Planted Discus Tank Idea

[tommy59]

Hey Guys!
I'm new to the forum, but would always search through them for help.
I've been running through ideas for a planted discus tank and have finally settled on a hopefully unique design. The tank would be a custom size of 48''lx28''wx35''h, which is around 200 gallons. Would this be a good size for 12-15 discus? Next I have 2 old 75 gallon tanks from friends. These two tanks would be used to perform weekly water changes. The stand would be custom built as well in order to fit the two 75s front and back. The way this would work is this: the tank in the front would be the disposal tank that the water drains into while the tank behind it has clean ro/di water that gets pumped in. Now this entire setup would be located right next to the bathroom where I could pump the water from the disposal tank down the bathtub. But i ran into a problem, with those tanks underneath the display tank, there would be no room for a canister filter (or two) so I decided the stand could be six feet long. In order to sort of mask the extra two feet to the side of the display tank I wanted to construct half a fake tree log on the side of the tank. Then there could be the other half in the tank giving the discus plenty of cover. Plus it could hide the heater and other pumps in the tank.
What are your opinions on this design? Any advice/ suggestions would be very greatly appreciated!

 

[JustinKScott]

I would just go with one 75 as the main tank and one 75 for aging your tap water.

I kept a 200g for 2 years. 200g is waay harder than most people think. You'll need more light than you can imagine to grow any plant except anubia. And you can forget about the pretty high-light ones. The canister filter you'll need is also enormous, FX5(s) at minimum... Ideally two FX5 or a sump.

Are you planning on baby $20-30 discus or adults $80+? (Please don't say baby). You won't be able to grow baby discus and keep your plants alive, they need two different types of water conditions. Adults are more forgiving.

I'd skip doing RO/DI, and spend that money on adult discus. Adult discs can handle pretty much any tap water assuming you de-gas (age) it first. But as you have two tanks already, you are set.

-----

All that being said: Speaking from experience with a planted discus tank, raising discus fry, and breeding discus. Here is my best advice for you.

Buy six(6) (no less) cheap (<$25) baby discus from LFS or I REALLY recommend online like aquabid, or IDEALLY simplydiscus. Forget about plants for now. Discus are social creatures, and get depressed when lonely... Depressed discus stop eating and are more prone to disease. Plus they turn black. (You are the one that wants the prissy fish!!)

Clean both 75g tanks REALLY well, read about how to use bleach in cleaning.

Buy a good air pump and two large sponge filters, CYCLE them REALLY WELL

Buy two good heaters with electronic temp, I Iike the aqueon pro. (cheap, powerful, readily available)

Find cheap low power lights on Craigslist

Throw away your gravel and go completely bare bottom. Makes cleanup 1000x easier, plus you know EXACTLY what's in your tank when things go wrong. Many/most discus hobbiests swear by the barebottom (BB) tank.

Buy a strong water transfer pump and enough hose to transfer water from one tank to another. This will be used for water changes. The more GPH the better.




Setup your main tank with 1 heater, and both filters. Sponge filters give only bio filtration, but that's all that's needed for baby discus. Set the temp to 84F.

Setup the other tank with 1 heater and the water transfer pump. Keep the water transfer pump spinning the water within the second tank all the time. Set temp to 84F.

The second tank is for aging your tap water. This lets the water in the second tank de-gas removing chlorine without adding ammonia. Read what dechlorinator does (swaps chlorine for ammonia). Degassing also removes micro bubbles which can cause gill issues in discus. Hot tap water can have unknowns in it from your water heater, and ideally shouldn't be used (I do anyway). Most discus hobbiest swear by aged tap water.

Every day / every other day: drain 50% (>50% is better) of your main tank, replenish with water from the second tank, then refill the second tank with (cold) tap water.

Feed your new baby discus 3-6 times a day. I prefer a diet of beef heart and frozen California BLACK worms. NOTE do NOT feed -> blood <-worms (bloodworms are crack for discus with no nutritional value). Never feed tubifex, ever. Also feed a good quality flake with a high protein, read about what makes a good flake and why most are not.


I'm sure this sounds a bit overwhelming, and I'm sure there will be people telling you that I'm suggesting the ridiculous. All I can say is read what the breeders are saying, ask discus Hans or read jack wattley. They say the same things I am, because they're the ones who invented it. You will wind up with 6 happy healthy adult discus and a lot of knowledge.

Once you have your adults, then add plants if you still want to. But this plan gets you up and going TODAY with bare minimum of $$ and you will not find a better way to grow discus.

I'll try to remember to start a thread about my 75g high-tech (pressurized/highlight/ferts) planted filled with healthy adult discus I grew from fry, my 75g bare-bottom with proven adult pair, and my 100g water aging tank.

 

[98kshooter]

I would just go with one 75 as the main tank and one 75 for aging your tap water.

I kept a 200g for 2 years. 200g is waay harder than most people think. You'll need more light than you can imagine to grow any plant except anubia. And you can forget about the pretty high-light ones. The canister filter you'll need is also enormous, FX5(s) at minimum... Ideally two FX5 or a sump.

Are you planning on baby $20-30 discus or adults $80+? (Please don't say baby). You won't be able to grow baby discus and keep your plants alive, they need two different types of water conditions. Adults are more forgiving.

I'd skip doing RO/DI, and spend that money on adult discus. Adult discs can handle pretty much any tap water assuming you de-gas (age) it first. But as you have two tanks already, you are set.

-----

All that being said: Speaking from experience with a planted discus tank, raising discus fry, and breeding discus. Here is my best advice for you.

Buy six(6) (no less) cheap (<$25) baby discus from LFS or I REALLY recommend online like aquabid, or IDEALLY simplydiscus. Forget about plants for now. Discus are social creatures, and get depressed when lonely... Depressed discus stop eating and are more prone to disease. Plus they turn black. (You are the one that wants the prissy fish!!)

Clean both 75g tanks REALLY well, read about how to use bleach in cleaning.

Buy a good air pump and two large sponge filters, CYCLE them REALLY WELL

Buy two good heaters with electronic temp, I Iike the aqueon pro. (cheap, powerful, readily available)

Find cheap low power lights on Craigslist

Throw away your gravel and go completely bare bottom. Makes cleanup 1000x easier, plus you know EXACTLY what's in your tank when things go wrong. Many/most discus hobbiests swear by the barebottom (BB) tank.

Buy a strong water transfer pump and enough hose to transfer water from one tank to another. This will be used for water changes. The more GPH the better.




Setup your main tank with 1 heater, and both filters. Sponge filters give only bio filtration, but that's all that's needed for baby discus. Set the temp to 84F.

Setup the other tank with 1 heater and the water transfer pump. Keep the water transfer pump spinning the water within the second tank all the time. Set temp to 84F.

The second tank is for aging your tap water. This lets the water in the second tank de-gas removing chlorine without adding ammonia. Read what dechlorinator does (swaps chlorine for ammonia). Degassing also removes micro bubbles which can cause gill issues in discus. Hot tap water can have unknowns in it from your water heater, and ideally shouldn't be used (I do anyway). Most discus hobbiest swear by aged tap water.

Every day / every other day: drain 50% (>50% is better) of your main tank, replenish with water from the second tank, then refill the second tank with (cold) tap water.

Feed your new baby discus 3-6 times a day. I prefer a diet of beef heart and frozen California BLACK worms. NOTE do NOT feed -> blood <-worms (bloodworms are crack for discus with no nutritional value). Never feed tubifex, ever. Also feed a good quality flake with a high protein, read about what makes a good flake and why most are not.


I'm sure this sounds a bit overwhelming, and I'm sure there will be people telling you that I'm suggesting the ridiculous. All I can say is read what the breeders are saying, ask discus Hans or read jack wattley. They say the same things I am, because they're the ones who invented it. You will wind up with 6 happy healthy adult discus and a lot of knowledge.

Once you have your adults, then add plants if you still want to. But this plan gets you up and going TODAY with bare minimum of $$ and you will not find a better way to grow discus.

I'll try to remember to start a thread about my 75g high-tech (pressurized/highlight/ferts) planted filled with healthy adult discus I grew from fry, my 75g bare-bottom with proven adult pair, and my 100g water aging tank.

Man! If I was gonna raise and keep Discus, this sounds like a plan of attack I would use! Makes sense to me and takes away the fear of Discus raising and keeping!

 

[JustinKScott]

Thanks man, so many people don't understand the differences between discus and 'other cichlids'. That's why the have the reputation of being so difficult.

 

[tommy59]

Oh wow! That was actually much more helpful than I could have imagined! I really appreciate the advice. It's funny, when my dad and I had a reef tank for a few years it was always "bigger is better". I assumed the same when it came to freshwater aquariums. Just running the two 75s does seem like the better idea. Thanks again for the help! If we do go with this setup I'll make sure to post pictures!