# Pruss 79g Planted Discus Tank Journal



## Pruss (Nov 25, 2014)

So this journal is going to be a story in multiple parts...

Please share your thoughts, ideas, inspiration and swearing with me here as I make mistakes and build something beautiful.

This will be my first run at keeping Discus and I've been scouring the web, forums, books and the brains of many hobbyists and breeders to form a basis for this tank.

*The Tank* - 79g Rimless Starfire Tank - 48"X19.6"X19.6"
Special thanks to Jiinx for selling me her old tank. I love it. 


*Water Filtration, Cleaning & Polishing*
Canister 1 - Biological - Eheim Pro 2229 Wet/Dry 
Canister 2 - Mechanical - Eheim Pro3 2075
Coralife 9w Ultraviolet Sterilizer
Eheim Surface Skimmer

I'm looking forward to learning the ins and outs of the wet/dry filter, the increased O2 due to the wet/dry interface and the extra biological filtration will be welcome.

I'm also going to replace all of the soylent green Eheim tubing with clear, and replace all the input and output piping with glass lily pipes.

*Lighting* - Kessil - a160we Tuna Sun
I'm going to mortgage my house and add Kessils to this tank. I love the look, the directional capability of the lights, and the programming capability of the lights with the controller. I can't wait to dial these in.





*Aquarium Backround*
I'm not going to have one. I am going to try and go minimalist with my scape and as such will have a clear line of site to the wall behind the tank similar to what some folks do with nature aquariums

*Substrate*
I am initially going to go without substrate. I had planned to go with well washed pool sand (sugar crystal coarseness), which is a lovely white with sporadic black flecking. But I've been talked out of this for the short term, as I'll likely be getting young discus and I want to make sure that I'm able to efficiently clean the detritus from the bottom of the tank.

*Decor*
I'm going to start simply with driftwood only, and then as the Discus mature I'll add simple plantings of high temp, low light, plants.

*Flora*
Once I get the Discus grown out beyond 4" I will add a couple of well planted pieces of driftwood by this time, and I'll use them to accent the tank. I'd love plant recommendations if anyone has thoughts.

*Fauna*
At startup I'm going to go with seven Discus. I am still determining where I am going to buy them, but I'm leaning heavily towards picking them up from Vern Archer in Whitby. I spent some time with him in his fishroom last Saturday and liked his fish, and the cut of his jib. Alternatively, I quite like the look of the F1 Cuipeua that Bob Garside has and there is always the Stendker's group-buy that UsAndThem is running... regardless, I'm going to be buying hardy stock, raised in tap water, with good genetics.

Once the Discus are grown out past 4" I'll add some of the following:
- Emperor Tetras
- Lemon Tetras
- Blue Rams

I'll update the thread as I add new pieces and bring the tank to life.

Cheers,

-- Pat


----------



## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Wow very organized and well thought out Pat - looks excellent !

Love the Kessils !! 

Best of luck 

Following...


----------



## Reckon (Mar 6, 2013)

Nice to see that tank get new life. I'm looking forward to seeing your build progress!


----------



## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

awesome looking tank and pre-scape. 

Being the flora guy, I would do narrow leaf ferns, phoenix moss or taiwan moss all on that drift wood. I also like the look of hygrophylla pinnifidia, they will look for bottom, but can be died to roots.I prefer the tied down look. They get too tall when their rooted.


----------



## Pruss (Nov 25, 2014)

Thanks for the comments folks.

I'm certainly excited about this build. 

Hey jimmyjam, I appreciate the plant recommendations and will look them up. I'm planning on running this tank at about 84F once I start introducing plants. I'd love thoughts on flora that thrive at higher temps in lower light.

-- Pat


----------



## cb1021 (Sep 21, 2009)

You got beautiful hardware! I think a biotope setup would look awesome here. For example you have branchy driftwood with a substrate littered with oak/almond leaves. You'll have black water with rays of sunlight shining through. Plants you can amazon swords planted in sand, feeding off root-tabs. 

If you go bare bottom, not sure how you will get plants. I second jimmy's suggestion for hygrophylla pinnifidia. This plant attaches to driftwood well, isn't demanding, and grows relatively fast.


----------



## Pruss (Nov 25, 2014)

cb1021 said:


> You got beautiful hardware! I think a biotope setup would look awesome here. For example you have branchy driftwood with a substrate littered with oak/almond leaves. You'll have black water with rays of sunlight shining through. Plants you can amazon swords planted in sand, feeding off root-tabs.
> 
> If you go bare bottom, not sure how you will get plants. I second jimmy's suggestion for hygrophylla pinnifidia. This plant attaches to driftwood well, isn't demanding, and grows relatively fast.


Thanks for the comments.

The hygrophylla pinnifidia looks amazing, and I think it would look even better if it was planted among mosses on the manzanita that I'll be sinking in the tank.

As for planting swords, I have been toying with the idea of using some low pots or planting trays to create a self contained plant, which I can move around the bare bottom of the tank. With enough space, I could also probably include an upturned coconut shell for apistos or a driftwood tunnel for plecos.

Again, that kind of planting is down the road for me, once the Discus have grown out.

I was all set to go with glass lily pipes until I saw Ryan s's planted 80g tank today (check the thread here: http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=151170). I hadn't ever seen the stainless in-flow and out-flow piping for canisters before.

Aesthetically, what do you guys prefer? Glass or stainless? I'm of two minds. I like the invisible nature of the glass pipes, but the stainless has a nice clean look to it. I've never tried to maintain glass lily pipes, and wonder if they get scuddy with algae and stuff over time.

Thoughts?

-- Pat


----------



## UsAndThem (Jan 20, 2015)

Neat tank Pat . Didn't vern mention that discus Jump ?!  you may find some on your floor OR if you have cats like I do , You may not find them at all 

I think some floating plants like amazon frog bit would do nice for the little guys you plan on getting. Provide a good amount of shade from the lights.

Lookin good so far


----------



## Pruss (Nov 25, 2014)

UsAndThem said:


> Neat tank Pat . Didn't vern mention that discus Jump ?!  you may find some on your floor OR if you have cats like I do , You may not find them at all
> 
> I think some floating plants like amazon frog bit would do nice for the little guys you plan on getting. Provide a good amount of shade from the lights.
> 
> Lookin good so far


Hah!

Yeah, I knew that I'd need to lid this tank before I met Vern. I'm looking at different options. I'll keep you guys posted.

You'll like my lighting rig Jon. I promise.



-- Pat


----------



## Poseidon (Sep 1, 2013)

There aren't many types of tanks that are more beautiful than a fully planted Discus tank. Good luck!


----------



## Poseidon (Sep 1, 2013)

any updates to be shared?


----------



## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

Would love to see where this build is at too. That's an awesome tank size for a planted discus tank


----------



## Pruss (Nov 25, 2014)

arturo said:


> Would love to see where this build is at too. That's an awesome tank size for a planted discus tank


Thanks for the interest folks. Apologies for the LOOOONG delay in updates. Life has been full, and the bank account diminished, so the build is on hold until I can clear some debt.

I have been able to acquire both of my canisters:
Canister 1 - Biological - Eheim Pro 2229 Wet/Dry 
Canister 2 - Mechanical - Eheim Pro3 2075

I have also purchased some manzanita branches to use for structure in the tanks.

As mentioned above. I am electing to go bare bottom during the grow-out period of the discus, and will consider adding pool sand once the group has matured. I'll also, at this time, consider planting along the manzanita branches.

The big purchases remaining before I begin cycling the tank are the lights. Oh the lights. Man Kessils are not cheap. So right now I'm on hold until I can find a couple 160we Tuna Suns for cheap or free, or until I can claw past the debt I'm currently fighting.

I'll post pictures of the current state of the setup later.

Thanks,

Pat


----------



## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Keep it rolling Pat!!

Sam


----------



## Pruss (Nov 25, 2014)

Bullet said:


> Keep it rolling Pat!!


Thanks pal. I will.

It will just be rolling slowly.

Cheers!

-- Pat


----------

