Freds Discus Room

[jawfish]

Thanks Larry.

I got one 65 set-up and running.
PSX_20200308_093843.jpg

I will be letting go of the Reds. Somehow the motivation never came back fully after of the lost of my Heckels. Latelly the more time I spend working in the room the more I think wilds should be in there. I took the decision to go back to wilds for me the set-up I built just calls for wilds. I'm a little late in the season so I will need to be patient. I really want another group of young Heckels. Sourcing wilds in Canada is...an adventure.

The 65 was started in case I find something interesting.

Cheers
Fred

[Larry208]

Nice Fred

[jawfish]

I now have two tanks running, and started my '' TorfKanone" i.e. Peat Canon to prepare some peat water. The Canon is a modern interpretation of the peat bomb use by German breeders. Instead of being a 55 gallon barell its a 3 foot long 4 inch PVC pipe filled with peat. a small pump runs RO water trought the pipe and the water falls back in my 55 gallon barrel that I use for my RO water. it works really well. I'll post some pictures of it broken down.

I really do like the color of the peat water. Now it's just waiting for something interesting to pop up
65gwithpeat.jpg

Fred

[danotaylor]

That's a sweet idea Fred, very cool! Does peat add any kind of minerals back to RO water or is it primarily a natural water softener? Is the peat somehow sterilized so that microbes or funguses aren't passed into the water column?

[jawfish]

Hi Daniel,
The peat is a natural softener and acidifier. It will remove minerals. It will add some tannins and humic acids. For me its part of a multistep process to prepare water for wild Discus. I believe that for wilds water is the number one priority to have them strive.

My process is simple.
First Step: Prepare 100% RO water.

Second Step: Run the "Torfkanone" to get the desired PH... not all wilds have the same PH requirements.

Third Step: Reminelarize. For this step I use either RO Right by Kent or Discus Minerals by Discus Food. I also had some Kent Discus Essentials to add some trace elements. Hardness is dependent on the goal. For growth I aim 130-150ppm. For non breeding adults 100ppm and for attempting breeding again depending on the specie.

Fourt Step: Aerate and heat the water to the proper temperature for the water change.

I learned a lot on my last Heckel Project. I believe that my water regiment was the key to my success. As soon I stoped treating my water it was downhill from there. My tapwater is not good for discus at all.

Fred

[danotaylor]

That's a great process Fred, thank you for sharing that info with us! That's the kind of info any newb getting into wild's needs. Very cool, cheers!

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Fred, good to hear of some progress forward and also seeing the fishroom being put to good use
Pat

[jawfish]

Well This Covid-19 sucks.....

I had organised getting rid of my last red and better yet getting a shipment of dozen 3-4 inch Rio Negro Heckels... All this got cancelled just as we went to lockdown.
The Discus Room has been my home office for the last 2 months, It's a great office with the tanks even with most if them being empty. the noise of the air pump is a great white noise, I find a relaxing place to work.
I'm glad it's working out as I have been advise that getting back to normal is several months away in my case.

I had an issue with the 35 gallon shelve with the 2X6 bowing a little, the span of 6 feet was to much, I've made some 1X1 steel vertical members that I will install this weekend, then it will be to finish the stand.

Spending more time in there has been very motivational and I've now come to the conclusion that I need to get another 110 gallons tank in to fill in the hole planned for it

This will definitely be a wilds only room. Really hoping that the opportunity to get a dozen of smaller Heckels... I'm crossing my fingers for the fall. It does give me the opportunity to fully complete the room.

Fred

[jawfish]

In the end the room became my home office.I was pretty bumned out t the time with my heckel order being cancelled that I took everything down. With no longer hving to commute to work I ended up with an extra 3 hours a day to myself. The discus bug came back and I went back to my love of Red Discus. Last november I got an order of 10 Red Golden Diamonds discus from Pingco. I grew them out. I am now starting to see some pairing beheviour. Time to reconvert the Discus room into a Discus Room. This time, a little less sterile. My idea is to create more a Discus Lounge... I enjoy siting down and watching my discus with a cold drink. I've been playing with excel to plan this room.

This was the first stand that I built to hold my 75 gallon

75 gallon stand.jpg

The planed layout for the room for now... The goal is to have a 110 gallon tank to hold my adults, three 75 gallons to grow out my offsprings and three 35 gallons to do some breeding.

Layout 2024-2025.png

The stand that I plan for my three 35 gallon cube will also incorporate a small bookshelf, again keeping with the them of a lounge. The main structure is done. I have to build some adjustble feet and start the doors.

breeding rack.png

Here video from last february of the discus,need to an updated one.



Cheers,
Fred

[brewmaster15]

Its funny how life throws us curves! still I am glad its all coming together for you Fred. Looks like you will have a very cool discus space.

Now only thing missing from this thread are updated pics... looking forward to those!
Al

[AquaticNerd]

I'm also looking forward to seeing this fishroom come together. Also, very clever idea to use excel to design layout and the like.

[Discus Fever]

Lets get those updated pictures would like to see everything