54 Gallon Corner Tank Build (Discus)

Hello, I will be starting to put together the new 54 Gallon tank I got for Christmas! I have a good idea of what I want to do with the tank scape wise so I think it will be fun! Also, today is my birthday so yay!

Let's get a rundown on the dimensions and everything...
Tank: 39" by 27.25" by 23"

Equipment:
- Filter: (Thinking about SunSun 340B) and Pre-Cycled Sponge Filter.
- Heater: Jaguar Ehiem 300w
- Air Pump: Tetra Whisper 100
- Lighting: (Nothing Fancy) Lights that come with the tank.

Right now I am just getting stuff together to set this up but I will update this when I do something.

 

Happy birthday and best of luck in your future discus tank.

 

Congrats. You planning to scape it, or keep other fisb with them or strictly discus only?

 

Congrats. You planning to scape it, or keep other fisb with them or strictly discus only?

Thanks!
Bit confused on your question (sorry) but I’m will be keep them with some other fish, maybe Cardinal tetras but I’m still looking around!

 

Haha, sorry was at work.

I meant will you be scaping the tank or keeping it bare boned?

Rummies would be a nice compliment, since their noses are usually good indicators for water quality.

 

Haha, sorry was at work.

I meant will you be scaping the tank or keeping it bare boned?

Rummies would be a nice compliment, since their noses are usually good indicators for water quality.

It’s all good!
I’m planning on scaping the tank. I know a lot of people suggest bare but I’m going to do scaping on this. I would love to find a really good piece of driftwood what I can make sticking out from the sand and maybe rocks or plants around it!
(Scaping feels like a weird word to type... )
I’ll look out for rummies!

 

Is there a specific strain of discus that you wish to acquire?

 

Is there a specific strain of discus that you wish to acquire?

Yes!
I really like them all but a few I like...
- Wild Discus (Love the Contrast of color)
- Red / Blue Turquoise Discus (love it)
I have more but I’m looking into more!

 

Watching!

 

Yes!
I really like them all but a few I like...
- Wild Discus (Love the Contrast of color)
- Red / Blue Turquoise Discus (love it)
I have more but I’m looking into more!

If I have a duplicate of my 90 gallon, I would definitely do Heckel Discus!

 

HI guys,
So I have been thinking of Aquascapes and I think I like this one...


Yeah, I made it and don't be mean.
Ok so basically I will explain this but I do want to get a good mental picture of what I want for this.

So I will have sand in front of the tank. There will be no plants in this area.

I will have to hills of dirt on the sides making almost a valley with the sand, I want the pebbles to be surrounding the hills to separate it from the sand.

The Hills will be carpeted with S. Repens to give the hills a good look with plants. I am still debating whether to but holes in the Hills to allow fish to go in and out of them.

Then I would like to put some driftwood on the top of the hills and have them come together to form like a circle of something really cool.

Then when the sand goes to the back in between the valley I will put a bigger BonsaI tree (Java Moss) surrounded by sand and maybe some plants but I cannot think of any right now for the back.

So any feedback? I was looking at a few Aquascapes and this is what I came out with.

I am thinking about a driftwood and rock scape aswell.

 

Update,

Filter: My filter (SunSun 304B) came today! I should be good to fill the tank up on Friday once I get the sand!

Python: Also, python is working great right now and makes it much easier for me.

Thermometer: Thermometer broke so, gotta get another one of those...

Lighting: Also checking out a new lighting system but I might stick with the one provided but I’ll figure it out!

Aquascape: Still unsure of what I would like to do, really depends on what pieces I can find at the moment.

Stocking: I do like the tetras such as Cardinal Tetra, Brilliant Rummy-nose tetra, and lemon tetra. Rainbowfish are also another that come to mind like neon dwarfs but I’m thinking tetras would be a better fit to my tank with Discus...

 

Sounds good. Being it’s a discus tank I would stay away from dirt. Will be to messy in a discus tank. Stay with easy plants. Do you have plants now? I use 1/8” gravel for my plants and only 1-1 1/2” deep. With discus you have to gravel vac.
As to wild discus. There not that easy to come buy and expensive and shouldn’t be put with regular discus. Wild may still hold diseases.
Lighting is important for plants.
I recently tried fork tailed rainbows and the heat was to much for them. I’ve had bosemanI with discus without problems. I also had the dwarf blue ones in a community tank and though there nice they only lived for about 2 yrs.

 

Sounds good. Being it’s a discus tank I would stay away from dirt. Will be to messy in a discus tank. Stay with easy plants. Do you have plants now? I use 1/8” gravel for my plants and only 1-1 1/2” deep. With discus you have to gravel vac.
As to wild discus. There not that easy to come buy and expensive and shouldn’t be put with regular discus. Wild may still hold diseases.
Lighting is important for plants.
I recently tried fork tailed rainbows and the heat was to much for them. I’ve had bosemanI with discus without problems. I also had the dwarf blue ones in a community tank and though there nice they only lived for about 2 yrs.

Sorry for the late response but,
Thanks for telling me about the dirt I was deciding whether or not dirt is good. Also would you do gravel or sand? I want to keep Corydoras and other catfish if that matters at all, I also do have plants in my 29 like crypts, vals, and Anubis. I do gravel vac my tank mostly every water change. Also thanks I didn’t know that wild discus had that, I’ll just keep it to domestic. I wanted to try BosemanI but I think my tanks a bit small for them. Thanks!

 

I use gravel and my plants grow. I have Corys no problems. All of your plants will work. A good dither fish are gbr.
Check out uncle sams discus. Nice fish and the green they sell has that great wild look.

 

Update...
Everything is here and I am ready to set up the tank!
Finally, I’ll post pictures when I’m done.

 

Update...
Everything is here and I am ready to set up the tank!
Finally, I’ll post pictures when I’m done.

Looking forward to it.

 

It’s been a long time but guess what...




Got it done and cycle is starting now with my cycled media!
(I know all the bubbles... but it’s new! )

 

Now how did I miss this, well I'll be watching the rest of your endeavour!

 

Update:
Tank hasn’t exploded so that’s good!

Sand seems a bit out of place because of the filter but it’s fine.

Temperature is at 80.4° F I just need to get it up a little bit, I set the heater to 83° F but I might need to do a warm water change or increase the dial to get it up.

I dosed 1 drop per gallon of ammonia because I’ve heard 4 dpg is a bit overkill with 8 ppm!

Just really it, I might update this thread every 2 days depending if something interesting happens on a day that I don’t post. Hopefully I can get this cycle done with quickly and get some fish!

 

Wow, I didn’t think I’d have to post here again for another 2 days but guess what exciting news!

Yesterday I dosed 1 DPG of Ammonia and I was baffled by the results...

- Ammonia: 0.75 about
(looked in between colors 1.00 and 0.50)
- Nitrite: 0
- Nitrates: 5.0
- pH: 7.8
- Hardness: Hard but not very hard
- Temp: Constant 80° (Need it hotter)
That’s exciting! Nitrates! I was a bit
surprised when that tube turned from yellow to orange.

So I’m guessing I’ll dose the ammonia with 1 DPG again? Or should I go up to 2 DPG?

That’s really all I wanted to share! Thanks to everyone who’s been watching so far, one step closer to some Discus!

 

I know late...
What’s up guys, I’m posting again and have some good news!

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10

Cycled! Now I just need to get that temperature up and figure out what discus I want, came faster than I thought!

I haven’t found anything on this but should discus really be the first fish in the tank?

 

They weren’t for me.

 

How is your potential stocking list looking like?

I've always liked the 54g corner tanks for some reason! They just look interesting to me with their shape.

 

Wow, I didn’t think I’d have to post here again for another 2 days but guess what exciting news!

Yesterday I dosed 1 DPG of Ammonia and I was baffled by the results...

- Ammonia: 0.75 about
(looked in between colors 1.00 and 0.50)
- Nitrite: 0
- Nitrates: 5.0
- pH: 7.8
- Hardness: Hard but not very hard
- Temp: Constant 80° (Need it hotter)
That’s exciting! Nitrates! I was a bit
surprised when that tube turned from yellow to orang

I know late...
What’s up guys, I’m posting again and have some good news!

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10

Cycled! Now I just need to get that temperature up and figure out what discus I want, came faster than I thought!

I haven’t found anything on this but should discus really be the first fish in the tank?

So I’m guessing I’ll dose the ammonia with 1 DPG again? Or should I go up to 2 DPG?

That’s really all I wanted to share! Thanks to everyone who’s been watching so far, one step closer to some Discus!

.

I'm a little confused by these two posts and I'm going to say this with some trepidation but 1ppm of ammonia being consumed in this span of time means you're not ready for anything beyond a very light stocking. Cycled means your BB can consume 5ppm of ammonia in 12 hours or less.

Discus need rich protein diets and produce a lot more waste. Unless your converting good amounts of ammonia through to nitrate in 12 hours or so, I'd advise you to do the most frustrating thing in this hobby and wait.

 

How is your potential stocking list looking like?

I've always liked the 54g corner tanks for some reason! They just look interesting to me with their shape.

Not sure of the full stocking plan but I like the fish like
Cardinal Tetra
Porthole Catfish
Sterbai
Etc I’m still looking into it but I’ll post it here!

.

I'm a little confused by these two posts and I'm going to say this with some trepidation but 1ppm of ammonia being consumed in this span of time means you're not ready for anything beyond a very light stocking. Cycled means your BB can consume 5ppm of ammonia in 12 hours or less.

Discus need rich protein diets and produce a lot more waste. Unless your converting good amounts of ammonia through to nitrate in 12 hours or so, I'd advise you to do the most frustrating thing in this hobby and wait.

Understood, but 5 PPM in 12 hours seems a bit overboard. Most people say 4 PPM in 24 hours. I can continue to dose a bit higher but I’m not sure how high of a dosage I would need to attain that. I’m pretty sure it’s at 2 PPM in 24 hours because I did just test today after 24 hours of continuous dosing.
(I don’t know if it’s right but 1 DPG usually gets me about 1 PPM and 2 DPG gets 2 PPM so I bumped it up.)

 

if you don't go with Discus, take a look at Rainbowfish. They grow quickly and are usually hardy in my experience. I've got four, but would have more if my community tank wasn't already overcrowded.

Boesemani, Turquoise, Millennium and Australian Rainbow fish are great looking and color up nice.

A couple of one type, or a mixed group would look great in a planted tank.

 

Wazzzzzupppp!
I’m finally back to this thread for an update...
I ended up picking out 4 Rummynose Tetra. Not sure what type though if you guys know then feel free to comment.
This picture was right after putting them in but I’ll get more in the future. Not starting with discus right now! Soon...

 

Looking good! I’ll eventually do another discus tank, but when I do, I want to run a sump on it and everything. It makes it so much easier.

 

Wazzzzzupppp!
I’m finally back to this thread for an update...
I ended up picking out 4 Rummynose Tetra. Not sure what type though if you guys know then feel free to comment.
This picture was right after putting them in but I’ll get more in the future. Not starting with discus right now! Soon...
View attachment 661305
View attachment 661306

Nice! I would get 3+ more because they are a schoaling fish.

 

Nice! I would get 3+ more because they are a schoaling fish.

Yup! I still got to get more but I wanted to make sure everything was alright before I went for a full school. I might wait a week or more and get more, maybe 8 more or 10?

 

Yup! I still got to get more but I wanted to make sure everything was alright before I went for a full school. I might wait a week or more and get more, maybe 8 more or 10?

Get ten

 

Haven’t updated in a while...
Mostly because nothing interesting has happened but here we go!

I’ve been trying to get more Rummynose Tetras but my LFS hasn’t had them in, I should be getting more on Monday though.

I’ve chosen all six of my discus strains so I’d thought I’d share them.
1. Rose Red Discus
2. White Butterfly Discus
3. Neon Sapphire Discus
4. Tiger Turquoise Discus
5. Albino Millennium Gold Discus
6. Marlboro Red Discus

 

Nice color list you got there.
Hey, fellow Ohioan. What part. Brooklyn here.

 

Understood, but 5 PPM in 12 hours seems a bit overboard. Most people say 4 PPM in 24 hours. I can continue to dose a bit higher but I’m not sure how high of a dosage I would need to attain that. I’m pretty sure it’s at 2 PPM in 24 hours because I did just test today after 24 hours of continuous dosing.
(I don’t know if it’s right but 1 DPG usually gets me about 1 PPM and 2 DPG gets 2 PPM so I bumped it up.)

Over time I've realized that the term "cycled" means different things on different outlets. The forum I first started out on had 5ppm in 12 hours as the standard. Another had 3ppm. I recently saw a post on reddit where 1ppm in 24 hours was acceptable despite the fact the hobbyist kept losing fish. Personally, the stronger the colony of BB is the better which is why I suggested 5ppm.

But obviously this is just my advice and you clearly have a handle on things so take whatever works best for you and disregard the rest.

You have an awesome colour list by the way, I can't wait to see it all up and running.

 

Thank you RollaPear!

Also which one of you are buying all of the rummy nose tetras...

 

Thank you RollaPear!

Also which one of you are buying all of the rummy nose tetras...

Oop, sorry its me. I got like 200 at my house rn.....

 

Update:

I’ll be ordering discus the first week of March when Kenny gets his shipment in. I’ve given up on looking for Rummynose for now and will figure it out later. But they seem happy riding the sponge filter bubbles.

Filter won’t stop making noise so I got to go in there and fasten the impeller, seems to be the problem I am guessing...

Diet:
I have had trouble with this but I think I got it now, here is my selection...
1. Freeze-Dried Blackworms (Main Food)
2. Frozen Bloodworms (every 2-3 days)
3. Freeze-Dried Blackworms with Spinach (This has enhancers but it is pretty low and it has good nutrition so I’ll feed this every 1 - 2 weeks? I’ll figure it out)
4. Red Wigglers (Treat)
5. Earthworms (Treat)

In case you are wondering; what is he rambling on about? Well I’ll be keeping a yellow discus which will turn orange if I don’t be careful with my selections of food. So basically enhancers are in almost all of prepared foods like flakes, pellets, and etc. These will turn your discus orange because of these ingredients such as shrimp, astaxanthin, betta C, and etc. If you want a better explanation then take the flamingo for example, if you don’t feed it the food it needs to retain the pink color it will turn gray. Crazy right? Look up gray flamingos, it all depends on diet just like these discus! That is why I’m avoiding all enhancers...

 

Not knowing anything about yellow discus I just looked them up. Seems the only way to keep them yellow is to keep them by themselves. And even that isn’t guaranteed. Yes there nice looking but it seems everybody’s turn orange. Thing is it’s not a natural color. If planing to mix I would either get something else or be prepared for it to change. Most aren’t happy with the changed color.

 

Not knowing anything about yellow discus I just looked them up. Seems the only way to keep them yellow is to keep them by themselves. And even that isn’t guaranteed. Yes there nice looking but it seems everybody’s turn orange. Thing is it’s not a natural color. If planing to mix I would either get something else or be prepared for it to change. Most aren’t happy with the changed color.

Yeah, didn’t even know all this before I chose yellow discus. But now I know the challenge and I have to adjust to it. I’ll try it but I’m fine with orange!

Also I’d like to try something like taking a picture everyday, kind of like a journal. Seemed pretty cool to me.