# My 125 Gallon Discus Tank [In Progress]



## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

I have been in the process of setting up a discus tank. I currently have 10 Discus in my tank along with a big school of rummy nose tetras and cardinal tetras.

The Discus have been in this tank for about 6 days now, but I couldn't wait and took an initial video to share with you all.

Dont forget to watch in HD 
YouTube - 125 Gallon Discus Tank


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

I will be getting better lights for this tank soon. Once I have those lights, the colors in the Discus will look much better.

There are a total of 10 Discus in this tank.


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## FRT (Oct 11, 2010)

*Discus*

Glad to see my discuses went to a good home....sure missed those guys.

Nice looking tank!!


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

looks great man


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## bonsai dave (Apr 21, 2010)

looking good my friend can't wait to see the tank when it is full of discus


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

Thanks guys 

I am thinking making the following changes/upgrades over the next few months:
1. Add proper lighting with timers
2. Add 10 more discus (need some expert opinions on this)
3. Add another canister filter (xp3?) with bio peat
4. Add another sponge filter if necessary
5. Fix up the background to remove the bubbles


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

please dont hesitate to give me your opinions and advice on this tank. I still consider myself a discus newbie as I haven't had much experience with them.


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

Nice job, smiladon - great-looking discus !
What size are they ? - they look to be between 3" and 4" - perhaps closer to 4, with a couple a little larger. If so, I think you might be pushing things somewhat by adding 10 more that size - specially in a few months from now. I would suggest maybe 4-6 more.
Keep up the great work - be nice to see that tank fully finished when you have it the way you want it.
Paul


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## josephl (Apr 21, 2010)

DISCLAIMER - This is just my own opinion and any wording that might be construed as insulting is not meant to be read that way 

I think 20 discus in a 125 gallon tank is certainly doable but I think that unless you are willing to do dailyy 50% of more water changes, that you will likely end up with stunted discus that won't grow to their full potential. They could still be very healthy but they won't be the amazing size and color of the discus that April has in her personal tank. 

Just my 2 cents


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

emile said:


> Nice job, smiladon - great-looking discus !
> What size are they ? - they look to be between 3" and 4" - perhaps closer to 4, with a couple a little larger. If so, I think you might be pushing things somewhat by adding 10 more that size - specially in a few months from now. I would suggest maybe 4-6 more.
> Keep up the great work - be nice to see that tank fully finished when you have it the way you want it.
> Paul


The smallest ones are around 5.5" (nose to beginning of tail). The ring leopard is a bit bigger than 6". Pearl Pigeons, I got at 5.5" too but now they are around 6" as well.
Your theory is certainly valid for growth stunt, thats why I am only adding adult discus that are atleast 5"+ 



josephl said:


> DISCLAIMER - This is just my own opinion and any wording that might be construed as insulting is not meant to be read that way
> 
> I think 20 discus in a 125 gallon tank is certainly doable but I think that unless you are willing to do dailyy 50% of more water changes, that you will likely end up with stunted discus that won't grow to their full potential. They could still be very healthy but they won't be the amazing size and color of the discus that April has in her personal tank.
> 
> Just my 2 cents


Right now I do weekly 25% waterchanges. I dont mind doubling that 

Thanks for all the ideas guys. Keep it coming.


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## tang daddy (Apr 21, 2010)

I personally like the red discus, I think that you are definitely taking the right steps to a successful discus tank. Here are some things to suggest waterchange every 3 days at 50-70% overfeed them so they are fat and healthy. Use larger filters like fx5 for sufficient filtering and adequate bacteria to break down the nitrates. Some people say wow when I show them I have an ehiem 2250 running on a 30g breeder but if you have a high bioload then you need adequate filtration! A couple people to talk to about discus is reefdigger and mello as they both have kept discus for a long time and ofcourse April as she has lots of experience....


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

I currently have ehiem pro III which is a little bit better than FX5 for bioload  I always like to have over filtration.

I currently feed them blood worms and I am thinking of setting up a black worm culture. I have also been thinking of beef heart mixture, but I dont know if my fish will go for them. They didn't go for prawns etc...


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Get some beef heart from Chris if he still have for sale. My 20+ go took them on day one. Two new Red Virgin take them on day 2 in my tank.

Thanks Chris for the batch.


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## MELLO (Apr 21, 2010)

At one point I had 17 discus in my 90 gallon. Sizes ranging from 4.5-6". Just as long you keep up with your waterchange you'll be fine. When they start pairing up then you might have a problem as they will have their own territories and bullying will start. I was also running 2 AC110 and Rena Xp4 for my 90gallon and I was doing 50-80% waterchange 4 times a week. 
IME if you want to be successful with discus is just keep it simple. Don't mess around with them to much don't put chemicals you don't really need etc. The key with discus is WATERCHANGE. Give them good water the will grow fast and stay healthy. Also if you can, try to quarantine new additions before mixing them with your old stock.


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

MELLO said:


> At one point I had 17 discus in my 90 gallon. Sizes ranging from 4.5-6". Just as long you keep up with your waterchange you'll be fine. When they start pairing up then you might have a problem as they will have their own territories and bullying will start. I was also running 2 AC110 and Rena Xp4 for my 90gallon and I was doing 50-80% waterchange 4 times a week.
> IME if you want to be successful with discus is just keep it simple. Don't mess around with them to much don't put chemicals you don't really need etc. The key with discus is WATERCHANGE. Give them good water the will grow fast and stay healthy. Also if you can, try to quarantine new additions before mixing them with your old stock.


Very good advice! Thanks.
Now speaking of quarantine. How long should I quarantine them for?

I dont really have a quarantine tank right now, but I can probably buy a 29 or 30 gallon tank for quarantine purposes.


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## MELLO (Apr 21, 2010)

29 gallon tank would be perfect. Quarantine them atleast a 3-4 weeks thats the way I do mine.


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

MELLO said:


> 29 gallon tank would be perfect. Quarantine them atleast a 3-4 weeks thats the way I do mine.


Should this be for ANY new discus or only discus that come from a different region?

eg: Do I have to quarantine discus I get from members locally?


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## traco (Apr 22, 2010)

I would quarantine no matter where you get your discus from ... better safe than sorry. With those you have already, you don't want to bring in something and everyone get sick.

Great tank and discus ... good pics.


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## MELLO (Apr 21, 2010)

I agree.. No matter where you get your discus from always quarantine. Here are some pictures of my discus last year when I didn't quarantine my stock. Also included my buddies fish in bags. We bought fish from the same source and didn't quarantine. In the end a very expensive experience and stressful one. Losing most of our stock by not doing the proper quarantine. The only thing I gained from this experience is I got smarter.


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## MELLO (Apr 21, 2010)

These pictures are only partial of what we've lost. Didn't even took pictures of our other fish that we've lost. It was really frustrating. My buddy lost atleast 60 discus my Dad and I atleast lost 26. Just by adding 2 discus everything was disaster after that.


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

WOW! just looking at those pics are painful...If that happend to me, I would totally end up quitting fish keeping for a while...

I will get a quarantine tank ready for them before I add any more new Discus.
The only funny thing is that I just sold my 29Gallon tank (with canopy and light) 3 weeks ago 
Now I need to find one again. I will hold off on getting new ones for now as I really dont want my current stock to get sick...
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For an update however, the discus in the tank are getting more relaxed every day. I left the light on 24/7 so that they are used to it. I will be adding a timer for the lights soon.


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