Updated: Another Tank Journal

[DarkSeraph]

Update 07/22/06: Update!

The hopes are for this to be a mediumly planted tank with 3-4 discus and some other community fish.

Originally we bought a used acrylic tank for $50 that had a hole in the bottom that was used for a sump, that had been capped. Later on we found out that it leaked, so I decided to go out and buy a new one, $220 or so.

So we have
60g Acrylic tank
DIY stand (pics below)
Topfin 300W heater Rena Cal Toplight Excel 200W (much happier with this heater)
Rena XP3
Odyssea 48" T5 108W 12000K (a little high on the color)
AND 36 watt flouresent. Total of 2.4wpg
Pressurized CO2, tank from local welding supply, JBJ regulator needl & bubble counter.
Azoo Diffuser that I may never use
LED moonlighting
1 Fan
3 20lb bags of Eco-Complete.


The idea was to have everything black (stand, back, & substrate) to bring out the colors of the fish & plants more.

The stand: We built it ourselves, a little bit of wood, a lot of work. I'm very happy with it, but we could have bought a used one for the cost of the wood & saved ourselves the pain of making it.

After being filled

Lots of dust from the substrate.

We used some of the water from our 10g tank to cycle this tank quickly, and so far things are going great.
We first tested out some Amazon Sword cuttings:

Then with some balas we're going to have to sell back anyway (bala+discus=bad)

Then earlier today we acclimatized & put the rest of our fish in here

You can see the CO2 hose going into the filter intake. I plan on cutting a small hole in the cap in the intake at the top & sealing the hose there. It'll look better & be more functional.

Side shot, large peice of zucchini at the far end for our pleco to eat.

We bought a blue diamond discus yesterday, he was just in too good of shape to not take. Yes we plan on getting at least 2-3 more discus. Couldn't get a better shot, he's a little shy right now.

Kronos, our angel blue ram, we had two but the other died in the 10g

Fabio, our lyretail platy (Peaches, my fiance, makes up the names)

Our Pleco is on the log, you can see our 3-spot gourami and platy too:

Random shot of platy & ram

Our 10g only has a betta in it

So, overall at this point I'm fairly satisfied. We likely will sell the 3 balas, get a few discus, possibly 1 more angel blue ram, and possibly some shrimp if the tank starts getting messy enough.

Also, I'm hoping to use Dwarf Hairgrass for a carpet. All we have in there now is Anubias Nana and Amazon swords. If you have any suggestions on what would look good as a taller plant and some midground please suggest away Thanks for your input!

 

[Luke_e]

First of all, i must say i love your DIY stand, its superb mate.

I love the substrate, black is gorgeous against bright green plant and bright coloured fish.

Do you plan on adding a larger piece of bogwood for a focal point? Or are you going to stick with the current piece?

 

[guppy_man]

i agree with luke, love the stand, great fish and it does show out the colors more
are you going to have anymore plants in there?

 

[DarkSeraph]

I'm certainly hoping for more plants, along with more growth from the plants we have. If anyone has any suggestions (or better yet wants to send me a clipping, I can pay for shipping)

We're also hoping for a larger peice of bogwood, hopefully with a branch that reaches up towards the top of the tank.

Thanks for the kind words

 

[Alex_]

swordtails are not the best fish to kept with discus, best thre swords more way to fast and spokk the discus.

are you doseing ferts?

also i have a planted journal for my 46 gallon on here, in the next week or soo im going ot add some discus 2 discus soon.


-Alex

 

[Themuleous]

Hi,

Glad to see another journal I take it you're not new to fishkeeping then, if you've already got a 10g? One thing how soon after setting the tank up did you add the discus?

My only concern having read this thread is that you say you added some water from the 10g to cycle the tank quickly, whilst this will help it might not be as effective as you hope, the water doesn't contain nearly the bacterial colony that the filter sponge does, and discus are really sensitive to changes in water quility. Did you do anything else to cycle the tank? or it the filter completely new?

Other than that, looks like a good set up to me, wish I had a 60g! I would try and add some more fast growing plants as tank will hit the aglae stage in a week or so and they'll help control it.

You planning this as a low-light tank? I see you're at about 1.5WPG, any plans to get it over 2WPG?

I have eco-complete and I found it increases KH between water changes, so just keep an eye on it. That said its done wondered for my plants

Keeps us posted re progress

Sam

 

[ChrisP]

I'l echo what Thermuleous said as it was my first thought also when I read your post.

You want to get some matured filter media in there and a few handfulls of substrate from a matured tank to get it going. A few buckets of water will not be enough especialy with the amount of fish you have added.

 

[DarkSeraph]

I know Discus are very sensative, and originally I kept him in the 10g for a couple days while he adjusted, but he seemed a little cramped (I imagine he's used to a much larger tank) so I moved him over to the 60. I've been keeping a very close eye on him and he seems to be doing well.

I've watched the levels very very closely since the tank was originally set up. My KH is about 8, PH is about 7.0, zero ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. I didn't use any of the filter media from the 10g, but the tank was cycling fine on it's own. I'll check the levels again when I get home from work. I too was hesitant to get the discus so early, but he's a very good specimen, so I just have to watch closely & be careful.

What's interesting about the discus behaviour is he seems fine in the tank, not bothered by anything after he acclimated a bit. The only thing that scares him? Humans If I walk by or put my hand slowly up to the glass he swims away pretty fast. He'll likely adjust to that. As for the comment about the lyretail, he actually doesn't swim that fast, if the discus was going to spook the 3spot would likely be the one to spook him, but they're getting along quite nicely (the 3spot has a very good temperment, though I've heard they can be semi-aggressive). The only thing I'm currently worried about is the discus eating with the balas still in the tank.

I do plan on getting a couple fast growing plants, cabomba at least (any other suggestions), but besides that I'd prefer more slow growing plants. 1.8 wpg is a little low, but not too bad when you consider the color of the lights. I currently don't have any plans to change the lights, or add any. Perhaps when the tank is fully up & functional I'll reconsider. I'm still running about 1 bubble every 3 seconds, and my CO2 levels seem fine.

Thanks again for all advice

 

[ChrisP]

The fact that you have zero nitrates suggests the tank has not even started to cycle yet, I would keep a very close eye on Nitrate and Amonia.

Personaly I would never add fish to an uncycled tank unless it was heavily planted.


Maybe sling a bit of Elodea and hornwort in there for fast growers.

Best of luck with it anyway.

 

[Themuleous]

Well, just so long as you're aware, I dont like to patronise people but better to be safe than sorry, discus aren't cheap after all and we all care about our fish. The 0 nitrate is also a bit strange, you would expect some NO3 at least

I would still try and get some more fast growing plants (check out the pinned artilces for suggestions) at least until the tank has stabilised. The eco-complete will be leaching ferts into the tank and the algae (even with 1.8WPG) may kick in, without the plants you may find it goes crazy.

What plants you wanting to have?

 

[Peaches]

I need to change my signature! lol

anyway. The levels are actually coming up together in a plateau...pretty much the bacteria are doing their thing We're putting in more plants slowly but surely, we're looking into Dwarf Hair Grass...and then we'll be looking into some taller growers. What we're really looking to do is have a fish tank with plants, not a plant tank with fish. So we're doing low key plants. The filter media from the 10g was placed as a layer in the X3 for bateria colonization and cycle has been added since day one with the water and as dictated on the bottle.

All the fish are getting along really well, and the Three Dot and Angel Blue Ram are our water experts...their markings while signaling their mood also keep us up to the moment on water conditions. Hopefully we can get more pics up later as we add plants and fish. Unfortunately the Balas won't be staying, BUT we're looking into different Discus breeders so be ready for some BRIGHT fish

thanks so much for all the feed back guys...keep it coming!

 

[DarkSeraph]

Another update

Lots of plants! It looks great!

We also found a really cool looking peice of bogwood, lots of holes & stuff, but at first it didn't fit in our tank We had to cut it up a little bit to make it fit the 7" opening at the top of the acrylic tank. But now it fits!

At first we weren't sure where to put it. We put it in the middle of the tank, and it just cut off the right side, so we put it over on that right side and it looks pretty good! Since a number of fish like to hide sometimes, we gave them a place to hide, right where we can see them! We plan on getting another java fern for it, and some Java moss. Our LFS doesn't have any Java moss so if you want to send us some I'd be happy to pay for it!

Our Discus died, most likely due to stress of things changing in the tank, along with no other discus in the tank.

We plan on getting more lighting, most likely a 36" tube or two up front. I'm not sure if 2 36" lights will be too much lighting. 2 tubes would most likely be around 165W, 2.75wpg; 1 36" tube would be about 135W, 2.25wpg.

Any comments are appreciated!

 

[pseud]

So far, so good!

I'd move that piece of bogwood on the right over some.

 

[Luke_e]

I love the bogwood, but it is very dark under the piece on the right but i suppose its a nice little hide away for fish .
I love the dwarf hair grass (am i right?) in the middle, looks great in small clumps.

 

[DarkSeraph]

Yeah the bogwood off to the right is intended to be a nice little hideaway, but when we get a java fern and some moss on it, it should lighten up that side just a little. We tried having it further to the left, but it's just too big & cut off the tank a bit.

The dwarf hairgrass we spread out into clumps like that, it's only 2 pots worth. We're hoping it spreads and starts to carpet a little.

Any comments on lighting? Is the 2.75wpg just too inviting for algae?