This is a 55 gallon tank at the end of the day. These five 10 month old discus are still fed heavily (6 times per day)
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This is a 55 gallon tank at the end of the day. These five 10 month old discus are still fed heavily (6 times per day)
This is all the dirt (feces).
See how it collects at one end?
This tank is drained into the bathtub - others are drained out the back door
Aged water is pumped back into the tank from the storage barrels. See how I use the Aqua Clear lid to hold the end of the hose into the filter to refill this tank?
Here is a close up of the faucet adapter. You unscrew the one on the faucet and remove it along with the mesh strainer.
I like the metal adapters they last longer than plastic.
The hose attaches to the sink and the barrels are refilled for tomorrow. Each barrel has a heater that just lays in the bottom of the tank. I've never had a problem as the water absorbs the heat so the plastic does not melt. The water is agitated for three hours and heated overnight for use the next day.
Carol your tanks are immaculate along with your Discus. :sun:
A bathroom is now a fish room :)))) How sweet .. ;D
I am impressed. ........
Carol,
You have might have been asked this before but where did you get the storage barrels?
I really like the setup, especially the kitchen.
;D ;D ;D
I bought my barrels from a farm supply store. Camping stores may have them too. I've read that pepsi syrup comes in similiar barrels.
Hi Carol...
I don't see any sponge filters in your tanks....u dont' use them?
I keep two sponge filters running - each is in a 29 gallon tank. I remove the aqua clears and use sponges with new freeswimmers. Once the babies are big enough I add the Aqua Clears back
I went to Home Depot last week to look for barrels like the ones Carol have, but alas all they had were these...
...and this is what happened. When the thing tipped over the heater burned a mark on my carpet, and worst, the whole carpet stinks. Now it'll need to be professionally cleaned. Paid for my stupid mistake big time.
Sorry to here that ROblue. How exactly did this happen, were you moving it or did this just do it on it own?
It went down on its own. It wasn't even filled 3/4. Filled it with water the first night I bought it, and the following morning that's what I woke up to. But since I live on the 14th floor, the "good" news is that security and the neighbors below didn't complain of a dripping wet ceiling. ;D
After looking at Carol's tanks, I have concluded that she keeps her fish in the pond in the back yard.
She just fills a new tank with water and puts the fish in when she needs to take a picture, or someone comes to visit.
Nothing can live in anything that clean! ;D
Larry
PS The barrels you are looking for are food storage drums. They are sold - used - by surplus stores and farm related stores.
Thanks, Larry ;D
:bounce2: :bounce2: Roblue, I've been using 2 32g RM tubs with wheels, like yours, but more rectangular than round, for 2 yrs. Positioned them between 2 tanks that are at right angles, the handle of each one leans against the tank stand. Think this is why I've had no problems with them as others have, cuz they cannot free-stand. The tank stands must give'm enough support to be stable, thank goodness, & the window behind'm provides the drain to the outside, makes it easy. jme, Dottie ;D
Those tanks are very clean, I just can't keep mine anywhere but the basement for fear of wife-inflicted-death!! To say nothing of the lonely nights ;) Wouldn't it be so cool to be rich enough to hire someone to tend to your own personal discus hatchery!!! You could just buy and admire the fish and have someone else change all the water and prepare beefheart ;D
Carol, you know if discus were so smart you could just train them to use the toilet right next to their tank!!! :-*
Now wouldn't that be cool!!!!
:o :o :funny: :funny: :funny: :funny: :funny:
I bought a large 50 or so gallon plastic garbage can from home depot. Has handles on top and wheels on the bottom. It can be filled full of water and never flexes or gives a hint of tipping or any problems. Never had a problem with a heater in it either.
The better half didn't like it in the living room (I dont know why) so now I keep it in a closet and wheel it out when I need the water.
carol what pump do you use to in the barrel ? Any brand better or cheaper ?
Thank you
nimo69
I have a mix of pumps from walmart and lowes. I like the largest Walmart pond pump. Other pumps may be better . . . . I went for easy to buy and replace :)
would it be a good idea to keep discus in bare bottom till full grown.I want to put gravel and such in, was just wondering if waiting till they are full grown would be best. thanks Dan
I think it's best to wait until they are full grown
thank-you carol
hey carol i think mine fish poop more than ur's lol the bottom of my tank has
alot more poop in it than u have i wish it was that easy
you might try a restaurant supply for your barrels. they need to be "approved for food use"; they won't contain anything harmful to the fish.
pat.
Hello BBm'ers,
I use several kinds of set ups for my discus depending on whether breeding or rearing.
1. BB
2. <1/4 inch of substrate
3. Planted breeder grow out. 1/3 of the back has 3" deep sustrate confined within a 3" high siliconed glass box with front 2/3 barely covered with a sprinkling of substrate but essentially bare. It's easy to hydrovac the back, and make it livingroom worthy. I have a massive DIY wet/dry in these planted tanks. 10 discus grew from 2-1/2 in to 6+ in. in 10 months and have paired and moved to bare 20H's. Replaced them with 10 Heckels. I feed growing breeders 4 to 6 X day. Tank is 75g plus 25 more in the sump. 900gph return flow. There are as many approaches as there are aquarists. Do what works best for you. Discus are happy in any clean water changed regularly,kept warm and fed well. They're quick to let you know if WQ has slipped too much.
I am in total agreement that as a general rule that a fully covered bottom leads eventually WQ problems. It's doable but generally not if you have many tanks to keep up, especially if discus are your main interest as they are for me.
nice thanks for the info !
Carol,
When ageing the water, I have been keeping my Powerhead on
(Agitating the water) till the following day (50% once per day WC)..
Is this necessary? Or should I just have it going say 3 hrs before my WCS's?
:) Hi Mark, I'm not Carol, but here's my take on this..Before I moved from NJ, I had 2 35g storage barrels, started using the powerheads 24/7... then on advice from this site, put in airstones connected to my air pump; this costs less than running powerheads, but you need a large enough airpump...now, here in Tn, been running powerheads again, 'til I get more tanks to use the big pump....run them when I first put in Prime for cpl hours, after heating the water awhile, then for cpl hours before I use it for W/Cs....probably not necessary to run'm 24hrs....JMO, Dottie ;)
Bare Bottom tanks are extremely easy to keep clean, yes, we do have to vacuum out the tanks every day. My water changing system fills them back up for me though and changes a percentage of the water throughout the night and day, pretty convienient for us. Nice aquariums Carol.
backyarddiscusllc.com
how can anyone who work feed discus 6 times a day? Most I can do is 3 times a day and that's a royal pain since I have to syphon away what they don't eat to avoid ammonia build up if too much food is left uneated.
I do have a bare bottom but one still has to remove uneated food.
Unless someone is unemployed or working from home, than it is impossible to keep up with such schedule. Why I prefer to buy older discus.
Daniella, this thread is 5 years old :o but good to know that somebody still reads it, since it is the same problem today as five years ago...
Personally, I would worry more about daily water changes than having a spotless tank, regardless of the substrate. You figure, nobody evers vacuums the Amazon and fish thrive,...why? because water is constantly moving and conditions and levels are kept. You can do the same with regular water changes and vacuum when you get a chance. That way there's no chance for toxics to accumulate.
Thanks for the info, think i'm going to change to a bare bottom tank myself:D
i have a bb and rite after every feeding i clean the tank,and my fishes went from 2.5 to 2.75 inches in two weeks, everytime i clean the tank i take out about 5 to 10 gallons out.
YEP, I have a lot of time on my hands now that i've been laid off.