Greetings from Sydney

[sf108]

Hi all

I've just re-started my interest in the petfish hobby!

Last time I had a fish tank was about 5-6 years ago with over 100 guppies breeding madly and then suddenly dying due to poor maintenance!

I've been reading on discuss from many forums and am interested in starting a tank.

A few questions for the experienced members:
1. Is a canister (eg Eheim) or reef dry/wet trickle system better?
2. For a beginner discuss owner, what size fish is best and which strain?
3. For CO2 diffuser, what's the optimum setup? Feed the outlet to a airpump/stone or glass cone diffuser?
4. Using compressed CO2 tank or a DYI yeast bottle?

These are just some lingering questions but I'll have more in the future.

Thanks a lot!

[TW]

Hi & welcome

A few questions for the experienced members: I'm not as experienced as some around here, but have been keeping discus since 2006
1. Is a canister (eg Eheim) or reef dry/wet trickle system better? At this stage, all my discus tanks use an eheim canister. I am currently setting up my first sump, so I will see how that goes. I'm looking forward to being able to move the heater into the sump & out of the tank. But, canisters are just fine IMO.
2. For a beginner discuss owner, what size fish is best and which strain? IMO, it won't make much difference which strain of discus. Adults are more expensive, but easier for a beginner. Juvi discus need frequent feedings & because of that, they need daily water changes. Sounds like you are going for a planted tank. You can move your juvies into a planted tank later when they grow into adults, but it really is better to grow them up in a BBm due to the feeding & cleaning issues. I learnt this the hard way myself.
3. For CO2 diffuser, what's the optimum setup? Feed the outlet to a airpump/stone or glass cone diffuser? I currently use a glass diffuser (cheap copy of the ADA type). Because my tank is large, I don't think I get enough distribution. When I get a chance, I plan to investigate further on this myself. Depending on tank size, glass diffuser may work well for you (it does for many). I think I need some sort of reactor.
4. Using compressed CO2 tank or a DYI yeast bottle? IMO, if your tank is much above 20US G, then it will be hard to get enough C02 from a DIY system. I tried it in my 43G (160L) tank & it was a PITA. I was forever mixing up fresh bottles & my levels were always low. I know lots of pple manage quite well with DIY, but usually on tanks 20G or under.

Have fun.