Hello, I am new to these forums and first of all I would just like to say how impressed and grateful for the wealth of information I have found here. Within the next couple of weeks I will be setting up my first ever discus tank in a 120cm x 45cm x 35cm 189L tank. I have kept hardy tropical fish and oscars before, but I believe this will be a completely new challenge for me.

The other day I was thinking about the decor in my tank, and I have a couple of questions that I would greatly appreciate if answered. Ok, here goes.

1) In the past I have used sandstone rock in my fish tank set-ups, that I have collected from my garden (on the edge of a national park ). I usually scrub them very hard to remove any excess sand or grit before placing them in the tank. So far I have had no problems with them, in terms of water quality for my hardy fish, but I was just wondering if sandstone rocks would pose any problems with keeping discus, or would I be better off purchasing rocks from my LFS?

2) My family has a rather large collection of firewood obtained from eucalypt gum in our garden (sorry my tree knowledge is fairly limited) and I am wondering whether this sort of wood would be ok to use in my discus set-up? Or, once again, would I be better off purchasing drift/bog wood from my LFS?

Thankyou all for your time, and any help would be appreciated immensely .