Journal A Symphysodon Symphony
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Phish Tank
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Your retro bottom drain sounds really interesting. I might have to try something similar. Cool idea
*Ci*
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- #23
Not really much to diagram, hahaha. I bought a barrel with a nice fitting lid, and ziptied the double float valve to the underside with a foam spacer so it hangs into the barrel at just the right height to fill it almost to the top.Diagrams and pictures, please!!
The 100w tatanium heater will just hang about half way down, the recirculating pump I tied to a rock so it will sit on the bottom and blows upwards, and the sump pump will sit on the bottom as well (these are all items I had sitting around in my aquarium/pond misc. equipment and plumbing tubs).
This is a view of the crawlspace directly underneath the Osaka 320. It’s about 4ft. in height, so working on hands and knees down here, but worth, it in my mind, to have all of this out of sight!
I really like your tank and setup for dosing, so cool! I had a discus tank back in the 90's before I knew how to grow plants. They are awesome fish and very personable. I would stick my finger in the tank and they would come up and rub against my finger. They are probably my all time favorite fish.
They need a warmer temperature than a lot of fish. What temp will you be running your tank?
Looking forward to seeing yours!
They need a warmer temperature than a lot of fish. What temp will you be running your tank?
Looking forward to seeing yours!
*Ci*
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #27
A few more steps completed. I’ve been reading through many past posts on Simply Discus and one of the things I’ve learned is that discus can and do jump. Hmmm … how to cover a rimless tank with curved corners (the Fluval Osaka tanks are essentially rimless tanks with a decorative metalic strip stuck on around the top and bottom)?
I made up a cardboard template and had a glass shop cut me some pieces with the correct curves. I sized them to overlap the edges 1/4”, used clear acrylic piano hinges, a slide on plastic backstrip that can be cut for hoses and tubes, and put silicon bumpers around the edges to hold the lid off the tank and create air flow.
I’m happy with how it looks, and the bonus is that there will probably be less evaporation and heat loss, now.
I also have my quarantine tank all set up in the basement and it is officially fully cycled. Just finished hooking everything up in my ageing barrel, as well.
So, what’s left to do? This seemed like such a big project and now it’s almost complete! I’m going to tie up all the loose ends this week, and order the discus to be shipped March 3rd or 4th!
This is the best place in Canada for quality discus. They are in Ontario and would fly the fish out overnight to Victoria, on Vancouver Island, a 2hr drive:
Fins8 | Niagara Falls ON
I made up a cardboard template and had a glass shop cut me some pieces with the correct curves. I sized them to overlap the edges 1/4”, used clear acrylic piano hinges, a slide on plastic backstrip that can be cut for hoses and tubes, and put silicon bumpers around the edges to hold the lid off the tank and create air flow.
I’m happy with how it looks, and the bonus is that there will probably be less evaporation and heat loss, now.
I also have my quarantine tank all set up in the basement and it is officially fully cycled. Just finished hooking everything up in my ageing barrel, as well.
So, what’s left to do? This seemed like such a big project and now it’s almost complete! I’m going to tie up all the loose ends this week, and order the discus to be shipped March 3rd or 4th!
This is the best place in Canada for quality discus. They are in Ontario and would fly the fish out overnight to Victoria, on Vancouver Island, a 2hr drive:
Fins8 | Niagara Falls ON
*Ci*
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #30
Fish are ordered from Fins8 and I’ll be picking them up at the airport tomorrow morning!
The owner, Steven Dinh, sent me a video of my fish. I ordered 1 x yellow pigeon, 1 x yellow panda, 1 x red rose, 2 x brown, 1 x tiger, 1 x blue cobalt.
I decided that I’m going to add them to the planted display tank right away. I figure it will be far easier to keep an eye on them and do frequent water changes, than with the quarantine tank in the basement. If anything goes south, or they need medications that will harm plants, I can move them down there (I’ll keep the tank cycled and ready).
The owner, Steven Dinh, sent me a video of my fish. I ordered 1 x yellow pigeon, 1 x yellow panda, 1 x red rose, 2 x brown, 1 x tiger, 1 x blue cobalt.
I decided that I’m going to add them to the planted display tank right away. I figure it will be far easier to keep an eye on them and do frequent water changes, than with the quarantine tank in the basement. If anything goes south, or they need medications that will harm plants, I can move them down there (I’ll keep the tank cycled and ready).
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*Ci*
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #31
The discus arrived and have been acclimating to the tank for a couple of weeks now. The bags were packed nicely but apparently, and I did not know this, all cichlids except angel fish have pretty sharp barbs on their dorsals, that can puncture plastic bags. My discus were double bagged with a layer of newspaper in between, yet one of them was punctured and had mostly leaked out, and the fish was dead (the big blue cobalt).
I really wanted the blue, so I replaced it with two smaller LFS discus. All the fish seem healthy and are eating 3-4 times a day, a mix of different discus pellets and freeze dried blackworms.
I felt like the fish were too hard to see, and their colours were staying a bit dark, so I replaced the mirror and black background with a light piece of crocheted fabric and also added a pothos and variagated monstera to grow out the top with an added grow light. This light also illuminates behind the fabric nicely for a neat effect when the tank lights go out.
The bottom drain is still working superbly and I have had no need to do any syphoning of the tank during my water changes. I’ve been doing these 3x a week and the aging barrel, sump pump, remote switching on and off through the floor system is working good, as well..
Some of the plants have been developing algae along the edges, so I used a spray of APT Fix on them but it seems to have burned the leaves, killing some off, which surprised me. I thought it would be a safe, more mild alternative to Excel or Hydrogen Peroxide. I’m wondering if the plants are still adapting to the higher temperatures. Nitrogen in the tank has definitely risen and I switched to using a macro mix without any No3. The frequent water changes are keeping it around 20ppm, but I used to keep it at only 5-10ppm before the discus.
And here are the little beauties at work - omg! the pecking order politics!
I really wanted the blue, so I replaced it with two smaller LFS discus. All the fish seem healthy and are eating 3-4 times a day, a mix of different discus pellets and freeze dried blackworms.
I felt like the fish were too hard to see, and their colours were staying a bit dark, so I replaced the mirror and black background with a light piece of crocheted fabric and also added a pothos and variagated monstera to grow out the top with an added grow light. This light also illuminates behind the fabric nicely for a neat effect when the tank lights go out.
The bottom drain is still working superbly and I have had no need to do any syphoning of the tank during my water changes. I’ve been doing these 3x a week and the aging barrel, sump pump, remote switching on and off through the floor system is working good, as well..
Some of the plants have been developing algae along the edges, so I used a spray of APT Fix on them but it seems to have burned the leaves, killing some off, which surprised me. I thought it would be a safe, more mild alternative to Excel or Hydrogen Peroxide. I’m wondering if the plants are still adapting to the higher temperatures. Nitrogen in the tank has definitely risen and I switched to using a macro mix without any No3. The frequent water changes are keeping it around 20ppm, but I used to keep it at only 5-10ppm before the discus.
And here are the little beauties at work - omg! the pecking order politics!
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