Hi all.
This will be my first post in this forum and I would like to give you some background to what I have done in my past.
I've been keeping fish for the better part of my life so about a decade seeing as I'm only sixteen.
I've done everything form breeding koi with my father to keeping a discus tank with average success to a full blown sps reef tank.
I have since moved houses and moved on and now I'm looking into getting back into the discus lifestyle.
My proposal is to set up a 200l gallon cube( 65cm x 65cm x50cm ) which was my full sps reef.
I still have all the equipment that I was using but this is what I plan on using for this tank:
-Tank(w/stand/sump)
-Ecotech Radion lighting(I understand that you can program it for a planted tank)
-Tunze temperature controller(w/300W heater)
-Tunze Osmolator top up unit
-Pressurised CO2 system w/ solenoid, pH controller, diffuser plate and a bubble counter
-Various reactors for carbon if need be
-Filter sock
-Refugium area which I intend to from an extremely fast form floating plant(need advice here)
-Return pump is 4000lph( which I will re-plumb to include a UV steriliser and then dump that back into the sump)
Not sure if I have forgotten any equipment or such but any suggestions for equipment/filtration will be greatly appreciated as from selling of my livestock from my reef I have a small fortune dedicated to a fish fund(most however will go to the actual purchasing of the discus).
As for the planted tank itself I'm not looking into anything fancy as for the plants but I do have the higher end equipment which has been accumulating over the years to do so if need be or if thats how it pans out.
Been reading as much as I can and have found why my first venture into discus wasn't successful as I was trying to raise 6 X 5-7 cm discus in a full planted tank with weekly water changes and minimal filtration as I believed that the plants were going to do the better part of the filtration.
As for the discus I'm planning on buying adults( 13cm + ) and will probably get 4 or 5. For tank mates I was planning on having a mainly a clean up crew setup. This includes a school of cory's and possibly some type of pleco.( also need advice here if this is correct or not ) Maybe will add a small school of cardinals if the bioload will handle it.
As for the substrate I'm thinking of 14Kgs of seachem flourite where the plants are located and then normal white sand where they aren't to make for easier clean up OR go with tropica substrate for the under part of the sand with a black sand covering it for where the plants will be going and then normal white sand for where the plants aren't going.( Also will question this on a plant specific forum )
For the plants I wanted to do something simple, yet attractive and EASIER to maintain. For fertilisation I'm going to be using the Tropica premium fertiliser as I'm convinced its quality is high and is nice and easy for a beginner. For the actual plants themselves I want a carpeting plant to fill the spaces and make a grass effect(something along the lines of HC or similar). Others would include various Anubias, Amazon swords for the background and possibly a floating plant with a hanging root structure?(Need a pointer here as I haven't seen any similar available to me yet.
Now onto a bigger debate which I have read over many articles and threads on. To use RO or not to use RO. I have got a full 4 stage RODI unit up and running which was used for my reef and was considering if I could use it here with discus. I don't plan on breeding, however if I end up with a pair I will let them spawn but the fry must fish for themselves. I want the best quality water for my fish ad don't want to have to sit and age water but will store RO water, wondering if this makes a difference to the GH/KH/pH/CO2/O2 concentrations in the barrel. Living in South Africa the tap water is not top notch and the average TDS reading for my tap water is around 400. I haven't tested the waters pH, KH or GH yet but will crack on with that. From what I've read I have seen people mixing RO with tap water to get some desired levels. Just one question for that and that is do you treat you tap water with a dechlorinator or just add it to the RO water and also after doing so do you let it age or just use it straight away.
With top up water must you use straight RO water or must you buffer it or again do the Tap water/RO water mix? If people have experience with buffers please let me know which one has worked for you and if possible post a link to your thread so I can see whats happening with your tank so I can become part of the community.
Another big topic: Water changes.
Since I have prior experiences with a refugium I wanted to setup one with a faster growing plant. This will mature into a large portion of my biological filtration. Being a planted tank I don't want to disturb the plant section of the tank which will cover around halve of the sand surface area, the other half I will vacuum out weekly with a 25% water change. I understand that this is acceptable as I'm planning to stock adult discus to this tank so they require less feedings etc.( please correct me if this is incorrect )
Filtration:
As mentioned I'm going to be setting up a refugium. This is the larger portion of the biological filtration along with the plants in the display and I will also run some sachem matrix or similar. I will be using a UV steriliser and will either passively run carbon or in a reactor. Will be using a filer sock on the inlet to the sump to catch any debris from the display. Any more suggestions for my filtration will be greatly appreciated. (positive and negative experiences will also help)
Initial setup:
For the initial setup I want to do a guppy cycle with the tank fully planted from the beginning and start the maintenance from the beginning as if the discus were in. This will also allow for the refugium to sufficiently build and will give me time to control the pH via the CO2 concentrations in the tank to establish a stable tank where everything is balanced.
ANY comments and or suggestions for my possible tank would be greatly appreciated and as I said please post a link to your threads as I would like to see what this community is about and try find my place in it.
Thank you all
Kind Regards
Tristan