# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Shalu's 100g discus tank



## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

Actually this is an overstocked community tank, including 13 discus right now. sorry about the blurry pics, hard to focus 'cause I haven't wiped tank for some time  Now I found out it was due to damage by the bristlenose pleco :-(


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

Actually this is an overstocked community tank, including 13 discus right now. sorry about the blurry pics, hard to focus 'cause I haven't wiped tank for some time  Now I found out it was due to damage by the bristlenose pleco :-(


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

you make me drool at all those discus. i have 1 myself and love it. nice tank.


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## dissident (Sep 6, 2005)

Wow! That looks great. I want some, bad! Either of you guys have or know of a lazy-man's guide to discus? I've done a lot of reading on simplydiscus.com but have gotten turned off from the idea. Seems like way too much work and everything has to be perfect, unless that is for the uber discus breeders/growers. Are they really that hard to keep, I don't plan on breeding and would probably start with adults or juvies.

Sorry got off topic. The tank looks great!


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## anonapersona (Mar 11, 2004)

Simply can be "strict" in how they say discus should be raised, but they are right for the most part. 

I've crowded my tanks more than they suggest, but I have triple filtration going with a Penguin 330 biowheel plus HOT 250 plus HydroV sponge with 2xdaily waste removal in bare bottom tank and 50% every other day water change. The fish are big and sassy, 3" to 4" total length, 22 pc in 105 gallon tank in 8.0 pH tap water.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

thx for the kind words.

Discus do require a little more water change than other fish, partly because they eat a lot, also because they like cleaner water. I was doing 50% weekly water changes based on incorrect NO3 reading, but I have increased water change to 3x60%, both fish and plants are doing great, not much algae problem at all. That's about as much water change I can bear to do. But if the stocking level were lower, one can get away with far less water change.

I don't totally agree with lots of posts on SimplyDiscus about planted tanks. There are only a couple regulars there that have substantial knowledge on heavily planted tanks. I have tried bare bottom with daily water changes, it does not automatically solve all the potential problems. Some of my fish are kind of stunted due to problems experienced during the bare bottom phase(probably not enough water change even though I performed daily 40% wc in 55gallon). I no longer have any problems now that they are all in my main planted tank. My view is, with the SAME amount of water change, heavily planted tanks give you better water quality without completely siphoning/cleaning the whole tank as in bare bottom tanks. Here I emphasize "SAME" because too many people tried planted discus tanks with little water change and they blame the failure on plants/gravel! You can reduce the water change SOMEWHAT in a planted tank, but there is only so much the plants can do when the fish load is so high. Certainly can't compare 80% daily wc in bb tank to 30% weekly wc in planted tank. If the former is required for a given fish load, the latter would certainly fail! Another common problem is, planted discus tanks only mean the following to many people: a few plants, low light, no co2, plants are generally slow growing like java fern/moss/swords/vals.... Not much growth to speak of to have much impact on water quality at all. I happen to like and collect colorful stem plants and they are in general faster growing and absorb a lot more nutrients. Contrary to common misconception, vast majority of plants will do just fine in warm discus tanks. Also contrary to common misconception, frequent water change does not cause problem for plants, as long as nutrients are dosed properly. I use dry/bulk nutrients, so the cost of any wasted fertilizer is negligible. For water change, I don't store/prepare water either. I use Python with straigh tap water. I do add water conditioner to neutralize heavy metals. That is important to me, because I use, .... plant weights!







I can't tell you how much easier the stem plants are to maintain with plant weights. I have seen many people giving up on stem plants because they become unmanageable. Not for me, I just pull them up by the bunch, cut the lower half, drop them back, that's it. Don't have to worry about fish uprooting plants either.

I added a pic of my wild discus.


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

Great looking tank! I also have a 100g tank I'm looking to add discus to. I agree with many of your comments. Those guys over at simply are kind of fanatical in their views, but they do carry a wealth of valuable information. I think Amano said it best: "If the plants are healthy, the fish will be too," (or something like that).

Tell me about your experience with foreground plants and discus. Should there be open areas so discus can feed better, or does it matter? My main concern is that I have some quick eaters such as Cardinal tetras. I'm unsure if discus can compete with those guys by picking food out of mid-water levels or if they prefer to casually feed from the bottom.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

Avalon, there are couple of things I do to make feeding easier.

You can notice the feeding cones I attached to the tank wall. I feed frozen blood worms using the cone. I suppose one could feed other foods through the cone as well. Most of the worms are gone in mid water. A few reach the bottom, and then most of them would be picked off by the ground crew and discus. In the end, very little food remain uneaten, and I am not concerned about any leftover food. It is fertilizer just like fish poop, and regular water changes keep the water quality in check.

I used to have a beautiful glosso lawn, but the maintanance is almost impossible in such a large tank. Now I use water wisteria as foreground. Very fast growing and yet extremely easy to maintain due to its coarse grained nature. Each week I simply pull out about half the plant mass and the foreground still looks good, never ratty. Takes only a few minutes. Love the bright green color too. I do try to keep a small space directly under the feeding cones to make it easier for the fish to find the dropped food, but it is really optional if very little food reaches the bottom, YMMV.

I have many quick eaters like Rainbows, 30 cardinals and dozens of other fish. A few more dominant discus occupy the feeding cone, while other discus would pick off the food mid water or on ground. Multiple feeding cones(I use two) also alleviate the aggression a little. I fill the cones before leaving for work. They also have a few hours of buffet at night. Nobody goes hungry before lights out







Keeping everyone's belly full is not cheap, I use about 3 ounces of frozen worms a day, and at $8 a pound, that addes up fast. I wish I had bought adult discus sometimes, because by the time my discus reach adulthood, they would have consumed enough food worth their weight in gold









A caution to everyone with acrylic tank and plecos: my britlenose pleco damaged the surface of my plexiglass tank. My pictures always seem a bit out of focus, because the tank wall is full of tiny scraping marks caused by the pleco!


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