Simple Amazon tank

[dwayne.aycock]

Has Angels, tetras, mexican cherry barbs, baby discus and 1 cory cat. Simple setup, not too much work other than filtration.
Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

Dwyane it looks so much bigger and brighter without the mangrove roots! I like it alot!

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Janis, here is a Pic of the new tank. Will set it up once my current problem is solved. I have a Discus breeder (Joe) that also breeds cardinal tetras. He will walk me though each step of the way. Hopefully I will have better luck with better information and resources. I am waiting on a 56W UV sterilizer and substrate, then I will add water and plants and WAIT on the fish until everything is OK. Joe is even going to stock me with filter media in order to shorten the cycling process. I will be getting baby discus, so my initial load on a 135 should be minimal. Hope you can see the PICs. empty I know, but this has been hours and hours of work so far to include wood work and stain.
Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

It should be pretty nice when done and you did a nice job cleaning it up. Your lucky to be starting out with locally bred fish and tank bred Cardinals are so much hardier than wild caughts... kind of jealous here but in a good way! I will be anxiously waiting to see how that sheet amazon soil works.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

was wondering what to do about a background for this tank. Wife suggests just a plain black background...makes the discus and cardinals stand out more. Maybe she is on to something. Have to do something before I add water. Otherwise too heavy to move. On another note, my current fish were showing stress after this most recent WC. I added nothing to it...no prime, no start right, nothing at all. They appear to be fine now. Have 32 gallons of filtered and heavily aerated water now. Chlorine, ammonia and chloramines were removed before going into the storage container. Remaining water is circulated by a power head into a UV sterilizer and back into the container. Seems to be what my water guy was recommending. Will no more in the morning....a time I have began to dread.
Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

I would definitely recommend painting the back. I wanted to with the 220g but had to have 4 guys bring it here and get it in and on the stand. It was too big to even push it away from the wall empty so I had to settle with a background and they didn't have that size in black. But once my new stem plants finish growing to the top you won't see much of it anyway. The one thing the bugs the heck out of me is my daughter managed to splash some water between it and the tank and I have about 3 water run/spots that dried and when the halides are on I know where to look to see them. That is the nice part about paint, you can't get water spots on the back of the tank. Actually most amazon fish like dark substrate also and the dark makes your fish and plants pop.

Let me know what the morning brings.... things will get better, just look how much things have improved already. Just give it time.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Well Janis, the morning came and to my amazement....no fish losses. After the drastic changes yesterday, I fully expected to find several dead this morning. I won't make a habit of such drastic changes (really hard on the fish) but in my case...it was the only option. Angels were alert and had regained their color. Even the Discus which are the size of a dime were doing just fine. I meet with Joe today and I am to bring him several water samples (one from the tank, one from my storage barrel, one from my tap). I do have to admit, I see the water as clearer...polished even. Joe recommends dumping all filter media weekly, especially charcoal. That can get expensive and rather hard on pump housings. I have an old magnum 350 which I can use as a scrubber, and remove the charcoal from my other pumps. I can use the scrubber weekly by just tossing the input and output over the side and fun for 4 hours. Kind of like dialysis patients do, and at the end discard. Will ask him about it this evening. According to Joe, the aquarium filter system is like a large kidney. I would be performing dialysis on the tank 1 to 2 times per week. So you know me...I started researching dialysis like my life depended on it. Thanks for the advice about painting the back of the other tank black. Not sure which paint to use, but I am looking at a a water based black. It gives depth. One vertical coat followed by one horizontal coat should do the trick....talk to you later.......Dwayne

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Can you see the PICs?

I hope so.
I am not good at attachments.
Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

Your off to a good start. You'll have to tell me if that Amazonian Soil leeches any tannins. Once those plants fill in it's going to look pretty lush in there. I forgot how many discus babies are you going to put in there?

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Your off to a good start. You'll have to tell me if that Amazonian Soil leeches any tannins. Once those plants fill in it's going to look pretty lush in there. I forgot how many discus babies are you going to put in there?

Had a little bit of leaching, but it settled out pretty fast. The addition of an air stone reduced surface tension, and suspended particles settled out in less than 24 hours. Same thing will happen tomorrow. My stocking will be 8 Discus at 15 gallons per fish and 15 Cardinal Tetras. I will also add 5 green coreys.
A pretty slow moving tank, and with a black background and substrate, the fish should stand out with the proper lighting.
Your thoughts Coach?

 

[Rivercats]

Sounds good to me, can't wait to see it when it's all done and the fish are in! Oh are you getting all the same species of Discus?

 

[dwayne.aycock]

I will be getting different kinds of Discus. I definitely want 2 reds, 2 blues, 1 gold and maybe the rest stripes of some sort. The local breeder (about 20 minutes away) already has them picked out for me, and waiting on my tank to mature. He suggests a bare bottom 10 gallon tank at first which I will kidney through my 135. By kidney, I mean the water will be pumped in from the 135 into the 10 and exhausted from the 10 to the 135. Should be able to accomplish this with 2 power heads with flow restrictors, one in the 135 and the other in the 10. That gies them time to grow and acclimate, as well as water change is occurring over 120 times per day.
Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

Sounds like you definitely have all the details worked out!

 

[dwayne.aycock]

By the way...my Wife is in love with your tank PICS. I could only dream of such a thing. Dwayne

 

[Rivercats]

Tell her once you get your tank going well I'll try to talk you into adding some non-green plants. They would really make your tank pop and compliment the discus as well.