Advice on 525 gallon discus/planted tank project.

[Seancj]

Hello all.
This is a tank I'm contemplating purchasing and turning into a discus/semi planted tank. The tank measures 120" long by 24"/18" wide by 42" tall. It is a concave style tank.
Can you all offer me some advice/suggestions on how to tackle this large a tank and really turn it into something to be proud of? I've got 20 years experience with saltwater reef tanks (got burned out a year ago though) and want to create a very nice discus/planted tank to relax in front of.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Could you offer me suggestions on proper plants that can grow under low tech conditions and those that grow tall and wide? By low tech, I mean that I'm not sure I want to initiate Co2 right now, nor do I have the diligence for fertilizer dosing unless there is a product that has all the necessary fertilizers in one liquid easy enough to pour into the tank every so often.
I do have 250 watt metal halide lighting (6500K and 10,000K)along with T5 lighting to cover the length of the tank fairly well. So lighting is not an issue.
In terms of filtration, I was planning on turning an old 150 gallon tank into a sump with plenty of wet/dry filtration and some mechanical filtration, along with two Fluval FX5 filters also with bio media, mechanical, and chemical filtration. I'll try to push about 10 X turnover through the tank for sufficient flow.
If anyone has some photos or links to other freshwater tanks of this size and especially height, I would be very grateful for a link to them.
Anyway, here is the tank, a quick rendering of the cabinetry I'll be personally building for it, and a pic with one of the manufacturers employees standing next to it for scale.
Let me know what you think.



[/quote]

[Philosophos]

You may want to consider going with a very fertile substrate to reduce the need for stringent fertilizing. For the fertilizing its self, if you're setting up a tank that size, some how I doubt you'd mind paying for a couple paristoltic pumps to auto dose your ferts for you. It'll make a world of difference. Stay away from ADA AS on a tank that size.

In terms of plant species, I'd go back over the newbie list of plants. Ferns, crypts, swords, anubias etc.

Tom Barr/plantbrain has set up tanks in this size range, and he does it well enough to be contracted for it. He also works with discus a pile. I have a feeling he'll probably end up posting here anyhow. If not, get ahold of him over at thebarrreport.com

-Philosophos

[cah925]

That's a massive tank!!! The first thing I would suggest is a substrate rich in nutrients that could support plant life with minimal or no water column dosing. I used Ferka Aquabase on my recent tank and absolutely love it. It took about 3 weeks for my plants to root down and find the stuff, but now they are growing great and showing some nice colors too. I only put ferts in the water for the first week just to help get things going. I've done at least 4 water changes so I'm sure the original ferts are long gone by now.
Another option if you have time and space for it is mineralized soil capped with a gravel or sand of your choice. There are threads on the forum that go into more detail about the process.
For plants, I would probably go with Echinodorus sword plants. They are fairly easy plants, low tech and can grow tall and wide. Maybe some Crypts in the middle for some difference in height and texture.
Monsterfishkeepers.com may be another resource for large tanks like this.

[Philosophos]

Does FERKA Aquabase have actually bioavailable nutrients(as opposed to the BS on EC/fluorite)? What's the analysis look like?

-Philosophos

[plantbrain]

I did a much larger tank, 42" is too deep for most set ups designs.

This is 48" deep tank I designed and out together:



Regards,
Tom Barr

[plantbrain]

I would also not use any MH's, just T5's.
You might consider doing aesthetic sand and rocks in the front, then plant the rear and build up the wood and attach plants to it.

T5 light will offer you much better usable light and the ability to reduce and adjust the light to suit.


Regards,
Tom Barr

[Seancj]

Originally Posted by Philosophos

You may want to consider going with a very fertile substrate to reduce the need for stringent fertilizing. For the fertilizing its self, if you're setting up a tank that size, some how I doubt you'd mind paying for a couple paristoltic pumps to auto dose your ferts for you. It'll make a world of difference. Stay away from ADA AS on a tank that size.

In terms of plant species, I'd go back over the newbie list of plants. Ferns, crypts, swords, anubias etc.

Tom Barr/plantbrain has set up tanks in this size range, and he does it well enough to be contracted for it. He also works with discus a pile. I have a feeling he'll probably end up posting here anyhow. If not, get ahold of him over at
-Philosophos

Thank you for the reply Philosophos! To be honest, my initial resources will be tied up in the tank itself, hence the need to keep it simple and low tech for now. I was hoping to utilize equipment left over from my reef aquaria days and upgrade/change as time goes on.

[Seancj]

Originally Posted by cah925

That's a massive tank!!! The first thing I would suggest is a substrate rich in nutrients that could support plant life with minimal or no water column dosing. I used Ferka Aquabase on my recent tank and absolutely love it. It took about 3 weeks for my plants to root down and find the stuff, but now they are growing great and showing some nice colors too. I only put ferts in the water for the first week just to help get things going. I've done at least 4 water changes so I'm sure the original ferts are long gone by now.
Another option if you have time and space for it is mineralized soil capped with a gravel or sand of your choice. There are threads on the forum that go into more detail about the process.
For plants, I would probably go with Echinodorus sword plants. They are fairly easy plants, low tech and can grow tall and wide. Maybe some Crypts in the middle for some difference in height and texture.
Monsterfishkeeperscom may be another resource for large tanks like this.

Thank you for all the great info. I'll definitely check into the mineralized soil and the Ferka Aquabase.

[Seancj]

Originally Posted by plantbrain

I did a much larger tank, 42" is too deep for most set ups designs.

This is 48" deep tank I designed and out together:



Regards,
Tom Barr

Hello Tom.
Thank you very much for the reply and suggestions!
A member at simplydiscus forwarded some links to that very tank just last night.
Absolutely stunning in every way! I must also admit that the very tank above is the main motivation and inspiration to what I wanted to emulate with this new tank.
I'm assuming that the tank above is a 'high tech' tank, Co2, lots of fertilizers, etc..?
How did you get the plants to attach to the back wall like that? Did they grow up the back over time?
Thank you again for sharing that wonderful image and for your advice.
It is very much appreciated!

[lauraleellbp]

If you're going for low maintenance, I 2nd Toms suggestion of having a limited planted area (along the back, or perhaps symmetrical or assymetrical on one or both sides) with low tech plants.

You can put together a really nice tank with just varieties of Java fern, swordplants (there are some truly gorgeous swords that could be beautiful focal points in a tank your size), Crypts for more color and texture, mosses on driftwood... Sometimes people underestimate how truly beautiful you can make low tech planted tanks.

Take a look through the Journals forum. There have been some really nice big tanks. Scolley's Son of Kahuna tank is one you should look at for design ideas for a nice discus tank, though of course his is one of the highest-tech tanks I've ever seen LOL

[Mustang Boy]

i think that is a great idea you have there and i have some ideas of my own to kind of reproduce that tank that was posted earlier

you could get the grid material that is used in smaller tanks for moss walls and get some with varying sizes of grid pattern and you could probably nearly replicate that tank to a degree. have some moss in the back somewhere then have some java jerns somewhere else and there is a few different styles of javafern so you could have some fun and place different styles in different parts of the tank. add some anubias the same way in the grid stuff and again there are a bunch of different anubias plants out there so you could do like the java fern and have different ones scattered around the tank. maybe have a couple nice swords somewhere in the tank, some nice low tech stem plants and there are some really nice stem plants so this would be a really good idea. you could have a couple different carpeting plants with a tank this size so that could be a really cool option along with some cryps scattered around to add some color. add some nice driftwood which you could also tie some plants like moss, anubias, java fern, and a few others that i dont know of and im betting you would have a really nice tank with everything you are looking for.

i like your idea for filtration sounds like it will be more than adequate which is a good thing but i have to warn a good turn over is good but make suere there arnt any strong currents in the tank because discus hate currents from what i hear beacause it blows them around

[yikesjason]

You are going to have a lot of people excited to watch your tanks progress. I will be one of them. I don't think there are many people here who don't dream of having a tank like that.

[Seancj]

Perhaps I'll shoot for something like this one. According to the website its listed on, this is a low tech tank.

[lauraleellbp]

Yeah, that's a really nice tank, and definitely nothing high tech needed.

I think Tom's right you'd do better with just T5s no MHs.

That tank is planted with just Onion plants, Crypts, and Anubias, from what I can see. Beautiful simplicity.

[Seancj]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

Beautiful simplicity.

Exactly the terminology I was needing! Perfectly said. That's what I need..."beautiful simplicity"!