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  1. #1
    Just an Egg
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Cayman Islands
    Posts
    31

    ordered a 150 gallon tank for my Discus

    I ordered a 150gallon 'Clear for Life Deluxe' setup from fishtanksdirect.com to put my discus in, they are currently in a 55 gallon.

    I'm brand new to Discus after buying a 55 gallon + 6 juvenile Discus three weeks ago. This is my first aquarium in over 20 years, though I had 7 aquariums of various sizes before that time.

    My Discus:
    3 Red Marlboro (3 inches)
    2 Blue Diamond (2.75 inches)
    1 Pigeon Blood (3 inches)

    In their current 55 gallon:
    I feed them 4-5 times a day and they all eat really well except for the 2 Blue Diamonds who are a smidgen smaller than the rest and so get bullied a bit and don't get quite as much food as they rest. I do 50% water changes 3 times per week. I have 2.5 inches coarse gravel substrate and for filtration I have an over-tank power filter that came with the tank, and added a second one to increase filtration. Also have a power head in the tank for more oxygen. Tankmates are 2 cory catfish, 2 plecos, and 2 rosy barbs. For decorations I have three artificial plants and three artificial driftwood decorations.
    QUESTION: does all of the above sound ok? I welcome any suggestions/advice.

    for the new 150 gallon:
    After three weeks of keeping the 6 Discus in the 55 gallon tank I realize I want to make a really nice home for them. The tank I ordered comes with a double overflow sump filter setup, the salesman told me this will handle ever a saltwater setup.
    Here are my plans for the 150 gallon:
    Substrate: 3 inches of pool filter sand.
    Decorations: driftwood & rocks I am collecting at the beach. I live in the Cayman Islands and I've found quite a few nice pieces so far, but I've never done this before so I plan to soak these in bleach for a day, then in water for about 4 weeks (i'll change the water every 3 days) before I introduce them to the tank. Any advice regarding this is appreciated. I also plan on adding a couple of artificial plants to the tank.

    I'm really excited to put my Discus in their new home once I get it. Any advice on this, or my current 55 gallon, is much appreciated.

    Kenny

  2. #2
    Hi Ken,
    Welcome to the world of Discus!
    First i see some things id like to mention to you, those rosy barbs will nip at the discus and should be removed asap. The cory catfish are great but they need to be in a school of at least 6 or they will stress out and die mostly.
    Please dont move the Discus into the new tank right away. Your 55 gallon would still be cycling as it is i believe. Did you use Quick start or Stability in the tank when you first got it? They are beneficial bacteria for your tank and helps cycle the tank much faster. Also do you have a freshwater test kit like API master test kit? This tests the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate....
    I will try to send you a mail now, please check your in box

  3. #3
    Also pelcos are know to latch onto discus and eat the discus slime coats.. Just a warning.. The cory cats are fine though, i have them in with mine, nothing else though...

  4. #4
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    S.E Melbourne VIC
    Posts
    267
    Hi Kenny;
    Welcome to the forum ,i would go with every thing that Sabrina has suggested ,the only other things which comes to mind is the gravel at 2.5 inch ,this would attract waste and food and that would contribute to deterioration of your water quality. I would suggest BB tank at least till your discus become adults .This also helps your discus to grow bigger and quicker than otherwise .
    Enjoy the experience.

  5. #5
    Just an Egg
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Cayman Islands
    Posts
    31
    Quote Originally Posted by Sabrina View Post
    Hi Ken,
    Welcome to the world of Discus!
    First i see some things id like to mention to you, those rosy barbs will nip at the discus and should be removed asap. The cory catfish are great but they need to be in a school of at least 6 or they will stress out and die mostly.
    Please dont move the Discus into the new tank right away. Your 55 gallon would still be cycling as it is i believe. Did you use Quick start or Stability in the tank when you first got it? They are beneficial bacteria for your tank and helps cycle the tank much faster. Also do you have a freshwater test kit like API master test kit? This tests the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate....
    I will try to send you a mail now, please check your in box
    Hi Sabrina,

    Thanks for you post. I've been reading about Discus care some since my post and made some changes:

    -Firstly I changed my order to a 180 gallon setup which should arrive to me in 2-3 more weeks.
    -In my current 55gal I'm doing 70% daily water changes.
    -I removed most of the gravel so it's now just a very thin layer, maybe 1/2" or less.
    -I added a fluval canister filter.
    -RE: Cycling: I only learned about this after I purchased & setup the 55gal, which I believe is now very close to being cycled. I have an Ammonia and Nitrite tests currently, but actually have an API master test kit on order. I ordered Fluval Cycle which I'll use in the 180gal.
    -RE: other fish in the tank: I found out I don't have Rosy Barbs but what I have are some type of rose-colored tetras. I actually had to return a tiny German Blue Ram back to the LPS because it was chasing and stressing my Discus lol

    Thanks again for all your advice.
    Kenny

  6. #6
    Just an Egg
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Cayman Islands
    Posts
    31
    Quote Originally Posted by sayid View Post
    Hi Kenny;
    Welcome to the forum ,i would go with every thing that Sabrina has suggested ,the only other things which comes to mind is the gravel at 2.5 inch ,this would attract waste and food and that would contribute to deterioration of your water quality. I would suggest BB tank at least till your discus become adults .This also helps your discus to grow bigger and quicker than otherwise .
    Enjoy the experience.
    Hi Sayid:
    Yes, after I cleaned my gravel and saw all the accumulated waste I took most of it out. Now it's just a very thin layer. Also increased my daily wc. I really would like my Discus to grow into healthy good looking fish.
    Kenny

  7. #7
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    S.E Melbourne VIC
    Posts
    267
    Quote Originally Posted by ken31cayman View Post
    Hi Sayid:
    Yes, after I cleaned my gravel and saw all the accumulated waste I took most of it out. Now it's just a very thin layer. Also increased my daily wc. I really would like my Discus to grow into healthy good looking fish.
    Kenny
    hi Kenny
    Why don't you send some pictures of your tank ,that way it is much easier to comment and pinpoint on different issues other wise it is a little of shooting in the dark.
    sayid

  8. #8
    Hi Ken,
    70% daily water change are too much, i know water changes for discus are good but 70% is over the top. You would be loosing all the good bacteria and the fish would be stressed. 25-40% is much better, and you can also leave it for a day and do every other day.
    The cheapest place to buy the API master test kit is on ebay
    I agree with sayid, try to upload some pics of your tank and discus..
    Your very welcome!

  9. #9
    Moderator
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    China
    Posts
    2,283
    Remember that cycling a tank is nothing to do with the water. It is to do with creating nitrifying bacteria in your filter. You need to test for ammonia and nitrate nitrite. You must seed the cycle (feed the bacteria) until you have no nitrates or ammonia after feeding your filter.
    Why me ?

  10. #10
    Just an Egg
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Cayman Islands
    Posts
    31
    Hi All,

    I wanted to post an update to my post here. Note that I posted a similar post on SimplyDiscus in the tank journals section.
    The Discus are ten I purchased from DiscusUSA (which are 'Tony Tan Discus'). They are all about 5". He apparently hand picked some of his best fish for my order and included what may be a probable blue scorpion pair. I'm not an expert but they look pretty good to me so I'm pleased.

    The ten new fish are in a 180 gallon acrylic. The tank is drilled with side overflows, the sump came as part of the package - it is 30gallons, which is small but I guess a bigger one couldn't fit in the stand. I'm also running a Fluval FX6 with 2 trays of Purigen. The Fluval's input and output hoses are in the sump.

    The driftwood is actually cut from the roots of a dead Casuarina tree. There is a stretch of beach here where the maritime authority cut down these trees years ago due to storm risk, leaving the stumps with roots exposed.

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    Last edited by ken31cayman; Tue Nov 08, 2016 at 01:39 PM.

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