My 75Gal Planted Discus Tank Build

[sudz]

Hey all - Finally FINALLY got a big enough tank to think about discus.

I'm designing this thing from the beginning to be a low-tech planted discus tank.

Here's how it goes so far...

What I have Already:

• 75 Gallon tank, Metal Stand.
• 48 inch T5 (Normal Output) 2X28 watt bulbs, 6700k I believe. Fan-less ballasts (silence is key!)
• 100 watt Heater, for up to 40 gallons. (Going to buy a second)
• Fluval 305, and a fluval powerhead (300 series?)

Notes: the fluval 305 has been on my 44 gallon tank for 3+ years, I have an AC70 that is currently seeding running in parallel on my 44 so the tank does... tank when I take the fluval away.

Next Steps:

1. 5x 20lbs Bags of Eco-complete. (enough for 2.5 inches in a 75 Gallon?)
2. Second 100 watt heater. Set to 79*f
3. Add Fish, Plants.
4. Fish to start will be small Cardinals.
5. Plant-scape
6. Grow out cardinals for 3-4 months.
7. Will then add Second medium sized fish (Thinking Congo Tetras)
8. Plantscape
9. Grow out Congo's for 2 months, slowly bring temps up to 83*f
10. Add 3 discus
11. Wait 6 weeks
12. Add 2 discus
13. ... Enjoy!

My concerns:

• Is this the proper way to add discus? (3 then 2?) or just all at the same time?
  
• My PH from the tap is 7.6. This is high for discus - Really high?
• Reading from breeders in the GTA, quite a few have even bred discus at this PH. I want to avoid using any buffers, chemical methods of changing PH, etc.
  
• The MOST I will dose is excel flourish for plants.

Aquascape:

• Large Rock on left side of tank.
• Piece of driftwood (no thin branches) on rightside of tank.
• Long Grasses 2-3 inches from the back on the right.
• Some swords in the middle. (I have brown/green ones in my 44 that I'll transplant)
• Java Ferns 4 inches from the front on the left.
• Thinking Riccia on the front Centre, and maybe on the driftwood if it'll take.

The key is its all able to grow in low-medium light.

I'm afraid I'll be lacking some color (Green green green) but I'm thinking it'll make the red and orange and blue discus (looking at pidgeon blood and variants) stand out. Thoughts?

Bottom line - I'm looking at at least 6 months before discus are in the tank. I want everything established, Water aparameters steady, and my routine down perfect before I put the discus in there.

(routine I'm thinking of)

• 15-20% water change, twice weekly.
• Light, 6 hours daily, from 6PM to midnight. Indirect daylight during the day.

Alright - Stay tuned for updates and pictures as this thing comes together!

 

[sudz]

Hrmm, Lighting is inadequate. T5's, (not HO)... Need to re-evaluate.

Anyone know if I can put a second T5HO fixture beside it, if it negates the Normal Output bulbs? (so effective 108 watts total instead of 108 watts+ 56 watts = 164 watts?)

Donno if that made sense.

 

[herp_mommy]

First, your specs looks good so far. I've got T5HO over my discus tank and it's not too bright for them. I'd spend the extra money and get HO bulbs. Second, get two heaters, each powerful enough to heat 75gal. That way, if one fails, the temp won't plummet and kill your discus. Third, I would add them all at the same time. From what I read, if they grow up together they will establish a pecking order, if you add more after that's already been done you could see bullying. Lastly, do all your research on discus. They require a ton of care but are very rewarding. Mine all have personalities and will feed from my hands. Talk to breeders, buy directly from them.

 

[sudz]

Thanks!

I am looking at T5HO... i may have to wait a few months. I THINK i'll be ok with my Java Ferns for a little while with just the 58 watts until then.

I went with Two underpowered Heaters, because I've had 4 heaters get stuck ON on me in the last 6 years. (I never touch them once i set them!) All 4 times, its resulted in boiled (figuratively) dead fish.
One, 100 watt heater is able to maintain 79 Degrees farenhiet when my apartment is about 68*f. (chilly, I turned off the heat to early)
79 is Tolerable for discus for a while, no? What I am HOPING is that if one heater gets stuck on, the other heater will back off and not overheat the water, but if one heater dies altogether, it'll keep the tank warm enough for the discus to live.

Does this make sense?

 

[sudz]

So I've added the driftwood, and just added in my Fluval 304... (thought it was a 305... but no big difference)

I've had 3 black neon tetra's in there all happy. Water conditions are at 0, 0, 0.

I also did a test on my established (5 years) 44 gallon low light planted, and found it was 0,0,0 (no nitrate, nitrite, or ammonia)

I thought the zero nitrates was REALLY weird, but I did move the tank 3 months ago, and do 50% water changes once a month. I think I should back them off to 20% water changes because the tank only has a SAE, and 7 black neon tetra's...

 

[sudz]

Tomorrow I go get 6 bags of Eco Complete, and 15 Cardinal tetra's. The filter is from a well established tank, so I am not worrying about a crash. I have been over-feeding the 3 fish in the tank to give the filter enough garbage to stay alive. (hopefully OK, sounds ok in theory?)

Excitement!!!

 

[Bud]

Sounds awesome. Can't wait to see pictures.

 

[sudz]

Progress!

So I went to Big Al's in Oakville today, singing "She's gonna kill me" the entire time I was there.

Well, online, eco complete is 24.99. In Store, its 34.99.

I get them to reduce the price by 15% since I'm buying 6 bags.

Also pick up the jager 300 watt heater, and the blue/black background, and 2 dollars for what I found to be oil to stick the background on. (2 dollars - wasted! lol)

So, I brought my granny cart down to the car... I just spent 45 minutes straightening it and adding steel cable to keep it all together - Turns out 120 pounds of gravel isn't in its list of things it can handle... (picture 1)

After putting the gravel in, the inlet for the canister filter is in the gravel. So I trimmed it by 2 inches. (2nd pic) is this still to close to the bottom? (about an inch)

Anywho, Attached are the pictures! - Can some ID the plant? I bought the original one about 4 years ago and have since forgotten the name. (I can't get past the fact that I've had a plant for 4 years) Its got a brownish underside to the leaves.

in 2 weeks, i'll get 15 or so cardinals.

 

[Flossie]

its going to be great!

 

[sudz]

Picked up 20 juvy cardinals for 30 bucks today! Asked for 18... Got 20! They are really small. I have a feeling some aren't healthy. We will se!!!

 

[Jason7894561230]

That plant is a type of crypt.

 

[sudz]

Hrmmm Well, hopefully it doesn't melt away on me! The Cardinals look really good. Not a single death overnight!

 

[Jason7894561230]

Any pics of the Cards?

 

[sudz]

I'll put pics up shortly. Still no losses. I'm having trouble getting my flake food to sink though. Stays at the surface for hours. I end up crushing it between my fingers, putting my hand under water, and then releasing it... but some of it still comes to the surface. Time for a switch in brand?

 

[Hondatek]

What brand of flakes are they. I use omega one cichlid flakes for my discus and put them in the output of the filter and that makes them sink everytime

 

[sudz]

Omega One Tropical Flakes - Yellow and red container.

 

[Hondatek]

Yea that's the wrong stuff get the purple top one that says cichlid flakes

 

[sudz]

Got it - still floats a bit. Bit of a film on top of the water which I believe is causing the flake not to sink. I put the power head so it makes more of a ripple in the surface - helps a bit.

Also, plans are significantly slower now - Girlfriend lost her job (lives with me) so things are super tight! I "sprang" for a $7.99 potted Hygrophilia plant.

My tank is low light ( just under 1wpg) but so far the javafern and crypts are doing really well. I even chopped of part of the crypts root and put it on the surface of the substrate and its got some tiny roots and one leaf sprouting from it

I put the Hygrophilia (corymbosa) at the back right side of the tank. When it grows I'll chop and spread it out a bit wider. I'll keep it about 3 inches below the surface at all times so it stays bushy and ads a nice depth to the tank.

Slowly, but exciting! As my sig says: Good things take time, bad things happen overnight.

 

[sudz]

Also, looking for good low-medium light foreground plant. Woudl glosso grow in my tank? (56watt T5, 75 gallon tank)

 

[Bud]

Need. More. Pics.