50 gallon discus tank transformation!

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lampro

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jun 30, 2019
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Hi guys! So I have set up a 50 gallon discus tank 2 weeks ago~
Picture 1: I have 4 discus marbolo, albino red pigeon, blue turquoise, 2 koi angels, 1 common pleco and silver fox. I like the bare bottom tank because I literally only need to clean the filter media and I dont think I will need to do water change weekly for the long run with just bare bottom fish tank.

Picture 2: I added the mopani driftwood the piece is about 7 lbs~ Then I added barteri anubias (on the right), java fern and anaubias nana (on the left side) I have to removed the pleco and silver fox because they might pick on the plants or uplift the plants from the woodpile since I only super glue part of the plants onto the wood. I also added 3 L144 one male two females in the tank. Hopefully they will propagate in the future! They are doing a good job fanning out all the fish waste under the wood but waste have been staying at the bottom of the tank instead going into the filter now because the wood piece interrupted the water flow. But I can still easily remove with a net daily. I think I will need to do 15% water change weekly

Picture 3: taken today I added 4 pots of narrow leaf jungle val. it was given to me from a friend. I think it is a bit overcrowded right now and I am probably going to get rid of 2 of the pots. My tank water flow has decreased a lot because the jungle val and woodpile so I am going to add a wave maker hopefully they will keep most of the waste inside the filter. I also added 3 sterbai Cory and 1 panda Cory in there along with assassin snails. The tank look pretty complete But I will definitely need to trim out some of the plants. I did a 40% water change right after I added the jungle val. I will prob need to do 2 water change weekly with this set up but I like the natural look of set up. If I add Ludwigia Repen super red, do you think the L144 will eat it?

I am using the jcp full spectrum rgb led light for my discus tank and it really provide great color for the fish and plant growth
https://www.amazon.com/JC-Aquarium-Extendable-Bracket-117-137/dp/B07FMJT66X/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=jcp&qid=1575261473&sr=8-7&th=1
 

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Your fish look very pretty. They also look young smaller sized at this point 3+" to 4".

This sized tank looks like a 46G and it would be recommended to get an up-sized tank asap, those fish could grow to be 8" and an inch thick.

A 90G would be a preferred minimum tank size, and increasing the group to a larger number would be beneficial for them.

Perfect water correct temperature and good food is needed for optimum health & growth.

As a thought, you would need to do more water changes for them while they are growing up.

Discus are really truly a stunning fish.

The Cories will appreciate more friends along with an increase in the size of the tank.

The fish will appreciate lots of plants. The temperature should be very warm say 84F. Sometimes this bothers different plants.

Long term these fish will need more friends and more room to be comfortable. If they are stressed, they will die much sooner than their natural in tank lifespan.

You can do some additional checking about keeping and care of Discus. It is great to know you are checking and learning more about keeping them. They are really amazing fish.
 
I agree with the previous poster, you need a bigger tank. And discus should get frequent water changes; a bare bottom has nothing to do with lessening the need for such. When I kept discus, I changed 30-40% of the water twice a week. Some discus keepers do that daily.
 
Your fish look very pretty. They also look young smaller sized at this point 3+" to 4".

This sized tank looks like a 46G and it would be recommended to get an up-sized tank asap, those fish could grow to be 8" and an inch thick.

A 90G would be a preferred minimum tank size, and increasing the group to a larger number would be beneficial for them.

Perfect water correct temperature and good food is needed for optimum health & growth.

As a thought, you would need to do more water changes for them while they are growing up.

Discus are really truly a stunning fish.

The Cories will appreciate more friends along with an increase in the size of the tank.

The fish will appreciate lots of plants. The temperature should be very warm say 84F. Sometimes this bothers different plants.

Long term these fish will need more friends and more room to be comfortable. If they are stressed, they will die much sooner than their natural in tank lifespan.

You can do some additional checking about keeping and care of Discus. It is great to know you are checking and learning more about keeping them. They are really amazing fish.

My discus are actually 5.5"-7" long now and they were raised in this tank since last year. I think the blue turquoise can only get to 6" The marbolo are the bigger type, they can prob get to 8" as you mention. I have them in my friend house for awhile and I got recently got it back and added some plants in the tank. My fish are pretty happy in the tank, and no fish are fighting.

I might add some substrate for the cories and pleco to dig around and let them stand out more. should I go with black or white sand?
 
I agree with the previous poster, you need a bigger tank. And discus should get frequent water changes; a bare bottom has nothing to do with lessening the need for such. When I kept discus, I changed 30-40% of the water twice a week. Some discus keepers do that daily.

Ok thank you! I will remember to do water change frequently. I am doing 30% water change twice a week now and the water is really clear and plus my filtration is always clean. I clean the filter pad frequently. :)
 
I am still working on the tank. I will update more tank pictures here for sure! :)
 
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