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Finally my Dream 180g Discus show tank

33K views 133 replies 45 participants last post by  Greggz 
#1 · (Edited)
hello every one,

I have always wanted a big planted discus tank since I got into planted aquariums about 6 years ago but never had the space to have one. So that gave me lots of time to dream and research on discus. So now I have just bought a new home with lots of space and so the journey starts!!!

I got a nice 180g with stand and canopy with dual over flows (first thing I bought for the new house lol its a piece of furniture right) on craigslist. I will be setting up a 40g B for the refugium with fast growing steam plants as well as, having the roots of some pothos plants hanging in there as well. Im going for a nature/natural planted aquarium look (low light) with rocks and sand. This will be a community tank with a few German, Electric blue, Gold Rams, Apistos, Rummy Nose Tetras, Clown loaches, Peacock Gudgeons, and 50-100 Cardinal Tetras. Might want to look into others, also how many Cardinals and Rummy can I get away with?



As for the Discus I want to know how many can I have in an 180, I was thinking of getting about 12-17 juvies and grow them out in there own 75g bare bottom tank with daily water changes, until adult size and then will be transfer over to the 180.

I will have an RO unit which I use for shrimp but I'm thinking of using dechlorinatored tap water, since other members here in Miami, FL are doing just find, even breeding with my same water conditions (ph 7.6)

I will be setting up the 180 and 75 grow out tank in about a month or so, once I buy new furniture and stuff. So will with continue to post updates of my build to share with every one.


DAY 1 6/28/2016




HERE'S AN UPDATE VIDEO AND PIC 12/28/2016


****VIDEO****



UPDATE 5/18/17

***VIDEO***

 
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#45 ·
Thank u.

Well right now I have a filter from another tank running along with the refugium to help cycle the tank a lot faster. I also put some water from another tank. Just bought the finnex 600w heater and putting a 24" finnex Ray 2 I have laying around for the refugium light. And that's about it got everything so far ready but one more thing I do what to make my life easier
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tunze-osmolator-universal-3155-auto-top-off.html

I have 5 gold rams, 6 GBR, a few SAE in another tank that I will put in here in a few days and just leave it like that for about a month or two then once the tank is cycled I'm going to get 200 or 300 cardinal tetras, don't know how many just yet, add some apisto as well. Also want to look into bottom dwellers. Then I should be ready to get 15 or some Discus at about 4 inches or bigger.

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#52 ·
I play on a semi pro/division 1 team in the NXL, NPPL is no longer around but ya those are classic old school teams!! I know most of those guys but they don't play any more expect for Dynasty.

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#55 ·
I want to put as many as I can I love how they look in a big school like u said so might cut down on the other fish expect for the discus. [emoji16] maybe 200 or less. I think I should be able to do it since I have a refugium to help with fish waste.

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#56 ·
Tank is looking pretty great! Excited to see it once you have fish in.

Might want to take a look at your numbers though. The fish you list puts you at 130% stocking level on aqadvisor for 240g tank. For a 180g tank with large amounts of filtration it puts you at almost 170% stocking level and gives a warning that your fish will probably all die.

I would suggest adding the cardinals in batches of 50 or so and see how it goes and stop once the fish start to get stressed. 100 should be fine, maybe even 150 if you have lots of oxygen producing plants on a reverse photo period, but I think 200 may be a stretch with all those discus.
 
#57 ·
Didn't know about aqadvisor interesting! Definitely looking to add them in slowly and try to see what is the maximum I can put in without stressing the fish. Just so focused on having a big school of tetras with discus but I will definitely take it slow With adding more fish later on. 150 wouldn't be bad at all.

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#63 · (Edited)


I have read up on why anubias is melting and Java fern having black spots, might be change of water conditions(seller tank to my tank), also read on Java fern appears to be very hard to keep that lush green without co2 according to Tom Barr. I'm using 50% RO 50% dechlorinated tap water.

So I have added co2 to the tank at .25bps to start off using aquatek paintball co2 solenoid and will be running it on a timer for 8 hours in the day. I have used co2 for a long time on other tanks and feel comfortable using it with discus in the future. From what I have read, you just have to be very careful using co2 with discus, not to suffocate(to much co2), large ph swings to fast, etc.

Also the mini weeping moss is a dark green and I don't see any new growth so the co2 should help, even though I know it's grows very slowly.

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#65 ·
Just want to start low and keep it at a balance so when I put discus in it won't harm them. Do u have a pair of discus in ur 20g? Cause other fish are less sensitive to co2 .

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#75 ·
The best person to get info is a dude name discusPaul..he's a member on here and I remember when I first joined everyone talked about him when it came to the questions about discus lol..so if you wanted you could get some real insight from that man lol

The Planted Tank Forum - View Profile: discuspaul
Ya I have been talking to him on another forum. Thanks

I just ordered the set from Green Leaf Aquarium.
It comes with 4 jars for about $25 shipped and I believe they are right in Florida.


Comes with Jar of Nitrate, Phosphate, Sulfate (The one you need to fix holes) and CSM+B. You want to make sure to test Nitrates (Want about 10PPM) and Phosphate (About 1.5PPM). You can add Sulfate and the CSM+B every other day. (Cant Overdose) If you overdose Phosphate you will have algae issues. (Wont hurt fish though) Nitrates too high will stress fish.


Hope this helps.

Bump: Also you may want to look at how discus handle chems.
I know they are quite touchy.
And now that I think about it, the CO2 actually helps lower PH and Discus I believe are high PH fish?
Something to think about.
Thanks for the info and ya its not recommend to dose but since i'm not getting them fro a while I don't mind dosing now to get plants healthy.

Discus like ph soft acidic water around 6.5 like opare said

Discus are actually fish that live in acidic, soft water in South America.
But, yeah would be careful with dosing with discus, I'm sure there is someone out there who does it so hopefully they arrive with answers.
I was thinking though, if you lower the light intensity it should slow the growth rate of the plants and therefore lower their need for nutrients, so you don't need to dose. Your plants should be able to survive without heavy dosing and CO2, anubias etc., they're low-tech plants. Those plants should be able to survive purely from nutrients provided from the tap and fish waste. And I would assume not dosing would be safer for the discus, but again I know very little about the care of the fish, just the basics hahaha.
That's what I thought since I only have a finnex 24/7 led light which peaks only for about 6 hours a day, plus the depth of the tank(2ft) seems to only be mid to low light. I should get a PAR meter.
 
#76 · (Edited)
I keep a 240 gallon planted discus tank, 60gallon wet/dry sump and CO2 injection. I dose EI method. and My CO2 target is 30ppm, although I'm probably a good bit over. I get a 1.1 - 1.2pH drop vs a degassed sample.

As I understand it, and as Tom Barr has explained, the pH drop from CO2 is not an issue for fish, discus included. CO2 is not a salt, therefore it does not impact TDS. It's rapid changes in TDS that can cause issues with stressing fish, due to it's impacting osmoregulation.

Not to be confused with overdosing CO2 and not having sufficient gas exchange. Also as I understand it, having higher O2 levels adds helps fish tolerate higher CO2 levels. Increasing CO2 concentration does not in turn decrease O2.

Here's a quick youtube clip showing my CO2 bubble rate this morning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPjW_TqC54I&feature=youtu.be

As well as a recent pic.
 

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#79 ·
So I felt like there was something missing in the middle of the tank. It has been bothering me for a while so I decided to add so more rock and get creative with a cave.

Also added a red flame sword and red melon sword between the left side and the new rocks in the middle (cave)

Before


After





I have ordered some gold powder blue rams which should be here next week.
Here's a pic



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#80 ·
Interesting stuff, risky, but looks good.
When it comes to discus I use caution.
Did you treat the wood?
I know getting wood from Tom is nice, but still it is not treated.
Same goes for the stock.
Why do you need Co2 for plants that would do well without it.
In this case simple is better.
 
#81 ·
You are correct it wasn't treated but I did pour boiling water on all the pieces of wood as well as let it sit in the tank for about 2 months before I actually scaped the tank to get as most of the tannins out as possible.

As for co2 I agree my original plan was without it but java fern gets black spots on it and turns a darker green without co2. Which it bothers me and more importantly my wife (you already know she has a say in this since she allowed it [emoji58]) plus I also got some rare mini weeping Moss which grows really really slowly. So that will help it grow a little faster. Finally since I have experience with co2 on other tanks and never had a problem (paintball co2 solenoid on timer) I decided to go ahead with it.



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#86 ·
Thanks

I have added about 80 cardinal tetras and about 25 rummy nose tetras. Here's a video for you guys

https://youtu.be/vs9n2cEzVHI

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#90 ·
Thank you. In a few months hopefully but Im going to have them in a 75 gallon bare bottom tank first to grow them out then put them in after their fully grown.

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#92 ·
love watching the tank develop. I would bump that new cave off center a bit. it looks like it is dead in the middle of the tank and draws too much attention there. it would look better in my opinion closer to one of the existing groups of rocks. however if you like the look then it is in the perfect spot.
 
#93 · (Edited)
Yup I thought of that Thanks for pointing it out to me I moved it over and took out one piece of driftwood from the right side. I think it was to much on that side.

Here's and update pic


 
#95 · (Edited)
****UPDATE VIDEO****




bunch of fish died on me but I learned from it!!!




lol I will be getting them very soon but in my video I explain why I don't have them. but I will be growing them out in another tank until they are adults
 
#96 · (Edited)
So I will be getting the Discus very soon so its about that time to find out how many I'm going to get. So heres my current stock list and what else I'm going to add besides Discus.

Current Stock list:
~50 Cardinal Tetras
~40 Rummy Nose Tetras
1 SAE
8 Sterbai Cory's
1 Dwarf Gourimi

Adding besides Discus:
4 Long Fin Electric Blue Rams
4 Long Fin Gold Rams
4 Apistogramma Macmasteri

Total approximate gallons (tank and sump/refugium) 240 g

I was thinking any where from 10 to 15 Discus, what do you guys think?
 
#100 ·
Thank I'm really excited!
stocking seems a bit heavy. i'd prolly pull one of the tetra schools
Yes it is a little heavy but I have a lot of filtration with the 75g refugium, which I will be adding more marine pure blocks (20,000 Sq ft. Of surface area for beneficial bacteria) plus almost all the plants in the tank/refugium take their nutrients from the water column.

Also i have watched the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels after letting the tank go without a water change for 3 weeks and levels where very low. I do a 50% water change every week so I know they will be find plus I add a small group of fish at first for about a month and then check the levels again to make sure everything is find.
Aquadvisor puts you at ~120% stocking level with that list. Might want to cut down on a school. Rummynose also generally like cooler water. They may not live long in the very warm water the discus required.

AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor
Rummy nose tetras are known to do well in higher Temps. Lots of discus owners have them for that reason. Don't know why Aquadvisor has them at a low temp.

Also in the Aquadvisor I see you only had the total gallons of the 179.5g and not the other ~60 gallons of water in the refugium, which would change that %.

That's cool though didn't know about Aquadvisor.

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