My Discus Journal

[simonas]

Well I finally settled on setting up a discus tank again. I started then stopped and have started again. I thought I would do a journal as I enjoy looking back on them

My tank is a 150gallon its 60 inch x 30 inch wide and 24 inch high

I started by painting the tanks back and sides royal blue that I had used on my marine tank and I love the results.

I put some pale sand in that cost a few quid as it happens, theres a couple of plastic plants and initially I paid a fair few quid on live plants but I bought uarus and they eat them all. They've now been sold so I can start again on plants and have bought some vallis and amazon swords

The rubber eel has remained in their and you can see the sand in this pic

Anyway the tank contents are now 4 clown loach which I have had a while and I;m not sure whether to keep. I think they are great fish but not sure if they are a good thing for the discus
the rubber eel
6 corydoras sterbai I want another 6
i baby bristlenose
4 altum angels
4 discus I want 2-4 more
5 neons - testers to see if they are safe with the rubber eel so far so good
and 40 cardinals ordered to arrive next week!!
oh and I forgot 3 glass catfish that I've had a while but never see
pics will follow

 

[markandhisfish]

yay its taking shape mate. love the blue back/sides. the sides being painted should help the discus feel more secure too. the only shame is that the tanks stuck out of sight in the garage . look forward to watching this develop.

 

[simonas]

and bleeding cold out there as well just been to get the frozen food out the freezer!! not sure it will defrost

 

[markandhisfish]

can you not fit it in the house somewhere? top tip to get around the missus would be to say thats it will save money , as it will be quite expensive to heat that much water to that high a temperature in the winter. and she can have some shoes with the savings!!!

 

[kizno1]

Looks great. Looking forward to seeing the progress. Are you keeping the rubber eel now then?

and bleeding cold out there as well just been to get the frozen food out the freezer!! not sure it will defrost

My 150G is going in the garage aswell. What heaters do you use to heat it? Im going to put 2" thick styrfome all around mine to help keep the heat.

 

[simonas]

Mark I have no chance the house is for sale as its too small and she moans about the reptile vivs taking space in my sons room, not even shoeswould change her mind and shes a woman who queued all night thisyear for cheap Minolos or whatevr theyare

Kizno it seems the Sock puppet has a reprieve. The 5 neons I bought last week are still there and the rubber eel hasn;t been fed all week on purpose. Cool!!!

It has 2 300w heaters in there. funny enough just felt the water and felt a bit cool but will take the digi thermostat from my reef in there when I feed them later. I have 2 inch thinck polystyrene at one end, it used to be at the end by the garage door but due to me moving the tank forward when painted I can;t fit it there now cos the margins are so small

 

[kizno1]

Thats great. It would have been a shame to let him go.

Thats what i was planning ive got 2 300w fluval E heaters which should hopefully do the job. Hope the temps aright. Maybe a chunkier lid would help keep some heat in. Sorry for all the question but what filtration are you using?

 

[simonas]

good question about the filtration as I changed it last week
I bought an Fluval FX5 and I;m well impressed bar the abswnce of a spray bar. the water is so clear the problem is its pointing down into the tank till I create a spray bar of sorts
I shall check temp now
The lid is only temporary I do intend to get glass but never got round to it

what you going to keep in yours Kizno?

 

[kizno1]

good question about the filtration as I changed it last week
I bought an Fluval FX5 and I;m well impressed bar the abswnce of a spray bar. the water is so clear the problem is its pointing down into the tank till I create a spray bar of sorts
I shall check temp now
The lid is only temporary I do intend to get glass but never got round to it

what you going to keep in yours Kizno?

Sounds good. Im tempted by trying a sump on mine but im not to keen on the idea of drilling it. That is the only problem with fluvals. I just use a bit of pipe to attach a spray bar from an old filter to my 405.

Im not 100% sure on stocking yet but i defiantly want a Rio Tapajos biotope with

4 Uaru amphiacanthoides
6 Geophagus red head
1 Platydoras armatulus
3 Sorubim lima

And im between 1 Acarichthys heckelii or a Pike of some type for a sort of Centre piece cichlid.

 

[Oscar Betta]

Cool, I've always wanted some discus so this will be a thread I will be checking back on.

 

[snowflake311]

Very cool I can not wait to see the fish.

 

[Vin Swords]

tap water?
tap water with blackwater extract?
tap water with ro mix?
pure ro with salts?
hma?

what r u planing to do?

 

[simonas]

Just tap water Vin

When I kep them in the past they appeared to do well with tap water. I;m quite lucky with the params of my tap water where I live

 

[Vin Swords]

Just tap water

try black water extract.. i find them more active in bwe(sera).. they even defend food from fully grown synos.

in ro they r like zombies.

 

[snowflake311]

good question about the filtration as I changed it last week
I bought an Fluval FX5 and I;m well impressed bar the abswnce of a spray bar. the water is so clear the problem is its pointing down into the tank till I create a spray bar of sorts
I shall check temp now
The lid is only temporary I do intend to get glass but never got round to it

what you going to keep in yours Kizno?

Sounds good. Im tempted by trying a sump on mine but im not to keen on the idea of drilling it. That is the only problem with fluvals. I just use a bit of pipe to attach a spray bar from an old filter to my 405.

Im not 100% sure on stocking yet but i defiantly want a Rio Tapajos biotope with

4 Uaru amphiacanthoides
6 Geophagus red head
1 Platydoras armatulus
3 Sorubim lima

And im between 1 Acarichthys heckelii or a Pike of some type for a sort of Centre piece cichlid.

Wait I thought this was a discus tank? You are going to add Disucs to that stock and still want an "Center piece fish"? I am not one to talk my tank will be over stocked soon as my parrot and severum grow. All thoes fish with 6 or more discus in a 150Gal is a bit much imo.