New Discus Tank - How does this sound?

[Chezz]

I have had a nice little community tank for several years and would now like to progress to a discus tank. I have been doing research and just want to check how you think this sounds so far. I have not purchased anything yet but have a plan to very shortly..........

* Aquastyle 980T (Aqua One) all in one tank - 240L, hoping this is adequate?
* Eheim Jager Heater 150w...or do I need a higher wattage?
* Some big pieces of driftwood
* Rocks
* Amazonia Soil, for half the tank (where plants are)
* Sand for the remaining substrate
* Lots of plants such as Amazon Swords, Java Ferns, Crypts, would also like to give some grass for carpet a try.....any ideas what is the easiest to grow?
* Water to be kept at 6.5PH
* Do not add an Discus for 4 - 6 months?

I plan on keeping 4 Discus with some BN's, Corys and Tetras.

How does this sound? Have I forgotten anything? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks :D

Chezz

[ILLUSN]

sounds great, my advice is go a bigger heater the jager 300 isnt much more then the 150 and it wont need to work as hard to keep the temp stable.

watch your rocks some might leach carbonate into the water raising your ph, you'll know after a week or 2.

great carpet plant for a discus tank is e.tennicalis (pigmy chain sword) lilliopsis is also a good one.

dont go too heavy on the swords, a single amazon can eaily fill a 2x2 foot space, look at some of the newer hybrids such as devils eye, red devil, they still get to impressive size but stay more compact.

[Chezz]

Thanks Illusn, I will take your advice on board :D Will go the bigger heater, maybe just get 1 sword and will check out the pigmy chain sword :D Do you know if some rocks are better than others or a rock is a rock type of deal :) ?

Chezz

[ILLUSN]

sedimentary rocks (lime stone sandstone) are bad, igneous rocks (granite/volcanic) are better as a general rule. quartz is inert (silicone dioxide) but good luck finding that in nice big chunks that dont look strange.

you wont know till you try set the tank up take an initial ph reading and then check once a week if your ph creeps up swap the rocks out.

[Nev]

If your unsure about the rocks put some vinegar on them. Fizzing bubbling happens with sedentary rocks.
Use river sand and expect to lose half of it when you wash it. Beach sand is bad. Get some from your local soil supply they'll have it in bags.
I've got amazonia in my tank, great for plants and the ph is always at 6.6.
But........
Amazonia makes the water cloudy and you'll constantly have black crud in your filter. Mix it with the sand and it should be fine. More sand than soil and expect a huge ammonia spike when you use it for the first time.

[ILLUSN]

great advice from nev, i had a massive ammonia spike from my UP aquasoil, worked great to get the filter cycling.

[swampy1972]

Amazonia makes the water cloudy and you'll constantly have black crud in your filter. Mix it with the sand and it should be fine. More sand than soil and expect a huge ammonia spike when you use it for the first time.

Not correct Nev. I've used it in several tanks now and never had an issue. The water is always crystal clear even after moving plants around.

I currently have a large Discus display using Up Aqua soil for the heavily planted areas and river sand for the rest and it works well. I'd suggest placing a physical barrier between the two to reduce mixing should you need to remove one of them. I had to do this recently and it made the job very easy.

In my current 4ft shrimp tank I'm using Amazonia II and it's extremely clear and Ph stable so I would have no issue recommending either soil.

[Hooked]

Hi Chezz,

great thread, some great advice coming out of it.

I don't mean to Hijack your thread but I really like the sound of Swampy's idea!

Great idea Swampy! Do you have any suggestions for a barrier to stop mixing, mess etc between the soil and upper substrate? I'm now pondering a decent soil to give the plants a better chance.

Another tip I saw on youtube the other day seemed good. If you want to put soil etc into a tank already full but don't want the mess. Fill an empty 1 or 2 litre plastic cool drink bottle with the soil. Place the neck near the bottom of the tank. As the soil drops out, the water rushes in the bottle to take its place sucking the majority of the mess back into the bottle. Never tried it. Looked good though.

Cheers