125 gallon discus tank - work in progress

[Stussi613]

I realized at the auction today that I haven't posted any pics of my tank, which has been running for a few months now. Some of you will recognize this tank right away, I got it from another member of the club who had a fry of her own to take care of

Tank:
125 gallon Starfire front panel.
Rena XP4 filter (soon to be supplemented with a Fluval 404)
250w online heater
Digital thermometer
750gph powerhead for surface agitation (all filter connections are through the holes drilled in the bottom of the tank)
8 light regular T5 fixture (only 4 lights populated)
Pool filter sand and black fluorite substrate

Livestock:
9 discus from Evelyn
~40 Cardinal Tetras
10 Rummynose tetras
4 sterbai cory's
1 useless BN place
5 Otto cats

[Toss]

Nice and very clean setup!

[ottawadiscus]

Very Nice  setup.

[White Lightning]

Nice tank Stewart! I love that white discus!

[Rémi]

Looks great. Do you find the fluorite mixes with the sand much? I was thinking of layering some flourite underneath sand but I'm worried it will all mix together instead of staying seperate.

[Stussi613]

Looks great. Do you find the fluorite mixes with the sand much? I was thinking of layering some flourite underneath sand but I'm worried it will all mix together instead of staying seperate.

They don't mix together at all because of the corrugated plastic divider that you can see at the back of the sand.  Picture #5 shows it the best. Super easy to make that divider and a sheet of it costs less than $20. I usually push the sand right up against it when I do my cleaning and you can't even tell it's there.

[Hookup]

this truly looks amazing!  100 points.

[fischkopp]

A nice setup indeed! Thanks for sharing it with us.

What are your plans with this tank down the road?

[sas]

Really nice!
Beautiful Discus.

[Stussi613]

A nice setup indeed! Thanks for sharing it with us.

What are your plans with this tank down the road?

I truly underestimated the force of gravity on the filters, the Rena XP4 is a beast but the outflow on both sides of the tank is rather weak.  I'm going to add a Fluval 404 into the mix and have cross pull/outflow action on the each corner.

I also need to get more plants into the tank to get a handle on the algea issues I'm facing.  Right now it's mostly slow growing stuff and the Blyxa that is in the pictures has either been pulled up due to fish disturbance or melted due to water temp/lack of CO2.  I'm looking into something that is a bit faster growing for the mid-ground between the "rails" of the divider and I bought Rebecca's CO2 setup, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do there yet.  I intended to buy some plants at the Giant Auction, but our new friends from Montreal seemed bound and determined to buy anything green that came up.  I've never seen prices like that on Val's before.  The last time I bought some I got a shopping bag full for $20 with some other plants thrown in...

[fortunateson]

Great looking tank!

[cichlidicted]

beautiful tank, Love the white discus as well... thank you for posting these up.

[Yams]

Tank looks fantastic! Minimalistic and beautiful! 

[Saltcreep]

Beautiful setup, indeed. I saw it in person.

[Brent Shaver]

Perfect example of Less is More.  Great looking tank and I also love the white discus.

Keep us posted as you continue...

[Nerine]

BEAUTIFUL!! I love the divider!! excellent I think I might have to do that haha gives the tank a very clean look to it! Awesome work!

[Shannen_x5]

That is AMAZING.
I've been wanting Discus for a while...not quite in my budget... and too busy to take care of them.
Where do you get your Discus from? Do you breed?
And where did you get the white one? Beautiful!

[Stussi613]

BEAUTIFUL!! I love the divider!! excellent I think I might have to do that haha gives the tank a very clean look to it! Awesome work!

I'd love to take credit for the divider, but that genius idea is all Rebecca!  So easy to make, and a sheet of the corrugated plastic is about $20 at home depot.

[Stussi613]

That is AMAZING.
I've been wanting Discus for a while...not quite in my budget... and too busy to take care of them.
Where do you get your Discus from? Do you breed?
And where did you get the white one? Beautiful!

Discus can be expensive, but they are much easier to keep than people think...

I get all my discus and tetras locally from a club member, 2075turner.  I have at least 3 pairs in the tank, and they lay eggs all the time, but if they ever make it to wrigglers the tetras must be eating them because I never see them!

The snow white is my fav fish in the tank, I've been offered money for her a few times, but I won't sell her...

[Stussi613]

Thanks for all the great comments everyone!