW and FDBW like crazy they also get beefheart flake but im not sure how they are taking to that yet either but it has only beena little over a week.

[mattbmb]

Like the sump,nice clean and simple