[II Knucklez II]

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***

 

[NotCousteau]

Just stopped by to say that's awesome! Good luck to you!

 

[discuspaul]

Great-looking tank set-up, and it'll make a dramatic discus display tank - no question !

Your intent to grow out some discus in a 75 gal bare-bottom is a real good approach - you just need to consider how many discus, and of what size, you want to do that with.

My suggestion would be not to get them too small - ideally as near to 3" as your wallet permits. But if doing that, 17 fish might be pushing the envelope somewhat - think about a dozen or so, perhaps up to 15, to give them a lot of growing out room without worrying too much about the bio-load in the 75 when they approach maturity, and you're ready to move them into the large community tank.

Your eventual stocking plan is good, except I'd recommend omitting the Clown Loaches. They're active, fast-moving fish, with questionable nocturnal habits, and could tend to stress the discus over time, particularly as they grow larger in size.

Depending on the numbers of the other fish you want to stock with, you could certainly consider going with 3 or 4 dozen, or more, of each of Cardinals & Rummy-Noses.
Just keep in mind the overall bio-load you'd be creating when it's all said & done.
Hope this helps.
Best of luck to you.

 

[II Knucklez II]

Just stopped by to say that's awesome! Good luck to you!

thank you, I have been dreaming about this for years!

Great-looking tank set-up, and it'll make a dramatic discus display tank - no question !

Your intent to grow out some discus in a 75 gal bare-bottom is a real good approach - you just need to consider how many discus, and of what size, you want to do that with.

My suggestion would be not to get them too small - ideally as near to 3" as your wallet permits. But if doing that, 17 fish might be pushing the envelope somewhat - think about a dozen or so, perhaps up to 15, to give them a lot of growing out room without worrying too much about the bio-load in the 75 when they approach maturity, and you're ready to move them into the large community tank.

Your eventual stocking plan is good, except I'd recommend omitting the Clown Loaches. They're active, fast-moving fish, with questionable nocturnal habits, and could tend to stress the discus over time, particularly as they grow larger in size.

Depending on the numbers of the other fish you want to stock with, you could certainly consider going with 3 or 4 dozen, or more, of each of Cardinals & Rummy-Noses.
Just keep in mind the overall bio-load you'd be creating when it's all said & done.
Hope this helps.
Best of luck to you.

Yes I'm planning on getting them around 3" to 4.5" I was thinking the same about ding 17 might just stick to 15 of them.

I know clowns are real active but heard they were ok with discus as long as you don't get a bunch of them. Seems like I might just go for some corys then to make it easier on the discus.

As for fish I was thinking 2-3 pairs of each ram and peacock gudgeon, a lil school of corys like 10, then do like 60 cardinals and 40 rummys. idk yet I have time to think about it but more or less something along those lines.

?Thanks for your input

 

[chris.rivera3]

nice and congrats!!! what are the dimensions of the tank?

 

[discuspaul]

thank you, I have been dreaming about this for years!



Yes I'm planning on getting them around 3" to 4.5" I was thinking the same about ding 17 might just stick to 15 of them.

I know clowns are real active but heard they were ok with discus as long as you don't get a bunch of them. Seems like I might just go for some corys then to make it easier on the discus.

As for fish I was thinking 2-3 pairs of each ram and peacock gudgeon, a lil school of corys like 10, then do like 60 cardinals and 40 rummys. idk yet I have time to think about it but more or less something along those lines.

?Thanks for your input

Going with larger discus of 3.5" -4.0" is very smart. Less prone to health issues, and they need less time in the 75 before they're mature and ready for the larger tank.
Despite what you've heard though, Clown Loaches are generally not good-tank-mates for discus. Yes, some folks have done it successfully - perhaps more through luck than anything else, but it's an 'iffy' proposition.

One of the secrets of keeping discus successfully is to keep things as simple (and compatible) as possible. That means avoiding 'stressors' for discus, and in my book, clown loaches are one of them - sooner or later.

If you decide to go with them, get small young ones and watch them closely when they get larger and fatter, and a touch more aggressive.

 

[II Knucklez II]

nice and congrats!!! what are the dimensions of the tank?

the actual tank is 6ft, 2ft, 2ft but the height of the whole thing is about 6 ft

Going with larger discus of 3.5" -4.0" is very smart. Less prone to health issues, and they need less time in the 75 before they're mature and ready for the larger tank.
Despite what you've heard though, Clown Loaches are generally not good-tank-mates for discus. Yes, some folks have done it successfully - perhaps more through luck than anything else, but it's an 'iffy' proposition.

One of the secrets of keeping discus successfully is to keep things as simple (and compatible) as possible. That means avoiding 'stressors' for discus, and in my book, clown loaches are one of them - sooner or later.

If you decide to go with them, get small young ones and watch them closely when they get larger and fatter, and a touch more aggressive.

Ya I have heard that before and I don't think I will get them just to be on the safe side.

I'm going to get them from Jack Wattley which he is down here so I have luxury to go over his place and pick out what I want.

Thanks again

 

[andrewss]

it will be a great setup! good luck getting it all going

 

[Raymond S.]

Don't know Discus, but do know they ain't cheap.
Sounds like a fairly high stocking level.
A generator for a power backup will save your tank/fish.

 

[Lowe]

Good call on Wattley's discus. They have some great stuff.

 

[II Knucklez II]

it will be a great setup! good luck getting it all going

Thanks super excited

Don't know Discus, but do know they ain't cheap.
Sounds like a fairly high stocking level.
A generator for a power backup will save your tank/fish.

yes I do that's why i'm getting them as juvies (3.5inch to 4.5inch) which are cheaper then adults.

Good call on Wattley's discus. They have some great stuff.

Yes they do I have been to his hatchery before its awesome. BTW lowe might be looking for some light for the tank, low light fixture is what I'm looking for but I know at 2ft deep it should be find with one fixture on each side.
What do you recommend?

 

[Solid]

Should be a sweet set-up!

 

[The Dude]

I'm doing the exact sane thing over the next couple of months. What plants have you decided to stock. I hear that alot of plants don't like the 84* temps. I had planned on Corkscrew Vals, needle leaf java fern, and Anubias Nana petit
I was curious about growing the Discus out in the 180 and only adding other inhabitants once they are larger. So nothing but plants and discus in a low tech setup. Why do so many advise against this?

 

[II Knucklez II]

I'm doing the exact sane thing over the next couple of months. What plants have you decided to stock. I hear that alot of plants don't like the 84* temps. I had planned on Corkscrew Vals, needle leaf java fern, and Anubias Nana petit
I was curious about growing the Discus out in the 180 and only adding other inhabitants once they are larger. So nothing but plants and discus in a low tech setup. Why do so many advise against this?

well I'm growing them out in a 75g then switching them over to the 180g once adults. I wouldn't do the vals, I had them before and the are fast growing and shoot runners every where and with a 180g its a pain to stick your arm in there every 2 weeks to do work. So that's why I rather have slow growing plants that don't need much tlc. I'm mostly going to do low light plants that do ok in hot water like anubias, java ferns, swords, some mosses, crpyts, etc. still got to look into that but I have an idea. But I will have the 180g already set up with all the other fish.

well from what I have read is while growing discus they can only reach their full potential unless you do close to daily water changes, vacuum poop and left over food (using a bare bottom tank), and feed high protein foods(which means water change daily lol). Once adults then its doable to put them in a planted aquarium

 

[Brian Mc]

Nice tank! I think 15 would be ideal with the rest of your bioload. Sounds like you have done your research and have a great plan. Just looked at Wattley's strains, those red snakeskins look sweet. What strains are you thinking? Can't wait to see this come together.

 

[Lowe]

Yes they do I have been to his hatchery before its awesome. BTW lowe might be looking for some light for the tank, low light fixture is what I'm looking for but I know at 2ft deep it should be find with one fixture on each side.
What do you recommend?

How high of a substrate? For me, a MonsterRAY is a must if going w/ discus. It puts out around 14 at 24" deep which will sadly put you at the low low end. Possibly supplement it with a cheap StingRAY.

 

[II Knucklez II]

Nice tank! I think 15 would be ideal with the rest of your bioload. Sounds like you have done your research and have a great plan. Just looked at Wattley's strains, those red snakeskins look sweet. What strains are you thinking? Can't wait to see this come together.

Ya that's what I was thinking and as for which ones I really don't know. I'm going going to go and pick out what I like and they will all be different.

How high of a substrate? For me, a MonsterRAY is a must if going w/ discus. It puts out around 14 at 24" deep which will sadly put you at the low low end. Possibly supplement it with a cheap StingRAY.

substrate will be about 1-2 inches high but I am going to have high rock work on one side of the tank but I am looking to do low light, since I want to do as less maintenance as possible to the actual scape. Is there any data on par for those lights? Because at 14 par @ 24" doesn't sound bad

 

[II Knucklez II]

OK so took a lil more then a month to set up everything up and I'm still not done. Of course life happen and having other things come up plus we decided to remodel the house so its almost been a year but better late then never.
Just finished plumbing the tank and got wood in from Mr. Tom Barr (thanks Tom!) So i just have the wood in there, to let it sink and release all the gunk.



As for the specs on the tank i used all 45 degree elbows and pipe is 1" as for the pump I'm using ehiem compact plus 5000 (1350ghp) which is perfect and quiet.
Lights i got the two 36 inch 24/7 planted led from finnex. I have it on a Mr. Aqua tank right now and i love it.
I bought a 75 g on Craigslist for $20 and bought the refugium kit on eBay for $100 if i remember correctly. For Media, i just ordered two 8x8x1 inch marine pure blocks and got a pack of 8 200 mircon socks.

Next need to buy rocks from a local rock place and need to find good sand anyone have experience with sand and where to buy. I don't like the play sand you find cause it has a lot of stuff that isn't sand like silicone, dirt, etc...
As for fish i have 6 GBR and 6 gold rams in a holding tank waiting for tank to be cycled. Water will be 75% RO/DI and 25% tap because my tap water is at 9 Ph and 360+ TDS.

 

[Grendel]

Very cool setup - and that wood looks awesome! What exactly did you ask Tom for? Just a random package or something specific?

 

[II Knucklez II]

I actually went over to Cali for the Superbowl and do a road trip down the Pacific coast hwy so i asked Tom if it was OK to pass by his house to pick out what i wanted. But u can send him pics of other tanks with wood u like around the size u have and he could pick them out for u