My tank is finally up and running with Discus!

[DIY]

Hi,

I've been reading this forum for a quite a while now and have been wanting to get a discus setup for over a year!

These are pics of my new discus - 2 are from a local discus based lfs here in melbourne and I've just got 4 from the latest shipment at SLS

I went a black background and it's bare bottom with just the one small piece of driftwood loaded with java moss - the boss wants me to go planted but I think I want the discus to get bigger before I try something like that

Please add comments / suggestions / criticism's - I value the opinions on this forum

And finally a big thanks to Kev from SLS - "I love em"

[DIY]

And some more..

[the_oracle]

Finally you are into this wonderful hobby. Well done bro................
Nice fishes you have. All the best..............
:lol:

[kalebjarrod]

very neat and tidy setup

your babys should grow to be some really nice fish

well done

[BlackGhost]

Nice lookiish M8.
Good luck with the discus.

[DIY]

Thanks for the praise,

if there's any interest I'll post some pics of my trickle filter / sump setup that I built for underneath the cabinet

[kalebjarrod]

yeah show us the trickle

i love my trickles

[DIY]

OK - here's some more..

[DIY]

More...

[DIY]

And this is a better shot of the trickle filter & sump, I've made some lids to help keep the heat in.

The red markers on the right hand side are water level marks at 10 litre increments so I now how much water I'm changing.

the pipe running up to the "shower head" is direct from my water storage barrel so water changes are nice & easy!

P.S. I'm wearing white socks when I took this photo :oops:

[africandiscus]

Nice work, what size tank is it?

[parasite]

nice fish and setup , best of luck.

[kalebjarrod]

very very nice

i like the use of space and looks like a nice tower

ever thought of adding a overflow to your sump in case of disasters?

very nice setup overall

[kalebjarrod]

P.S nice socks

[DIY]

Yeah socks are really comfy :lol:

It's a basic 4ft (4x14x18) - I'm already planning an upgrade to a 6 footer early next year - I want to make sure my pride & joy have lots of room

I didn't think an overflow in the sump was warranted - considering there is nowhere for me to drain the water easily. Besides for the sump to overflow i'd have to leave the storge pump running unattended and that'd just be dumb!! :shock:

Ok good point - maybe I'll have a think about how I can get rid of the overflow & put one in...

[kalebjarrod]

you look pretty handy and an overflow in the sump gives you the advantage of heaps of cool tricks :wink:

[DIY]

Ok you have my attention - what sort of tricks?

[kalebjarrod]

what about a trickle system for aged water transfers?

[DIY]

Actually I did think of that - but what I've got is a small pump hidden under the bio-ball tower with a pipe going under the house to a drain on the other side, I turn the sump pump on until I hit the mark I want - then I turn the storage pump on to refill with aged water...

Now the next phase is to use some float switches & an easy to program micro-controller like a picaxe to pump out & refill at preset times, like say 10% water change once every day or two. By keeping an eye on my nitrates & discus I should be able to get an idea over the next few weeks as to how often that really needs to be.

I've already got the controller & info on how to do it, just a matter of finding some spare time to make it.

I must admit though at the moment I'm quite happy to sit there and watch my new fish whilst the pumps are running so having to flick a few switches is fine for now.

[jim]

wow wow wow...4 Spotted Penang Eruptions...I am so jelous..:-)

[kalebjarrod]

i had the same joy of watching my fish for the first few weeks

then i had to do some more DIY

junkie i guess

there are easier methods than contollers too!

[jim from sydney]

i have a lot to learn............... but with info like this.......one learns quickly...............nice work guys.