Austin's Dream Tank for 2015

[a.person61]

This thread is about a young man's dream for his dream tank in 2015 and some of us want to help him make this happen. Lets rally around and help with this.

Auntie Pat

Hey SD,
So i'm at hospital for the rest of this year and some of next year and i've got some time to burn. My parents have both said that they will make my dream discus tank come true when it's all done.
So im getting everything organized starting off with the fish and work around that. some things to keep in mind, tank will be heavily planted and discus will be purchased as adults or at least sub.
Anything tips tricks or just hints will all be greatly appreciated. One of the things the hospital dose is let you choose 1 thing of anything you won't to learn about. So I thought to myself I'm obsess with aquariums and fish keeping this "hospital" owns a full on aquarium and has agreed to tech me everything they know. Here is a short list of things I need help with.
Tank mates, plants, sumps and pumps, substrate, care, cleaning of the whole tank not just inside, brands to trust and so many more I would also like to start a 7 day super health menu and 1 day start a life around these magical fish and nature. I hope you can all help me get though this tough time and when it ends have the most beautiful thing at the end.
For those that are wondering why I'm at hospital for 6 to 7 months is because the doctors found out I got a rare case of bone cancer on my right leg.

Thank you all for your support I never realized how nice people truly are till today. This has been edited to make more sense.
Thank you so much again.

[discuspaul]

Sorry to hear you're in the hospital for a lengthy stay, but since you're keen about discus and have the time on your hands for the moment, what a perfect opportunity to do some research first before delving into discus. Please have a read of as many of the Stickies in the Discus basics for Beginners section as you can digest.

Research being the first thing one needs to do before taking the serious plunge into keeping these fabulous fish.
Once you've done that, I can almost guarantee your thinking will be somewhat changed, and you'll very likely have a much better idea of exactly how you want to go about it, to ensure you're successful keeping these fairly pricey, but hardy beautiful fish.
All the best to you - keep in touch, we'll try to help you out every step of the way - if that's what you'd like.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi, you have been around SD for a while. Have you done any research in your time here? Also do you have any knowledge of planted plants?
Pat

[a.person61]

Hey discus Paul I have been researching discus for about a year or so, the list is something my parents would like so there not in the dark as much

[a.person61]

Hey Pat.
I do have knowledge about plants. I'll start up another thread when the time gets closer of my questions that I don't know. The plan in terms of getting used to a planted tank is to keep it running no fish so the plants can settle in then cycle add in the tank mates not discus yet then sorta master that then add discus. During my time at the hospital I'll be designing my cabinet sump etc and learning HEAPS about these magical flat fish. Thank you

[Second Hand Pat]

I am sorry to hear about you being in the hospital but sounds like you are making great use of your time. Is it possible to ask you to consider starting the discus in the bare bottom tank to start? Reason is so you can learn about discus without the complexity of a planted tank. Once you have a good handle on discus then adding the discus to the planted tank will hopefully set you up for success.
Pat

[a.person61]

Well that's where things get a little tricky. I do not really like the idea of adding new fish into discus mainly for the fishes health. So keeping the planted for 6 or so months then add 8 or so large discus alright? Idk how about we make a list of tank mates then start a new thread about this stuff later on? Thank you

[Chicago Discus]

How old are you if you don't mind me asking

[a.person61]

13

[Chicago Discus]

Are you in the US

[a.person61]

No border of New South Wales and Victoria Australia

[Chicago Discus]

I have a very good friend that sells discus in Australia when you guys are ready have your parents contact me at Josie70@att.net I will donate some very nice adults for your dream tank. I'm a sponsor here on this Forum and it would be my pleasure........Josie

[Second Hand Pat]

Josie, you are the bomb :D

[a.person61]

WOW THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I'm speechless! Please private message me so I can tell you what's happening. You've made my year I can't believe how kind some people are =') I won't be ready till April because that's when my treatment ends. This is amazing.... thank you so much

[Chicago Discus]

WOW THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I'm speechless! Please private message me so I can tell you what's happening. You've made my year I can't believe how kind don't some people are =') I won't be ready till April because that's when my treatment ends. This is amazing.... thank you so much

You are very welcome......I have a son your age and he loves the idea too.... Now you just need to figure out what strains you would like to see in the planted tank...And do lots of reading on the threads here ....:):)

[musicmarn1]

Josie.....that was a lovely lovely thing to do, *hug*

Yeah ! designing your dream tank, now thats an awesome project, can you show us any pictures and ideas? or take pictures on your phone of any hand drawings? Josie is also very good at aquascaping i discovered in this years Show where a lot of us met up , she had a STUNNING , could not take my eyes off it, white gravel tank with some white albino platinum discus in it.....droool , the few green plants made it so thats become an idea i cannot get out of my brain no matter how hard i try LOL

if your JUST asking about tank mates ignore the below stuff lol, i thought you were maybe asking about discus AND tankmates? anyway ive found bristle nose pleco, rummy nose tetra, red serpae tetra, german blue rams, or really any ram, lemon tetra, (the slower moving tetras are fine ive tried many now) neons, cardinals, any peaceful (plecos eat slime so you only want the smallest pleco strains like bristlenose pleco or they will be sucking on your discus fish possibly) you want to look up each type of fish and avoid a lot more bottom feeders , though pleco dont compete being veggie eaters, a lot of the other fish will compete for food so its a balancing act. pick a community fish that is peaceful that you like and research it also put that name in the search button up top and see what members experience here has been like. you do not want fast moving fish they can stress the discus out a lot and they tend to be aggressive at feeding time.



1/. Lifespan, depends who you ask i inherited a 5 year old discus, whilst he is huge he is a bit tattered, id say 5 years is easy and John a very good discus breeder and raiser i think has had 8 year olds even breed, and kept discus until 10 years of age, but he is an expert, so your looking at 8 years if you do really really well apparantly the oldest on record, bu we have no proof, is 12 years. We wanted to start a database here to track how long each member here keeps them on average

2/.http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?71055-Strain-List-for-Beginners-(pictures) and importantly what they should not look like http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?46982-What-not-to-buy

now a challenge for you, go to beginners section and read every thread at the very top, called stickies. You will have some great facts under your belt after that, read as many threads in that section as you can !! http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumdisplay.php?48-Discus-Basics-for-Beginners


3/. hardy......well for a beginner they are EASY to kill, or rather make sick or stunted. what looks ok to your eye in the beginning will change as you get better and learn more, but see what not to buy, thats what happens to a LOT of people, when they dont keep up with the very simple but strict things a discus fish needs, these books are very very interesting and show you all about where they come from and why they are called the KING of the aquarium http://www.aquapress-bleher.com/

4/. tell your parents up front you need a system to change water very frequently, like a lot of water ! its easy with a pump, hose and aging barrel, but something to know up front, they need a lot of water changes compared to other freshwater fish.


5/. no, they do not eat plants that i have ever seen with mine, they are Carnivores, is the reason why, they need high protien diets, so read http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumdisplay.php?33-Foods-and-Nutrition, now with that said plants can give beginners problems with discus, at least in my experience ! i love plants but i kept them in a bare tank at first and even after months i still had some problems (fish not being as totally 100% healthy and reaching full size which can be about 8" in my planted tanks ) however they look amazing in a planted tank and people here who have done it very successfully can guide you to do it properly if that is your hearts desire :) go for it ! make sure your plants are established well and thriving before adding the discus they are super sensitive and cleaning the bottom is more you than your crew unless you get adults, sub adults could be fine too, you will learn by experimenting what works best for you.

Best of luck and please keep us updated with how your plans are coming, what kind of discus do you like best so far? they are super awesome fish to keep, you will have a blast

[a.person61]

Thx guys my school has supplied me with a 3D drawing program I'll make a new thread when things start to happen

[Altum Nut]

My heart just dropped Josie. No words to explain but thought you were always an angel:angel:.
Your in good hands a.person61 and hope to hear more of you on SD when your set-up.

...Ralph

[Chicago Discus]

Josie.....that was a lovely lovely thing to do, *hug*

Yeah ! designing your dream tank, now thats an awesome project, can you show us any pictures and ideas? or take pictures on your phone of any hand drawings? Josie is also very good at aquascaping i discovered in this years Show where a lot of us met up , she had a STUNNING , could not take my eyes off it, white gravel tank with some white albino platinum discus in it.....droool , the few green plants made it so thats become an idea i cannot get out of my brain no matter how hard i try LOL

if your JUST asking about tank mates ignore the below stuff lol, i thought you were maybe asking about discus AND tankmates? anyway ive found bristle nose pleco, rummy nose tetra, red serpae tetra, german blue rams, or really any ram, lemon tetra, (the slower moving tetras are fine ive tried many now) neons, cardinals, any peaceful (plecos eat slime so you only want the smallest pleco strains like bristlenose pleco or they will be sucking on your discus fish possibly) you want to look up each type of fish and avoid a lot more bottom feeders , though pleco dont compete being veggie eaters, a lot of the other fish will compete for food so its a balancing act. pick a community fish that is peaceful that you like and research it also put that name in the search button up top and see what members experience here has been like. you do not want fast moving fish they can stress the discus out a lot and they tend to be aggressive at feeding time.



1/. Lifespan, depends who you ask i inherited a 5 year old discus, whilst he is huge he is a bit tattered, id say 5 years is easy and John a very good discus breeder and raiser i think has had 8 year olds even breed, and kept discus until 10 years of age, but he is an expert, so your looking at 8 years if you do really really well apparantly the oldest on record, bu we have no proof, is 12 years. We wanted to start a database here to track how long each member here keeps them on average

2/.http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?71055-Strain-List-for-Beginners-(pictures) and importantly what they should not look like http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?46982-What-not-to-buy

now a challenge for you, go to beginners section and read every thread at the very top, called stickies. You will have some great facts under your belt after that, read as many threads in that section as you can !! http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumdisplay.php?48-Discus-Basics-for-Beginners


3/. hardy......well for a beginner they are EASY to kill, or rather make sick or stunted. what looks ok to your eye in the beginning will change as you get better and learn more, but see what not to buy, thats what happens to a LOT of people, when they dont keep up with the very simple but strict things a discus fish needs, these books are very very interesting and show you all about where they come from and why they are called the KING of the aquarium http://www.aquapress-bleher.com/

4/. tell your parents up front you need a system to change water very frequently, like a lot of water ! its easy with a pump, hose and aging barrel, but something to know up front, they need a lot of water changes compared to other freshwater fish.


5/. no, they do not eat plants that i have ever seen with mine, they are Carnivores, is the reason why, they need high protien diets, so read http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumdisplay.php?33-Foods-and-Nutrition, now with that said plants can give beginners problems with discus, at least in my experience ! i love plants but i kept them in a bare tank at first and even after months i still had some problems (fish not being as totally 100% healthy and reaching full size which can be about 8" in my planted tanks ) however they look amazing in a planted tank and people here who have done it very successfully can guide you to do it properly if that is your hearts desire :) go for it ! make sure your plants are established well and thriving before adding the discus they are super sensitive and cleaning the bottom is more you than your crew unless you get adults, sub adults could be fine too, you will learn by experimenting what works best for you.

Best of luck and please keep us updated with how your plans are coming, what kind of discus do you like best so far? they are super awesome fish to keep, you will have a blast


Marnie this is great how cool are you....

now lets get together Simply people and give Austin lots of Support with his dream tank......Josie

[Lucky Tropical]

Count on me also ,,,,Josie !

[a.person61]

Quick question should I start a new thread directed at this new tank? If so what do I put it under?

[Chicago Discus]

Count on me also ,,,,Josie !


Your the Best Lawrence....


Quick question should I start a new thread directed at this new tank? If so what do I put it under?

That would be Auntie Pat LOL......She has the Power

[a.person61]

So start new thread?

[Chicago Discus]

So start new thread?

Just Ask Pat to rename this one and move it to Discus basics for beginners.....Josie

[Chicago Discus]

What shall we call the Thread?

[Chicago Discus]

I like Dream Tank

[a.person61]

Ok sounds good. Sorry I'm a little lost on what to do now I haven't needed to move/rename threads be for

[Chicago Discus]

Ok sounds good. Sorry I'm a little lost on what to do now I haven't needed to move/rename threads be for

Pat will see this and wave her wand :) No worries

[a.person61]

Awesome

[Second Hand Pat]

Austin, I moved your thread and renamed it. You have my support too.
Take care,
Auntie Pat

[a.person61]

Thanks heaps guys. All this support is amazing

[musicmarn1]

lol fun fun ! Lawrence, you rock also !!!

Can't wait to see your 3D thread, Austin, will be huge amount of fun watching yo u make this hapen Pats making her 180 dream tank happen too right now so thats a good thread to follow, you just click her name, and view her posts :) im working on a 240g......for months now, keep changing my mind about everything, Greg (Tankster) is working on an even better 240g project ! so its really cool to see people here journal their progress, design is often different than what ends up, but not always :p

you will be amazed at how much , logical, helpful input you get as you work out every aspect of your design

Pat could you show me in the teaching thread how to *wave the magic wand*? lol ty !

[Disgirl]

Very generous and kind of you Josie! Maybe you could get your son and Austin to be internet friends?
Barb

[Second Hand Pat]

Pat could you show me in the teaching thread how to *wave the magic wand*?

I will get right on that Marnie ;)

[Chicago Discus]

Very generous and kind of you Josie! Maybe you could get your son and Austin to be internet friends?
Barb

I already talked to John about that he's all for it just waiting for Austin

[a.person61]

Heyes guys just woke up. Am I missing something new today?

[Allwin]

I have a very good friend that sells discus in Australia when you guys are ready have your parents contact me at Josie70@att.net I will donate some very nice adults for your dream tank. I'm a sponsor here on this Forum and it would be my pleasure........Josie

love u Josie, ur the best..

[pauline]

Austin I'm sorry to hear of your hospitalization. I'm looking forward to following your development of your dream tank. I bet it will be beautiful.

Josie and Lawrence...bless you both. What kind gestures on both of your parts.

[Chicago Discus]

Heyes guys just woke up. Am I missing something new today?

Good morning Austin spoke to my friend in Australia we are all set :):)

[a.person61]

Awesome! How can I view what's for offer? I'm curious to see of any new strains I don't know about. I'll start working on a basic design on the cabinet when my program is logged in. I'm a little out of ideas for hoods anyone like to share what they have?
Thanks heaps guys!

[Second Hand Pat]

Austin, are you designing your own stand and hood and having them built?

[a.person61]

Yep I love designing things so I thought I'll give this a shot. My best mates grandfather owns a company that can make cabinets I might just have to see what can happen around town with hoods

[pauline]

Austin here is a link to a thread that shows photos of many different strains of discus. Something to look at while you're planning that dream tank.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?107349-The-Official-Show-your-Best-Discus-Photo-Gallery

[a.person61]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/15/fe01b8d7f639d0cd540b3dd6977a74f9.jpg

What are these plants?

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/15/dc100f66f3fa5be7d01ab6fbd7c89003.jpg

[Sticky]

Josie, you are the bomb :D

I concur!

[a.person61]

Hey guys
I'm going to start research on plants and have some questions.
What are the problems caused by planted tanks as heavy as the ones above and how do I solve them? How do the plants and problems they create affect the fish? How do I care for them right? Any clear and not to loud YouTube channels that can help?
Thanks guys and thanks again for the support. Little update on the cancer treatment I'm at my aunties house at the moment for 2 weeks then I got more chemotherapy still recovering from my operation for my feeding peg and some other stuff. That's about it.
Thanks heaps guys.

[a.person61]

Hey guys,
Ok so my dad has been taking to people back at my home and living in a small town news has got around about my condition and that I've been saving my guts out for a new discus aquarium. Anyway it's gone wild! People are starting fundraisers to help me be able to purchase my new aquarium.
I need help guys I don't know much about sumps, aging water, problems to do with planted tanks, some things to look out for with the discus health, food, tips and tricks, how much it's going to cost and I'm sure there's things I don't know that I don't knowI REALLY need your help guys I have looked at the beginner section but not getting the info I need. I feel like with all fundraisers and the people supporting if I end up setting the tank up but then having a mass fish death and a heap of problems I would basicly ruin the hard work of the people helping me.
Thanks

[Chicago Discus]

Hey guys,
Ok so my dad has been taking to people back at my home and living in a small town news has got around about my condition and that I've been saving my guts out for a new discus aquarium. Anyway it's gone wild! People are starting fundraisers to help me be able to purchase my new aquarium.
I need help guys I don't know much about sumps, aging water, problems to do with planted tanks, some things to look out for with the discus health, food, tips and tricks, how much it's going to cost and I'm sure there's things I don't know that I don't knowI REALLY need your help guys I have looked at the beginner section but not getting the info I need. I feel like with all fundraisers and the people supporting if I end up setting the tank up but then having a mass fish death and a heap of problems I would basicly ruin the hard work of the people helping me.
Thanks


Im so glad that your town is starting a fundraiser. What a great idea. As far as sumps and filters go you need to make the decision as to what will work for you. How big the tanks going be and how much filtration it will require......Josie

[D'Rock]

Austin, check out the link below. This was a long project my friends and I were working on last summer. I will post a picture of the frame I sketched later on for you to get an idea. I will also post a sketch and pictures of the sump (wet & dry) of my own later. But for now keep yourself busy with the link below

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?113529-New-300-gallon-bare-bottom-discus-community-tank-in-work

[D'Rock]

Page #3 is the sketch of the sump I had custom made

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?112495-Kenny-s-Discus-Finally-Got-Their-New-Homes!!!!

[a.person61]

Hey guys, big news!!
Last Thursday the hospital said I could go home for 4 days didn't get home till Saturday. Now on my trip home I visited the local pet store about 2 times. 1st time was to get some things for my little prized 21L tank. We also checked out a heap new tanks the store said they will give us a call when Dave the fish guy came in. Next day later got a call went down and me and my family got plenty of shocks! Dave rang aqua one about there 6 foot curved glass. And aqua one are doing a amazing prize that will cost around $1300 then we got talking about discus. He's been keeping them for 10 years he claims and says he only now feels like he's masterd them. He also claims he dose water change and vacuum the gravel every 3 months. He says he knows what's happening and then explande what I have to do to get to that stage aka the tank needs to be running for years. But when he dose water changes he says he will nearly always loose a fish. Saw picks of he's tank looks pretty good. So is there something simpal discus is not telling me? Anyway the tank is locked in!
Thanks-Austin

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Austin, first, congrats on the tank. That is sweet news. Now if Dave is losing a fish when he does a water change something is not right. He basically is not doing enough water changes.

[musicmarn1]

nothing that simply discus is not telling you :D just people have different ways of doing things, usually learning plants is one whole side of things and then learning discus, another !

have you been to http://www.plantedtank.net/

obviously if you have someone who can mentor you in person, thats amazing if you like their set up. If you were going to put discus in a bare tank to start i would not worry about killing them at all but if your doing the planted tank you will want to get that established for quite some time first, have you seen any of our member's planted tank threads here? there are so many BEAUTIFUL ones, i would post questions on their individual threads to learn more. Or send them a private message and ask for help :angel:


I click on WHATS NEW every day and read new posts first, you usually see the updates about someone's tank there quickly then i go to each forum section and read through


here are some :


http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?111542-Planted-Albino-Discus-Tank&p=1122118&highlight=#post1122118


http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?116419-October-shipment-from-kenny-s-discus


http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?116530-My-Planted-Tank


http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?116456-Project-Log-95-Gallon-Hexagon-Aquarium&p=1122040&highlight=#post1122040


http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?116493-Post-Pics-of-Your-Tanks-and-Fish&p=1121996&highlight=#post1121996

[a.person61]

So what are problems that happen to plants? Dave told me to keep have the tank running and slowly add tetras etc. Then after 6 months the tank should be 100% cycled when everything is good it's time to ad the discus. Is that about right?

[a.person61]

Hey guys tanks been purchased and discus slowly been chosen. New question where is a good place to get large driftwood from? I'll prefer the wood to have a red color to it if that's possible? As well would I need to qt my discus befor adding to tank full of fish. Thanks