Media for Discus

[psoul]

Hi guys,

i am currenlty setting up my discus tank and will be running a fluval 304 cannister. just wondering if you could help me with which media to use in the filter which is good for discus..

cheers


Pete

[Proteus]

I guess there is a whole lot you can use, but a lot comes down to what you want its main purpose to be...

Mechanical.

Biological.

or Chemical...

I use an element of all 3 in my Marathon... of the 5 baskets, the bottom 3 are purely Biological, bio balls, ceramic rings & cintered glass.
The next level is Mechanical & Chemical, some course Eheim gauze mesh, and some Sera Peat granules.
The top layer is all Mechanical, course filter padding, the fine grade filter padding.

When doing maintenance I dont touch the bottom 4 layers (maybe rinse them in old tank water if they are gunked up a bit) and the top layer I replace...

On my AquaClears, I just use the sponges as they are basically just a supplementary filtration device...

HTH

[psoul]

Thanks for your reply Proteus,

I would probably want the same. All 3 elements.
Not sure if you are familiar with Fluval 304, but it has 3 chambers.
The bottom one, I should maybe put bio balls, the middle ceramic rings and the top maybe some filter wool..

Is this good enough. I thought about putting gravel from an established tank in the filter aswell, to help with the cycle. Should i do this? or should I just put a handfull of gravel in the tank itself.

[Proteus]

The gravel will work, i have done that myself many times...

as for your proposed contents of the 3 levels, they sound fine...

[flukes]

If you have gravel in the tank just put the gravel from the established tank on top, when i did this the tank cycled in days. If you dont have gravel in the new tank put the gravel from the est. tank in a stocking and hang it in front of the filter intake.

[psoul]

Thanks heaps for the reply guys,

much appreciated.
I am so excited about the tank...

I am going to go and buy heaps of plants tomorrow to put in but have no clues on how to place them..

I will post pics when its all set up and ready to go...

here is a pic so far...

Pete

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