# Tank Upgrade - Substrate Change - Low Tech 125 gallon discus tank - A journey!



## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

I've posted a couple of pictures in the low tech forum but now that I'm pretty much done with buying plants and fish (unless I find a deal on a 90 gallon ) I thought a beginning to end photo journal would be good to have in the photo album.

I upgraded from a plastic plant 55 gallon community to:

Oceanic 72 Gallon Bowfront - Open top
Coralife 2x65 watt 10,000K
1" of flourite under Silica Sand
Fluval 405 with spraybar
Aquaclear 70 H.O.B. filter

I don't use ferts or C02. The lights are on 12 hours a day.
I do a 20% water change almost daily (I skip sometimes) and a 40% once a week.

I don't know all the names of the plants because I got them over time from a few different stores.
2 Crypts
Bunch of different Swords
dwarf hairgrass
corkscrew vals
vals
an onion plant
java ferns
some sort of moss I tied to the driftwood:redface: 

And pushing the limits of the bio
4 Juvinelle Discus - 1 Turqouise, 1 red Turq, 1 Fuji Red, 1 Marlboro Red
3 Adult Discus - 1 Leopard Spotted - 1 Solid Blue - 1 Pigeon Blood
2 Rummynose Tetras
3 Cardinal Tetras
2 Clown Loaches
4 Cories
6 Ottos
2 SAE's
5 Rosy Barbs (left over from the community tank and my wife likes em)


This place has been very helpful and the pictures are incredible! Thanks for all the information guys and gals!


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Old 55 gallon tank









New 72 with just a couple of live plants a few discus and the wrong substrate









After taking out the gravel and rinsing the silica sand and flourite for hours it was still a cloudy and dark tank....


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

After about 4 hours it started to clear









After filtering for 24 hours it started to clear


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## KurtG (Dec 10, 2007)

Did you leave the fish in for that?


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

After adding some more plants and a few new discus


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

KurtG said:


> Did you leave the fish in for that?


Not the discus, but all the others, yes! They did just fine!


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

A few more plants and some re-aranging


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Here is what should be all my fish and plants..........









Beggin for food


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

My adult discus


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## lovinlivebearers (Jan 4, 2008)

That is a GREAT picture! Your fish are beautiful!


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

KurtG said:


> Did you leave the fish in for that?


I worry about that sometimes too, but then I think that fish DO live in the Mississippi River. It can't be that bad! :hihi:

Beautiful Discus! Your tank has come a VERY LONG WAY since the beginning, you should be proud! roud:


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## KurtG (Dec 10, 2007)

This was probably just mud (inorganics), but I'd be concerned about DO levels in a tank with that much turbidity; especially if there were any old substrate used.

I agree the tank looks great with the progress!:thumbsup:


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

The substrate change was about 2 months ago, I didn't lose any fish or have any problems with water, so I'm thinking it was inorganics.


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

lovinlivebearers said:


> That is a GREAT picture! Your fish are beautiful!


Thanks, they are so much fun to watch! And they are so used to water changes that you can pet them while vacuuming the tank............I'm on the look out for a bigger tank though! This is an addiction!


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

I took out a piece of driftwood on the left hand side to open a little more of the front up for the fish..........they seem to like it, everyone is healty and happy so far!










an angle shot!


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

I found a good price on a 125 gallon 60" x 18.5" x 26". Until I can afford the upgrade for a 60" light, I'm setting the 48" coralife on top of the glass top (will that work for plants?)


Taking out the white gravel that the previous owner had in it.









All set up and empty.......


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Plants and some of the fish.............let it run for a while before the discus get put in.....









Still bubbles everywhere, but I tested the water and threw the discus in.


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

And the big ones taking a lap around the new pool!


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Everything is doing well. The plants are growing much slower than in the open top 72, but they are staying alive and I have enough to do with the fish, so I'm going to watch it for a while before upgrading lights.


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## Vonzorfox (Nov 22, 2007)

Looks real nice. The coarlife seem to light it up good. I think you will be OK with that. It just appears to be a bit dark on the edges at the top witch is no big deal. Sweet tank.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Great job on your new tank. You have some very beautiful fish.


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Vonzorfox said:


> Looks real nice. The coarlife seem to light it up good. I think you will be OK with that. It just appears to be a bit dark on the edges at the top witch is no big deal. Sweet tank.


yeah, everything is getting light so I'm not worried......it's supposed to be lowtech. Thanks for the compliment too. I have 25 rasboras in a QT tank that I'll be dropping in soon, it will be nice to have a big school!


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

so my lotus is kind of melting and doing bad in this tank.........any suggestions? It did fine in the 72 gallon, it was slow growing but it was growing.


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

added a couple of rocks that I like on the right hand side.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Your tank looks great! 

As for the lotus its a root feeder and it looks like where it is its sitting in inert sand? That may be one of your problems. You may want to put some root tabs under the lotus or take it out and pot it and put it back in to let it get growing. After it gets re-established It should do fine, might send up lily pads but thats because of the light. 

Nice tank though some of the discus make the other discus look small! 

-Andrew


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Very nice- will look incredible once those plants fill in!


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

got a couple of plants from Badconpnofishtank today. A quick diluted bleach dip as a QT and I added some to my discus tank (i'm working on a 29 gallon shrimp tank but it has a long way to go). I think I have enough in the tank not to start watching in slowly fill in. I'm really happy with the way it has turned out. Thanks to all here who post pics and info, I couldn't have done it without you!








http://starboardbough.com/tmp/new125m.jpg


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## vibes_jedi99 (Jun 20, 2007)

Looks really good.


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

A little bit of growth and a couple new plants.........


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

2 more at night so there isn't so much glare from sunlight.


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## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

Is it me or have your discus grown like crazy..


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Filling in pretty well. I added a cool piece of wood to hide a little bit of the AC110 intake tube on the right..............











The Crypts are doing great! They only had 3 and 4 leaves each and were small when I bought them.









One last angled shot...........Thanks for looking!


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## Coopers (Apr 28, 2007)

I wouldn't want to meet your adult discus in a dark alleyway :icon_eek: There so butch!


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

took out the sword on the left that just didn't want to get it's submersed leaves going...........added a new piece of wood and some skinny little vals that need to grow...........


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

nice scape with that white sand. how do you keep the sand that way with messy discus?


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

with the spray bar on the left and pointed up at a 30 degree angle most of the messy stuff circles it's way back to the left corner..........some of the driftwood was placed as little caves where poo gathered too, that way when I use the gravel vac it's just a couple little places and a 5 gallon bucket before I grab the python for the big water change. Plus 10 corys, 2 SAEs, 2 Large Clown loaches, tend to keep things sifted.


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

nice answer lol
i guess cory is a must when you keep discus right.


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Decided a change was in order..............and I had all this driftwood in there that you couldn't see. I really like the way Mr. Barr's tank looks with the "mass" of driftwood on one side. So, I cut all my stems in half and bunched them in the back.............unfortunately you can't see them yet, but I think once this grows in it'll look great. Any suggestions for the right side? Or for any part for that matter are welcome!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I think lots of grasses would look great on the right- either dwarf Sag. or E. tenellus would be my pick.

I also think the Bacopa would look better moved more to the left, closer to the Vals, especially if you let them grow tall again (I liked that look)


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

lauraleellbp said:


> I think lots of grasses would look great on the right- either dwarf Sag. or E. tenellus would be my pick.
> 
> I also think the Bacopa would look better moved more to the left, closer to the Vals, especially if you let them grow tall again (I liked that look)


There's actually tons of Bacopa behind the driftwood, I cut it all down so I could fill the background........with low light and no CO2 it'll probably take 6 weeks to start coming up, but it will. 

I liked the look before but I wanted to see the driftwood a little more, it was lost before.


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)




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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

those discus are HUGE! I would suggest moving the DW towards a corner so that there is more open space in the front middle for the discus


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Thanks, that's actually a great suggestion, I'll move it over the weekend!


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Moved the driftwood over to open up the middle..........thanks for the suggestion!











Group shot!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

looks good I bet they appreciate the more swimming room


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## Myka (Jan 22, 2008)

Awesome!!! Love the discus! What is your waterchange schedule with them?


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

40% every 2-3 days.........eheim 2217, AC 110, large sponge filter..........discus are growing out well, only one stunted runt in the bunch, and he eats the most............what can ya do? :eek5:


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

Really wonderful!! Well done!


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## Austinv (Jan 8, 2008)

Very beautiful fish.


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## Myka (Jan 22, 2008)

digthemlows said:


> 40% every 2-3 days.........eheim 2217, AC 110, large sponge filter..........discus are growing out well, only one stunted runt in the bunch, and he eats the most............what can ya do? :eek5:


Dang!! I have a 75g "cube" with Eheim 2026. It's dry right now, and I really want to put a small group of Discus in it, but I'm not very good with the whole "regular waterchange" thing. Even my reef tanks are lucky to get a 20% waterchange once a month. Albeit freshwater changes are a lot simpler than saltwater ones.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Ahh, reminds me of my 120gal discus tank I had before. You have done a great job on your tank. My discus started to grow after I started to do 2-3 50% water changes per week. Before that they stayed the same size. I think a foreground of dwarf sag on the right would look great. I also used 4x65watts on m tank with CO2 and had great results.


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Starting to get a little growth in the back............oh and my Dog has decided she loves to watch fish.............she's staring all the time!


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

found a great big tall sword at the local LFS that wasn't a "grown emersed" sword. Thought it would look good in the right hand corner, and it does! Brings some height to that side.......


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## NstyN8 (May 9, 2008)

A moss wall section would fit in just nicely!


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## aquanut415 (Jan 21, 2006)

really like the new look, the open center looks great. 

what dosing and WC schedule (or lack thereof) are you following?


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

still no dosing (cept fish poo and a few root tabs under the swords that are probably long gone) I do a 40% water change every other day, sometimes skipping an extra day if I'm too busy. I just bought a 80x2 T5 HO light to replace the coralife 65x2 PC........I'm much happier with the light, it is also 60" instead of 48" so it fits! Can't beat the price from fishneedit.com .........hopefully it'll last!

Here's a new pic...........the edges are lit up now! 











Little angled shot!


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Little more growth, I'm very happy with the way it's turning out.


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

been a little while, I rescaped, trimmed, and the tank is pretty much on autopilot now............


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)

Been a long time.....got divorced, moved out, didn't take good care of tank (tank was at ex's for a year, so I came once a week to deal with it) and basically I am starting plants over again......oh, and I'm down to 5 discus.....but it's all healthy and good again....bought some higher power lights and plants will be here soon. I'll get a new pic up in a day or two.....


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## digthemlows (Dec 17, 2007)




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