new discus tank

Hi guys,

I am in the process of creating a new tank which is going to be a planted discus aquarium. I have done some extensive research for this tank but there are still some things that I am hoping you guys might some advice on.

First off lets get the history of my fish keeping. I started out with a goldfish in a large vase, which then morphed into a 50l tank with more goldfish which then morphed into a pond of 10000l with even more goldfish while the tank was then converted to a tropical tank with guppies, neons, glass catfish and some other out the store fish. Then I found clown loaches and added them to my aquarium and shortly after that managed to convince my wife that we needed a larger tank - and by we I meant "I". So I bought a Juwel Rio 240l. And then at the same time I decided that if I was going to redo this I wanted to go something different than the cacophony of little fish. So got the tank setup with plants and all, introduced the glass catfish, the clown loaches and a week later my first 4 discus. Over the two years I had that setup I had a total of 8 discus of which one died, 6 clowns and the 3 cats.

I realised that the keeping of discus is a lot of work but the rewards are amazing. And now that I moved from CPT to the KZN Midlands I decided to start a new discus tank full out properly.

So... to the task at hand.

I am considering of building a new tank myself. Dimensions 1600x600x600. Awaiting for prices on 10mm glass to come back to me. However if it is too pricey (as I have read on this forum which it could be) I have found a tank which is 1800x600x600 for sale on gumtree. My base for the tank is going to be three blackwood tree trunks cut at 1m in height.
Filtration is one of the topics of advice that I need help on. I am leaning toward building a sump filtration system, other option is to go a canister filtration purchased from local pet store.

Lighting is going to be mounted on a canopy of which I am thinking 4 T5 tubes, 2 x natural and 2 x colour.

2 large heaters. As for oxygenation .... any advice?

It is going to be a dense planted aquarium with mopane driftwood hanging from the canopy into the water but not so dense that the discus will be hard to find. Plan is to plant the aquarium densely to help manage the onset of algae and then after a month or two thin out the plants. To get the bacteria established I would like to introduce red cardinals and then after the tank is running for about 3 months get my discus.

I am not aiming at breeding the discus but if they do, hey awesome. So I am going to invest a lot of time in this and want to do this tank properly.

I read here on the forum about a guy called Marco. Is he going to be my go to man for the discus?
Any help or advice on this setup would be most appreciated.

:shakehands:

ps: to the mods.... hope this is in the right forum

 

hi. sounds like a really nice tank in the making. ok i would go with the sump because its such a large nice tank however, you could go with an fx5 and some thing el's as well. the sump idea will hide all the pipes and make the tank look rather good.

With regards to the discus, are you going to grow them up or are you going to get adult ones. It is much eassyer to grow youngsters up in a smaller tank then move them in to your large show tank. also, water changes are allot easy in a smaller tank.

sorry about all the typos the iphone is not the best thing to use.

 

lol... no worries. I have an iphone as well

I am thinking of getting juveniles and letting them grow in the main tank. I am going to manufacture a pump system for water changes. Pump water out the tank straight into the garden and pump water from a mobile tank system which will have the clean new water already treated.

One thing I forgot to mention is that my water here is borehole water. However I am up in the mountains of the KZN Midlands so I do not have all those impurities that might be found around developed areas. So I am not sure what to do with the water?

 

hi. have you tested the water? ok if you are going to keep the babies in the big tank you are going to have to get alot. discus are sichlids and will form a pecking order and in such a big tank even 10 babies may have a problem with fighting. If they are kept in a smaller tank first they will be able to find food easy and so on.

 

Hi Joffy,

I've got a mini version of your intended setup - 750l planted with 5 Discus (planning on adding more soon). My tank's not drilled, so I've got 2 cannister filters instead of a sump (a Tetratec ex1200 and a Penn Plax Cascade 1500). I did have a problem with oxygen (due to the high temps needed for Discus), so I've also got a Tetratec APS 400 air pump.
I'm sure your water will be fine, just test the pH to make sure it's not crazy high.
There's a local breeder in Durban who you might be able to buy some Discus from. His name is Gavin McCann. I bought my 5 guys from him and they're all doing well.

Enjoy
Gordon

 

My advice would be to definitely build your own filter for such a big tank. I've made myself a DIY trickle tower for mine (1500x450x600) and it works really well. Most would probably say go for sump. The only good reason IMO for canisters would be if you were going for CO2, which I wouldn't recommend as most plants that are happy with discus temperatures are slow growers that don't need CO2. I grew out my 7 discus in a smaller tank at first.
@Marco is great, hopefully he'll turn up here soon.

 

I am not familiar with a trickle tower. Is it mounted onto the side of the tank?
Just went to look at a tank now that is about 648l. The tank is in an ok condition with some minor scratched here and there and a few more visible scratches. The bonus is that he is asking for 2k for the tank measuring 1800x600x600. I am not sure whether it is worth it though as the scratches are kind of off putting. I managed to get a pic which I will upload just now. This tank has a seperate tank divided into two mounted on the side. Total volume of about 50l.... maybe less.

Does anyone know of someone that has a tank of about that volume that they want to sell? I am hopefully getting the prices tomorrow for the glass alone. Dreading how much it will cost.

@Gordon: lol... your mini version sounds larger than my version If I manufacture my tank its only going to 576l or if I buy this tank mentioned above 648l..... still lower volume than your mini

 

Sounds like a nice tank! I'd always go for volume and never mind the scratches, but that's just me. This is the filter that I have: here.

 

Oh! Thought I read that you were going for a 1 000l guy. That tank is a good deal. I bought mine new for R5 000. Its measurements are 1800 X 600 X 700.

 

Hi if the scratches are not to deep then with a little bit of work you can polish them out.

 

Check this out


HOW TO: Remove scratches from an aquarium - YouTube

 

images of the tank mentioned above. Should I be concerned about the glass strip marked in red? Also, should I trim all that old silicone off? kind of unsightly IMO.....

 

Dimensions 1700 x 700wide x 800mm deep too big a tank for discus?

 

That's a good deel I think.

 

Looks weird - dodge, but depends on the cost of the tank.

Should you re-silicone? hmm My vote is yes if you are going to have the tank in your house - then you know the state and quality of the job. If outside - maybe less of an issue. For that size you will need loads of helpers. This is what I have done when it comes to building fixing tanks.

Later Ferdie

 

Never too big! You'll be able to keep a good bunch of discus in there. It's a great price and size - if it looks grotty to you I'd suggest going with what Ferdie said, buy it and rebuild it at home. You won't get new glass for that price.

 

I just received an sms saying that the tank I looked at is sold. Probably a good thing. I am going to keep my eye to the ground for a good second hand tank, else just save for new good quality glass.

 

Keep an eye on gumtree

 

okay, so I just received a quote to get 10mm glass.
1x 2000x700
2x 2000x600
2x 600x680

this quote is for 10mm clear float A.A.R glass and cut to size is 1999.47 inclusive.

I m happy with the quote, though is the glass quoted the right glass?

 

Sounds affordable, are you going to brace it?