80 Gallon Discus Tank Journal

So after weeks of listening to my wife's constant pleading for "those beautiful red fish" (Pigeon Blood Discus) every time we went to the LFS (and me giving her every excuse I could think of why we couldn't get a few), I saw this auction on eBay for an 80 gallon tall tank with 8 live Dicus Fish for local pick-up only- and it was just 10 miles from my home. I monitored the auction all week, and during that week, did as much research as I could about the requirements and care of Discus. In the final minutes of the auction, the high bid was at $167. I planned on not spending over $200 for the set-up, but just to play it safe (by this time, I kinda had my heart set on this deal), I put a bid in for $255 with 10 seconds left. The next highest bidder bid at $251, so I won it for $255.

Since the tank came with no filter, and no gravel, I went out and bought the same kind of canister filter that I use in my 55 gallon- a Magnum 350. Then I made arrangements with the seller to pick up the tank only and he agreed to deliver the fish later that week after I got the tank set up and cycled.

I put the new filter in the 55 gallon, and used the old filter and a couple small fish to cycle the new tank. Within a day and a half the ammonia and nitrite readings were both at 0 and ready for the Discus.

I took out the fish I had in the tank and added the 8 Discus (six Pigeon Bloods and two Marlboro Reds) and also put in two small Corys. A few days later, I added a school of seven Neon Tetras, and a few days after that, I added four more Corys. I also took the pair of Dwarf Gouramis that were in my 15 gallon and put them in as well, seeing as how my 15 gallon was way overcrowded after adding the 5 Guppies I used to cycle the 80 gallon with.

I also made a double 36" fluorescent lighting fixture to add the two 24" lights that the tank came with and got four Amazon Swords for the tank.

So far, no troubles whatsoever. The ammonia and nitrite levels remained at zero. I had to add a 300W heater along with the 200w I already had in there to keep the temp at 86.

 

The Discus tank with plastic Amazon Swords that I have taken out and replaced with real ones.

 

Added one Red Turquoise Discus today. He's a bit bigger than the rest of the Discus in the tank.

 

Got my first online fish today. An Ocean Green Discus I purchased on eBay. He arrived healthy and is now exploring his new home while the other fish are checking out their new tankmate. He's the smallest Discus in the tank at around 2". I'll post a pic of him later.

 

This is a great tank! I'm envious.

 

Looks nice Could use a few tall fake plants or live for them to hide though

 

I got four Amazon Swords in there. I know it doesn't give them much in the way of hiding places now, but once they get a bit bigger there should be plenty of hideouts. I really don't like fake plants..

 

A little update since I haven't been posting much lately...

Neon tetras are having a tough time... lost 4 of them. Actually, I literally lost 2 of them.. no idea where they went. Two died from the same disease- kinda got all bloated and died. The other two must have died also, but I never found the carcasses. Maybe they escaped ...

Also the smallest Pigeon Blood Discus died. No idea why... he seemed perfectly fine one day, and the next he was all disoriented and died. That was a few weeks ago and since then there have been no other signs of any other fish getting sick or anything.

I also got three ottos to help with the algae. I must say they are doing an EXCELLENT job of reducing the algae too. Being a tall tank, I need a lot of light for the plants, so the algae builds up pretty quickly on the rocks and glass. Removing the algae from the glass is easy with a magnetic scraper, but the algae on the rocks was always a problem since I can't even reach the bottom the tank. The ottos are a godsend for cleaning the rocks.

 

Nice discus and have good luck with them.

 

You hve to keep us all informed in regards to your pics. Please take some more pics, I am really wanting to see some more of your beautiful discus.
Tom

 

You hve to keep us all informed in regards to your pics. Please take some more pics, I am really wanting to see some more of your beautiful discus.
Tom

OK Mr. ESP. I swear you posted this at the exact same time I was uploading new pics.

I got 7 new Neon Tetras today to replace the ones that disappeared and/or died. No pics of those guys though. I've come to the conclusion that I suck at taking fish photos...

 

Wonderful tank and set up there! ;D I just love the discus fish and yours are beautiful. I am cycling a 55 gallon tank right now so that it can house Discus and cardinal tetras and possibly a few silver dollars. I wanted to ask you about the rocks in your tank. Are those real rocks? And if they are, how much do they weigh? I want to put rocks in my own tank, but I don't know what the weight would be and if it could cause pressure cracks in the bottom of the tank? Do you know what the average weight of rocks should be for a tank?
~kate
ps. glad to hear you did great on the ebay bids for fish,I would look into that if I wasn't fearful that the fish would die enroute...

 

Thanks for the comments. Yes, I like my Discus a lot. Great fish that appear to be pretty intelligent. They always watch my every move. They all school up very nicely and the whole group likes to follow me around when I walk past the tank. They're all gathered up at the side of the tank watching me right now as a matter of fact...

The rocks are all real, but I have no idea how much they weigh. They are very heavy. I even had to drop a few of the smaller, shorter rocks into the tank from a couple inches above the bottom since the tank is so tall. I wouldn't advise dropping the rocks in, but as long as you place them in carefully, I don't think the weight of a rock should crack a tank- within reason, of course. I wouldn't put the Rock of Gibraltar in a 15 gallon tank or anything... I don't know the maximum sized rock that can be safely put into an aquarium, but I would think any rock that doesn't take up more than 25 or 30% of the tank's volume would be OK. My 55 gallon has around a dozen fairly large rocks plus about an inch and a half of large gravel and it has stood up fine. I've never heard about anyone's tank breaking from putting in too many or too large rocks.

 

Thanks for the comments. Yes, I like my Discus a lot. Great fish that appear to be pretty intelligent. They always watch my every move. They all school up very nicely and the whole group likes to follow me around when I walk past the tank. They're all gathered up at the side of the tank watching me right now as a matter of fact...

The rocks are all real, but I have no idea how much they weigh. They are very heavy. I even had to drop a few of the smaller, shorter rocks into the tank from a couple inches above the bottom since the tank is so tall. I wouldn't advise dropping the rocks in, but as long as you place them in carefully, I don't think the weight of a rock should crack a tank- within reason, of course. I wouldn't put the Rock of Gibraltar in a 15 gallon tank or anything...  I don't know the maximum sized rock that can be safely put into an aquarium, but I would think any rock that doesn't take up more than 25 or 30% of the tank's volume would be OK.  My 55 gallon has around a dozen fairly large rocks plus about an inch and a half of large gravel and it has stood up fine. I've never heard about anyone's tank breaking from putting in too many or too large rocks.

Thanks! I really want to put rocks in my discus tank as well and worried about it. thanks for clearing that up for me. So I would think that a ten lb rock or so will be ok. good news! thanks, kate ;D

 

You hve to keep us all informed in regards to your pics. Please take some more pics, I am really wanting to see some more of your beautiful discus.
Tom

OK Mr. ESP. I swear you posted this at the exact same time I was uploading new pics.

I got 7 new Neon Tetras today to replace the ones that disappeared and/or died. No pics of those guys though. I've come to the conclusion that I suck at taking fish photos...

Spooky.
Tom

 

In on of my previous posts I reveiled that I am everywhere and almost everything, so of course I would have known that you were getting the pics ready to show everybody.
Tom

 

Couple of new additions (and a few subtractions) this week...

I got a nice fairly large piece of Malaysian driftwood, which my fish and I both enjoying.

I have officially given up on keeping Neon Tetras in this tank. I went from nine to two in about a week and a half and I can't find any dead neons anywhere. I'm convinced they must be getting eaten. No more new Neons. These last two will just have to deal with not having any friends to hang out with. I may try and snatch them up and stick them in my 15 gallon if I can net them before they find the black hole the others have disappeared into.

And today at my LFS I found two BEAUTIFUL (albeit kinda small) blue Discus. No idea what type they are... the guy who was working at the fish store said he thought they were Powder Blue or Turquoise.. but he didn't sound very convincing. Hopefully I'll be able to I.D. them better when they get a bit bigger. A couple of pics... (the new guys are the small blue ones) Also a decent view of my new driftwood in the top pic... as well as my Japanese Marimo Ball (that green moss ball thing in the bottom two pics)

 

Hi, I would say the blue ones are cobalt blue as they have the line going through the head area,the line is a different blue depending on their mood it can be light or dark.Very nice discus tank by the way and I can tell your hooked allready!!!you'll keep adding and adding.I like the cobalt blue's through my personal experience they are a strong strain of the discus.Congrats on your newbies.

 

Beautiful Discus and additons to your tank! I just love to see new photos of everyones Discus fish! ; Btw, I hope you decide to take your neons out of that tank asap and put them into your 15 gallon since no doubt they are getting killed and knowing that, it would be a shame to keep them there.
Love your new driftwood! ;D

 

Hi, I would say the blue ones are cobalt blue as they have the line going through the head area,the line is a different blue depending on their mood it can be light or dark.Very nice discus tank by the way and I can tell your hooked allready!!!you'll keep adding and adding.I like the cobalt blue's through my personal experience they are a strong strain of the discus.Congrats on your newbies.

Yeah, I thought they might be Cobalt Blues. I searched through every Discus I could find and they seem to look like Cobalts more than any other type I found. They seem to be adjusting to the tank really quickly. They were eating bloodworms within the first 10 minutes after I put them in the tank. But I think am pretty much at my limit as far as adding any new guys. :-\

Beautiful Discus and additons to your tank! I just love to see new photos of everyones Discus fish! ; Btw, I hope you decide to take your neons out of that tank asap and put them into your 15 gallon since no doubt they are getting killed and knowing that, it would be a shame to keep them there.
Love your new driftwood! ;D

It's just that netting little fish can be very difficult in this tank. Too many hiding places toward the bottom of the tank where I can't get at them. And I can't really reach the bottom to take out the decorations. I have to try and snag them while they're eating from the top... but as soon as they think they're about to be netted, they head straight to the bottom and seek cover.


On a lighter note, I am pretty happy with the way the two Dwarf Gouramis are getting along in this tank. I haven't heard about anyone keeping D.G.s with Discus and I haven't seen them on any Discus compatibility lists.... but they seem really happy in the tank. They think they are Discus. They always hang out and school up with the Discus, and eat the same food.

 

Looking really good, nice discus. Any full tank shot, it would be nice to see ? If your going to get anymore discus my friend told me about a good breeder in florida that he's getting his from, from the pictures they discus look really pretty like yours, if you want the name I can get it for you.

 

Well, today I set out to capture the two remaining Neon Tetras. The first one was swimming around near the top and I scooped him up with no problem and put him in the 15 gallon tank.

The other guy was hiding near the bottom behind a rock where I couldn't get him. I noticed he wasn't looking too well, though. Kind of whitish and a bit bloated. I was finally able to net him, but he was on his last legs (fins?). The dreaded Tetra disease > . I put him in the 15 gallon anyway, but he died very soon afterward. I haven't had good luck with Neon Tetras at all.
So now I have one lonely Neon in the 15 gallon.. hopefully the guppies will adopt him and let him hang out with them, cause I don't have the space to get a school of Neons in that tank.

So now I have just Discus, Dwarf Gouramis, Corys, and Otos in the 80 gallon. Kind of better this way as I don't have to put flakes in everyday just to feed the Neons. Also gives me more space for MORE DISCUS!!! (not really... I think 11 is pretty much the max for this tank... maybe even a bit too many. :-\)

 

Well, today I set out to capture the two remaining Neon Tetras. The first one was swimming around near the top and I scooped him up with no problem and put him in the 15 gallon tank.

The other guy was hiding near the bottom behind a rock where I couldn't get him. I noticed he wasn't looking too well, though. Kind of whitish and a bit bloated. I was finally able to net him, but he was on his last legs (fins?). The dreaded Tetra disease > . I put him in the 15 gallon anyway, but he died very soon afterward. I haven't had good luck with Neon Tetras at all.
So now I have one lonely Neon in the 15 gallon.. hopefully the guppies will adopt him and let him hang out with them, cause I don't have the space to get a school of Neons in that tank.

So now I have just Discus, Dwarf Gouramis, Corys, and Otos in the 80 gallon. Kind of better this way as I don't have to put flakes in everyday just to feed the Neons. Also gives me more space for MORE DISCUS!!! (not really... I think 11 is pretty much the max for this tank... maybe even a bit too many. :-\)

Too bad about the neons. Those little guys are most likely very fragile. I don't know, I don't have any. But will be getting cardinal tetras for the discus tank when its finally cycled. Hope there won't be any problems with them, as they are so alike the neons. Its nice to hear the dwarf gourami get along with the Discus, its another fish I may think about adding to the discus tank as well. On saturday I went and bought three otos to help clean up the diatoms in my community tank and they are the little worker fish that everyone said they are! And I really do like these little guys. They are active and swim all over the place. I like what you have in your Discus tank.. it must be really great. And I'm so envious of your many discus! My tank is a 55 gallon so won't be able to get as many Discus as you have, but would hope to be able to have at least four of them in there.
Love your photos ... and your set up! ;D Ohh btw, what do you feed your discus fish?
~ kate

 

I mainly feed them special Discus pellets called New Life Spectrum Discus Formula... but the Red Turquoise won't even touch them, so I also feed them freeze dried bloodworms and frozen bloodworms. They also eat regualr flakes, but now that the neons are gone, they probably won't be getting those as much anymore. The Dwarf Gouramis eat anything the Discus eat.

 

I mainly feed them special Discus pellets called New Life Spectrum Discus Formula... but the Red Turquoise won't even touch them, so I also feed them freeze dried bloodworms and frozen bloodworms. They also eat regualr flakes, but now that the neons are gone, they probably won't be getting those as much anymore. The Dwarf Gouramis eat anything the Discus eat.

thanks, sick-lid boy.. its good to know what they eat and someone who has had success with a certain product. Will add it for future reference! thanks ;D

 

Really nice cobalt blue discus. I really love the colbalts.
Tom

 

check out this ebay discus