Preparations for a new tank have now begun

[marchmaxima]

understand that PWCs need to be done more often an discus are messy and I'm happy to make this commitment.

......within reason.....

It would be good to hear from discus owners. I'm interested in hearing their PWC maintenance routine?

 

[Glenc]

Hey there, this is to cool. I just got three Cobalt Blue Discus for fathers day! They are in my planted 125. It is true some Discus people do 75% water changes everyday, and bare bottom tanks are most common. I am not willing to do that kind of labour, one 50% once a week is enough for me, hope it's enough for the Discus! I've seen some stunning pics of planted Discus tanks, it can be done. Zags is doing it right now.(Thanks for the advice dear Zags!) I just went out and got 3 more Discus. The first three hid all this week and didn't eat a bite. As soon as I introduced the other 3, within 20 minutes they were all out cruising the tank, and eating! It is said to start with no less than 6 Discus, I now know why. It is a bit of an investment to buy 6 Discus but they are much happier now. If your gonna do it it's worth the investment.
I'm going to give this a real shot, tank temp is at 83, I'm told this is a good compromise for the Discus and the plants. Discus like it even warmer, plants do not. I hear they are ok with high light, just takes them awhile to get used to it. I am running half light at the moment till they acumilate. I'll bump back up to full light slowly and see how the Discus react. We'll see how everything does over the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted

 

[middlechild]

Beautiful fish, Glen. Happy fathers day! Pics, and more pics, as a pic says a thousand words. And right now those words are "Honey, get the checkbook, I have seen paradise and we can build it right here!"

 

[marchmaxima]

Happy fathers day Glen!! Aren't they just gorgeous. And 50% (or 2 x 25%/30%) I'm happy to commit to.

And what a present!! You must be totally stoked! Were you surprised? Please keep me posted on your experiences!

Oh and BTW, what cute little vegemites you have on your profile page.... I bet they keep you on your toes.

 

[rich311k]

Nice fish, congrats!

 

[Glenc]

It was a surprise for sure! I've been talking about getting Discus for awhile now, mostly a planted tank guy but am starting to get more into fish. With the amount of maintenance and water changes you do on a high light planted tank I have never had any problems keeping any fish, don't even have any sick fish.The water is always crystal clear, filters kept clean. I was thinking Discus might do well in my tank but never made the move to go get them. I'm one of those guys that doesn't give my wife any idea what I want for fathers day, so she jumped on the Discus thing. Very cool.
I am going to keep on my regular schedule of water changing, ferts, etc. I'm hoping the Discus will do well with things the way they are. I did raise my tank temp to 82 from 78 and have dimmed the lights a bit for now. I still want to keep the plants happy as well so I'll be keeping a close eye on everything. It's been two weeks and everything is good so far, but it will take more time to see any real changes in the plant health and growth. I may end up setting up a separate Discus tank if I start to lose plants at this high a temp, or hunt down plants that can take the higher temp. I've heard 82 is a good compromise for the Discus and the plants to do well.

Those two rug rats keep us very busy, Mitchell and Kurtis, 8 and 6. They are good kids, the oldest is a science geek like his old man, I'll get him into tanks yet! They grow way to fast. My Dad always said the older you get the faster time goes. I never understood what he meant as a kid, I totally do now.
Thanks for all the comments guys, I'll keep you posted as to how it goes.

 

[marchmaxima]

Update:

This project has been lagging. A few reasons for this.

1. Work has sent me interstate 5 times in the last 8 weeks.

2. University has delivered me one very difficult subject this semester and I am spending far too many hours on it.

3. Some crazy-lunatic nominated me, then convinced me to take on the Superintendant role of my local division of St John Ambulance. I already boss them all... i didn't really need the formal title to do that, but I got it anyway.

4. I've spent an obcene amount of money recently on a new TV stand, and a skiiing trip to Mount Hotham.

5. I'm lazy.

But the good news is that I now have a new glass box in my dining room sitting there begging me to fill it with water. Unfortuntely, I have nothing to put it on. So next on the agenda is a new table/stand. I have also been looking into a places to source the MH lighting.

Will post a pic of my new glass box soon. Perhaps if my cats would ever get out of the thing......

 

[new2betas]

Sharon,
With the sounds of everything you are doing and/or committed to #4 sounds impossible! . Can't wait to see the new tank!

 

[darrin36]

wow that is sure one nice looking tank in that thread you posted there ... good luck with yours i hope it turns out just the way you want it to

 

[marchmaxima]

You're probably right Dotti. Although if I had time to be lazy, I would be

Well, I just convinced Mum & Dad that it was a good idea if they contributed to the new fish tank stand for my Xmas/birthday present. So I need to get onto the cabinet makers and get some quotes. Being that it is a showpeice, I really want it to look nice, and Pine just isn't going to cut it. I know of a bloke who specialises in making custom cabinets/stands for fish tanks, so I will draw up what I want and go visit him.

 

[neilanh]

Updates?

 

[marchmaxima]

I wish... I've been so engrossed over "Management Science Approaches to Problem Solving", I've had no time to indulge in any of my passions.

However if anyone cares to hear about it, I know an awful lot about Linear & integer programming, sentitivity analysis, network flow modelling, and transportation & shipment problems probability and stats, etc than I did 12 weeks ago. I *know* you're all begging to hear all about it.

Interestingly, the stuff on waiting line systems did not answer why I still have to stand in line for an hour last week at the post office

The exam is on Friday.... After then, I'm free as a bird. There are two things on the agenda. Planning the trip to USA in May and 2; set up one new tank. I'm sick of it standing on its side in the garage with hubby's ashtray on it.

 

[FishEggs]

definitely not a good use for a tank

 

[marchmaxima]

You're telling me. Okay, a real update.

It's been quite sad really. Obviously, I haven't been able to dedicate much in the way of funds and time as I would like to this project There's a few reasons for this. Firstly Uni gets in the way of everything in September and October. Secondly, the impending USA trip (and falling Aussie dollar) has meant that I have been forced to rein in my spending. I'm having to be very careful.... I have husband looking over my shoulder eyeing me off when ever I'm carying a shopping bag.

But here it is.... sitting on its side..... just waiting...... so I finally took a photo

Being that it is to be THE show piece of my home, the tank needs to sit on something quite nice. As I've said in the past, I'm just not into pine.

In shopping around for non-pine options, I ran across a company that specialises in custom-built aquarium stands. So aside from saving for the trip, this is where I expect my future pennies to go. Here's a pic of something they built that really stood out to me as spectacular. (yes, that's a wine rack in the middle)

I have an appointment to go see them next weekend

It looks expensive. I hope Santa brings me cash for Christmas

 

[neilanh]

That looks nice, good luck!

If that doesn't work out, just bring the tank with you to the USA and I'll get it out of your hair so it's not staring at you constantly

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Looks good so far.

 

[Glenc]

Hey there, that must be driving you nuts looking at that beautiful tank just waiting to go.
You've waited this long, set it up when you have lots of time for a few weeks. It will be critical to get a good start. Keep a close eye on everything till it starts to stabilize. Once things get going it will pretty much run itself if you can dedicate the time it needs in the beginning.
Hope you can get at it soon

 

[marchmaxima]

Me too Glen.... My main problem is my money is being sucked into a trip to Baltimore in May. Otherwise, it'll be all systems go. To be honest, this tank is not likely to get water in it before I get back. Juvie discus require much attention when growing out and are high maintenance. I can't ask someone inexperienced with tanks to deal with that while I am away. Its a big burden.

However, I did recently go see a man about a custom-made aquarium cabinet last weekend. After an hours drive, I found myself sitting down with Dean from Mastercraft Specialty Furniture nutting out my requirements. He supplies a lot of the custom-made stuff to the local LFSs over here so he gave what I considered to be an awesome price. I'm going with something pretty similar to the one you see above, but a different colour and no wine rack. A typical Oz-standard D-size CO2 bottle you get around here won't really fit in the cabinet when it's standing up, so Dean will cut a hole in the floor at the back corner so it can slot right in, plus he's also making some other mods for me. It should be ready for sometime late Jan.

While I do want MH on the planted setup, I'm not all that keen on putting a bucketload of light over the top of a bare bottom tank while the discus are growing out. Hence I've been keeping my eye out for other lighting I can use that is a good temporary solution. Today, I found a 4ft T5 Aqua One light fixture + globes for $25.00. Some poor dude is moving interstate and he is having a massive grand sale on his fish room (containing 25+ tanks). As much as I can't believe how much stuff he's getting rid of, his loss = my gain

 

[ingg]

That's our neck of the woods! How long will you be visiting Baltimore for?

 

[marchmaxima]

At least a week. Most likely 10-11 days.

There is at least one day where I have planned to drop the hubby and visit the Baltimore Aquarium.