# 180G Planted Discus Journal Updated 3/13/10



## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

Ooooh, another large discus tank. Keep us updated with lots of pics! 


Phil


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Poof, nice elbow grease! roud:


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## CmLaracy (Jan 7, 2007)

damn dude coulda bought a new clean tank for all that labor and razors 

Nice restore, did something similar to my 75P just yesterday. Looking forward to the Discus.


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

wow. way to put the work in dude... at least you get to add stuff to it soon...


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## angelicodin (Dec 2, 2009)

WOW, nice clean up job. Keep us posted with what your going to add.


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Is that considered "sweat equity"?
Nice job!


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## Anupam (Nov 5, 2008)

Nice job cleaning it up, but are you sure the stand is up to the task of supporting more than 700 kgs? Maybe I can't see the real structural support but from the picture, I am wondering if it's sturdy enough.


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## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

Anupam said:


> Nice job cleaning it up, but are you sure the stand is up to the task of supporting more than 700 kgs? Maybe I can't see the real structural support but from the picture, I am wondering if it's sturdy enough.


It looks like toothpicks compared to the tank, you're right.


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Its fairly thin lumber. Most pieces are 1x3's. I figure the tank was on it for around 4-5 years before i got it so it must be enough. Besides most of the stands we sell at the LFS i work at have very similar construction. Alot if good stand design is based on getting the weight transferred to the ground and most of the weigh occurs at the corners. Which if you look close the corners are doubled up 1x3's

And for 500 bucks this is definitely "sweat equity" Also got 3x250w halides 1x400w halides and an icecap 660 ballast in the deal LOL SO all that made the hard work more worth it.

Right now i only have 3 discus to drop in it from my 44. But the 2 tanks i tore down to replace this will hopefully profit me enough with the fish from then and the equipment itself to stock this up nicely. My LFS owner also breeds discus so i usually get some really good deals on the lil guys.

Throw in a little update. The 55G African Tank and 30G Dempsey tank were taken down tonight. 180 is replacing 55g and 30g is now the sump. So into the buckets they go for the trip to the LFS tomorrow and in goes a stand.
Stand inplace in basement








30G Sump








And a very unhappy pair of mated jacks


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Awww, poor Dempsies!

Can I come live in your basement after you get this set up? :hihi:


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## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

good god man. you call Mr. clean and his pals to help with that? it looks terrific.
this is gonna be a great project.


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Minor update. Return pump was purchased along with the beginnings of my DIY wetdry setup. Started a little bit of the plumbing still have to get the tank up on the stand. All the plumbing pieces have arrived. Still waiting on funds to buy lighting and substrate. I think ive settled on 4x96w PC's for now and can always throw in some extra T5's if needed. And substrate is going to be FlorcoX which is like oildri, capped with play sand.


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

Excellent.

It's amazing what vinegar and a little elbow grease will do to a dirty tank!


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## topfrog007 (Dec 30, 2007)

Love the tank. 

Your a pens fan eh? Been my favorite team for 10+ years, gone to see them once last year when they come around my area (Vs avalanche).

May I suggest Mineralized top soil capped with PFS or Turface or 3M S grade (For sand look).


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

I really like the white sand look ive seen with other discus tanks. Florcox is about the same as turface from what i have read and looking at msds and other data sheets. I thought about mineralized topsoil but frankly for a 12 square foot area about 1-2" deep thats alot of soil and mixing and drying it out...little to much work. I think im just going to do the florcox along with some dosing regimes and see how it goes...no co2 or super high lighting right now just low light plants similar to whats in the 44g now. They do fine with medium light and gravel with nothing else.


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Another larger update this time. Tank is on the stand and filled with water. All plumbing is complete and leak free. WetDry still needs tweaked and filled with media, just wanted to get a preliminary water test. Being that the tank is used and this is my first major plumbing expedition i wanted to make sure everything was right before fish ever went in. 
All filled up








Pic of return spray bar
















Canisters Hard Plumbed into bulkheads
















DIY WetDry








Return/Wetdry








Hofer Gurgle Buster for drain


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## nobody88 (Feb 23, 2009)

nice setup


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I'm curious about the PVC on the bottom. Are you going to have 2 returns?


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## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

That DIY Wet/Dry is brilliant! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: I never would have thought to use a stackable drawer unit like that. I may just have to steal your idea. How's the sound factor with it? How easy is it to clean?

Cheers,
Phil


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

PVC Bottom/ Undergravel jets are the return from the 2 eheims. With 3/4" pipe it ends up being a very nice gentle flow on the bottom to help keep crap off the sand. Then the spray bar is return from the sump. I will post some little better pictures tonight.

The sound is very minimal once filled with media. Im using pot scrubbers as biological and then various layers of filter floss and foam blocks. The most noise i get is from my airline on my overflow drain which im working on silencing. Cleaning seems like it wont be to bad. I kept my floss on the upper 3 draws and they pull out real easy without any interference. Only thing you have to do is leave the drain pipe in the draw unglued from the main line so you can remove it. I just used a T with about 3-4" of capped pipe on each end of it then cut vertical slots in it. I may be able to snag a picture of it shortly.

Last night a few harlequins i had went it because they are being harassed by my mated pair of kribensis so they will help make sure this is cycled already. Both of the canisters were taken off well established tanks so hopefully there will be no cycle and all i have to do is seed the wetdry.


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Have some updated pictures to keep you all entertained.


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Probably going to be a week or two before i can get lights and glass tops. Apparently the tank is not Perfecto or AGA so any store bought glass tops are not fitting quite right. So im going to have glass cut and a few pieces drilled with finger holes, only one will be hinged.

Lighting is going to be 3x24" 4bulb T5 setups. I feel 3 24" fixtures are going to give me better coverage over the tank with less shaded areas due to the cross braces.

Other wise it has 5 Harlequins and a few otto's just to make sure the water is looking good before any of my discus go in. Will have pics up this week of the door covering the rear of the canopy. The stain is currently drying on it and one more coat should about do it.

So thats the minor update for the time being.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

thats a sweet a$$ idea! so cool!


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Had some issues tonight with my 44 Gallon that the discus are currently in. Heater started going wacky over the last few days and the temps dropped to 77F i really didnt want them to stay in here any longer. So after a nice long acclimation process and many rounds of testing nitrates, ammonia, and nitrites. All which showed up 0PPM i figured that my quick cycle using the two already cycled canisters was working fine. So in the discus went and they seem to be doing just fine. Also threw in a few other pieces of drift wood so i'll grab some pics later tonight or tomorrow.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

u got to do it tonight i want to see the discus!!!


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Here are the pictures. Water isnt the most clear right now and still trying to get the lighting right down there. A see through tank is hard to get good pictures of. Might have to start using a backdrop.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

beautiful discus. is it just the one?


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

No there are 3 in there. I was very limited in how many i could put in my ole 44 so now its time to start loading it up. The LFS i work at has some nice blue cobalt babies about 1 month away from being big enough to bring home. They will be small but cheap.


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## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

What did you use the Quickcrete for?


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Just quickcrete branded fine white sand. Was a little more white than play sand. so i mixed 3 bags of it with 1 play sand to obtained a slightly whiter look than play sand but not quite a bleach white look.


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Just another smaller update. Been waiting on my lights and glass tops to get cut. So i had a 400w 14k Halide setup laying around i threw up on real quick so the plants had some kinda of light to attempt to grow off until i get the correct ones. The look was kinda neat so i took some pictures.

















Also a shot of the backside of the canopy that i made a hinged door for.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

That is a lot of light! haha. Wow 400W. You keep (kept) reefs, I assume from the wattage and kelvin?


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Tank was a reef tank before i got it and it came with 3x250w Halides and 1x400w halide. They are entirely the wrong spectrum of bulbs and much to direct of a light for my taste. The 250w's have already been sold and the 400w is about to sell. Im going with 3x24" 4bulb T5HO fixtures with 6700k/Plant bulbs, probably colormax or something similar


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Few more pictures with bunch of fish added. Now have about 20 Harlequins, 5 Julii Cory's, 12 Ottos, 3 discus, 10 Rummy Nose, 4 SAE's, 1 yoyo loach, 1 histronica loach, and im sure im forgetting something else. Also got a steal of a deal on a nice piece of drift wood for 50 bucks.
Just dieing plants and a discus








Otto up close








Pair of julii








Ottos








FTS
























Discus
































Nother FTS


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

That sure does look cool like that. Too bad the algae would be uncontrollable.


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Forgot to post a picture of my new water filtration as well. Just 3 10" filters 1 10micron sediment 1 5micron carbon and 1 1micron carbon. Hopefully gets all the junk outta my water and removes chlorine.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

thanks to you i went and bout the sand!!! ur a god to me right now!!! i have been looking for cheap sand!


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Haha the quikcrete is a nice look. Very white and yes very very cheap especially when filling a 180gallon


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Will post update later this week. Got the DA Reef Keeper and all lighting installed just have to clean up the wiring and do a little trim work to it. But otherwise its starting to come around, just have to get some more discus and plants. Going to try aquariumplants.com's "TOTAL" pellets for substrate ferts...seems like a great idea.


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Just some updated pictures of the glass tops, controller, and lighting. Still have to sit down sometime and take some nice quality pictures. The controller is getting trimmed out as well, the hole didnt get cut well so I figured trim would be a nice way to finish it out.


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Got some new harlequins, discus, and rummy nose. Also got the controller trimmed in. Will still down and take some nice pictures hopefully sometime this week.


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## wadesharp (Nov 27, 2009)

that is one hell of a sick tank!!!!!!!!


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Long overdue update.Tank is filling up nicely right now.Trying to learn what i can and cannot grow without co2. Im using aquariumplants.com's root tabs with liquid iron supplement and things seem to be growing fairly well.Had a bunch of plants come in that were grown emersed so most of them are still dieing off and regrowing.

































































And if you had not noticed my blue diamond is an absolute camera hog.


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## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

that is looking great! i love the last picture with the school of harlequins


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## colinlp (Dec 26, 2009)

A beautiful tank! If I had a hat I'd take it off to you


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Thanks, I was going to get some more harlequins and rummy nose, but im thinking about getting maybe 15 more otto's and 10 more Julli cories to see if they will give that school look. The 10 ottos i have now shoaled up one night and it was really neat to watch.


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

nice discus., hope you quarantining your dither fish.


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

really beautiful fish!!


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Actually its funny I've only needed to quarantine new discus that I get. The store i work for has super clean fish and all are treated when they come in. However the discus for some reason often come in carrying a body fungus that isnt present on them but presents itself on my existing discus. Not a big deal but anymore i am quarantining new discus and treating them and the display tank with Clout before they are introduced.


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## fishyjoe24 (Dec 10, 2009)

nice tank, your marle-bro red trick me in to thinking it was a red melon. the blue diamond looks a little stunded eye to body size.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Very long over due update here. Plant growth has been horrible to say the least. I had alot of discus medical issues and had to use some heavy medications to ensure survival most of the medicine killed my plants which are slowly growing back. Also I was actually doing to many water changes without and dosing and my nitrates were constantly staying below 10ppm which is great for the discus but the plants just would not grow. So lately i've been doing once a month water changes of only 20 gallons and it seems to finally be growing back slowly. Otherwise just alot more fish and trying to get the plant situation under control right now.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

That is one good looking setuproud:


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Sorry to hear about your troubles man. Great looking tank though!


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## filipem (May 1, 2008)

My God that's a beautiful tank. Nice work


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## AquaNorth (Jan 27, 2010)

Very nice selection of discus, Good job and nice work. I like all the swords.


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Once I get all of the nutrient levels under control I have an extra 5lb Co2 tank and regulator I'm going to setup to help encourage growth. Also looking to add a few more Red Rubin swords to the tank.


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## Justshoe (Aug 17, 2008)

Got the Co2 setup done today, installed a Mazzei injector on the output side of one of the canisters and seems to be working great right now. Hopefully this and better watching of my nitrate levels and adding potassium will help the old growth of my plants not die off.


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