210 gal re-do. Want ideas please.

[kennchong94]

you should totally include cardinal tetra into you fish list! they always look amazing in a group. but be careful cause they may get aggressive sometimes

[Bettatail]

Originally Posted by Green_Flash

planted discus or altum angel

+1, go for the altum

large fish tank needs large fish. Only if your tank focus on extreme scape and use the school of tiny fish as decoration, you can go with the small fish.

[MikeS]

Originally Posted by discuspaul

As Kathyy said, Mike, your tank would make for a superb discus display tank, and the maintenance would not be 'overload' if you got near-adult sized discus, say 8 of them, if your wallet allowed that.
And there would be quite a wide range of compatible discus tank-mates you could keep with them @ the higher discus temps.
Should you be prepared to consider that, I'd be more than happy to help out with any information you might wish.

Hmm...Have to look into this discus thing. I have always liked the pics of tanks with them, but never got into it cause I heard they were hard to keep.

Sorry, but for some reason, angels do not appeal to me.

[MikeS]

plants for discus, they more on the low tech side?

[mitchfish9]

Originally Posted by MikeS

plants for discus, they more on the low tech side?

If your just starting out with discus, low tech might be the way to go. Im not 100% sure though.

[discuspaul]

Yes, if you're just starting off with discus, you should keep it simple & go with a low-tech environment until you gain some experience with them, and get comfortable with their traits & behaviors - after a few months, you could then consider going hi-tech with pressurized CO2.

Discus are not difficult to keep, if you do your homework on discus first, get reasonably-good sized, more mature fish to begin with, and get them from a recognized, experienced and reliable source (breeder or importer) who is known for supplying healthy, good quality fish.

To give you some idea of the look of a low-tech, med. planted discus tank, here's some pics of my 75 gal.
Your much larger tank could of course look really 'smashing' with a good-sized group of discus, and suitable tank-mates.

http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/...ul/lolliblues2

To help you get a feel for discus, you may wish to have a read of my illustrated "Beginner's Guide to Getting Started with Discus' located here in the "Fish" section - click on the Sticky - very first thread.
Keep in mind it's a primer and intended not only for new discus-keepers, but also for those fairly new to the aquatics hobby too.

[MikeS]

Originally Posted by discuspaul

Yes, if you're just starting off with discus, you should keep it simple & go with a low-tech environment until you gain some experience with them, and get comfortable with their traits & behaviors - after a few months, you could then consider going hi-tech with pressurized CO2.

Discus are not difficult to keep, if you do your homework on discus first, get reasonably-good sized, more mature fish to begin with, and get them from a recognized, experienced and reliable source (breeder or importer) who is known for supplying healthy, good quality fish.

To give you some idea of the look of a low-tech, med. planted discus tank, here's some pics of my 75 gal.
Your much larger tank could of course look really 'smashing' with a good-sized group of discus, and suitable tank-mates.

http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/...ul/lolliblues2

To help you get a feel for discus, you may wish to have a read of my illustrated "Beginner's Guide to Getting Started with Discus' located here in the "Fish" section - click on the Sticky - very first thread.
Keep in mind it's a primer and intended not only for new discus-keepers, but also for those fairly new to the aquatics hobby too.

Wow, your tank is beautiful. Definitely going to give that read a little later today. Might be going to a couple LFS's to see if they have stock and pricing.

[discuspaul]

Just a little advice - please avoid getting your discus from a LFS - usually they're not healthy, good quality discus obtained from a reliable source, and they will more than likely cost you more than getting them from an experienced breeder or importer.

LFS's don't normally have the time, nor the inclination to look after them properly, and generally you will get discus that are prone to stress and resulting health issues.

You're in Calif. - what area ? I can direct you to a top-notch source in Ca.

Only buy your discus from a LFS if they are a known high quality store with experienced people, good clean tanks & routines, and you can definitely get info from them that will satisfy and assure you they get their stock from a quality source.

BTW, it's not hard to tell, is it, that I'm a big proponent/promoter of discus - that's because I've been fishkeeping on & off for well over 50 years, since I was a kid, both fresh & saltwater, and to me, discus-keeping is more satisfying, less costly and less time consuming, than say, a SW tank. And after all, discus aren't called the 'kings of the aquarium' without good reason. LOL

[discuspaul]

Hey Mike, I just looked up the location of Tracy, Ca. -
The place to get high quality discus nearest you just happens to be Kenny's Discus in Daly City, Ca., near SF.
It's only 70 miles away from you - slightly over an hour's drive - perfect!

IMO, Kenny Chueng is absolutely the # 1 supplier of high quality discus in all of the U.S. ! He imports his discus from Forrest Discus in Malaysia, one of the top breeder/exporters in the world. I buy nothing but Forrest discus.
You couldn'y do any better than Kenny's discus!

[MikeS]

Edit - Just say your previous post

What type of plants would I be looking into, since the temps has to be so high?

[discuspaul]

As you saw from the pics of my tank, I have quartz-based white silica pool filter sand for substrate, and I use root tab ferts in it to help grow the plants well.

Here's a partial list of the plants which will generally do well at the higher discus temps
(I keep my tank @ 83 -84 F). (Some, like Crypts, may take a while to acclimate, not doing so well for the first few weeks, but usually bouncing back nicely in a month or two

- All types of Echinodorus (Swords), Anubias, Java Ferns, Crypts, Ludwigias, Hygrophilas,
Rotalas, Bacopas, Jumbo Grasses, Large Vals & Sags, Alternanthera, Nymphaeas (Lotuses), Limnophila, and others.

[discuspaul]

P.S.
Here's Kenny Cheung's web site:
kennysdiscus.net
Check out his discus galleries.

[MikeS]

Originally Posted by discuspaul

As you saw from the pics of my tank, I have quartz-based white silica pool filter sand for substrate, and I use root tab ferts in it to help grow the plants well.

Here's a partial list of the plants which will generally do well at the higher discus temps
(I keep my tank @ 83 -84 F). (Some, like Crypts, may take a while to acclimate, not doing so well for the first few weeks, but usually bouncing back nicely in a month or two

- All types of Echinodorus (Swords), Anubias, Java Ferns, Crypts, Ludwigias, Hygrophilas,
Rotalas, Bacopas, Jumbo Grasses, Large Vals & Sags, Alternanthera, Nymphaeas (Lotuses), Limnophila, and others.

Nice, the ones I like are on the list. Just saw aquariumplants.com have a section for warm water/discus. No anubias? hmm. lover that plant, especially the jumbo ones. Will definitely try anyways.

Do they have certain substrate needs? I have aquariumplants.com substrate, kinda like kitty litter, and love it. It has a grayish tint, and I usually plant dwarf sag which basically makes it like a lawn after seeveral months. I do not have a problem in keeping some areas non planted.

Saw a video and the roseline sharks seem to be compatible. My buddy has my 8 fish in his tank now while mine is down. Told him they would be his if I went another direction. Guess he will be bummed. lol

It also looks like you can mix the different discus. Any advice on that, or is it all up to the coloring I want?

[MikeS]

And would be better to plant the tank and have some of the inhabitants in there, and then gradually turn up the temp over days/weeks, then add the discus?

[tomfromstlouis]

I'll jump in. I agree that discus are beautiful but I do not think you can call them low maintenance since they require more water changes than a tetra tank would. If you do decide to leap that direction, I would encourage you to pick one variety to avoid what I call the "clown tank" look of too many jolting colors. Paul's fish are quite beautiful, but I think the overall effect would be improved if he stuck with all blue, or yellow or whatever discus. Just my opinion of course.

BTW I have a 220 with a school of 45 rummynose in it and they are really fun to watch. Shrimp safe too, although a group of larger cichlids clearly would not be.

As for the thousand endlers idea, I am doing something like that in my 75. Early days for me, but a large mass of them is coming within a year. They do not school btw.