Can I get some ideas on setting up a discus tank for a 240gal?

[awesum]

I'm thinking about starting a discus tank using my 240gal (8ft x 2ft x 2ft), but I need some help.

So here is what I have (please comment):
-30gal wet/dry
-fluval fx5
-2 aquaclaer 70 powerheads w/ sponge filter attached
-3 300watt heaters.
-1 really big piece of driftwood (2ft x 2ft)
-Tap water pH=7.5-7.7
-Bare Bottom Tank

Here is my vision (please comment whether it is too much fish, wrong plant, etc):
-10-16 discus
-6-10 Clown Loaches
-1-2 Plecos
-6-10 Neons or other small schooling fish (any suggestions on tankmates?)
-A lot of Dracaena Sanderiana Plants (Lucky Chinese Bamboo Plants)

Maintenance:
-How many water changes do you think I need per day/week/month?
-I want to change the water as little as possible because I travel a lot and the longest trip would be no more than 14 days. So I guess the ideal situation for me would be change water every 2 weeks 40%. Is that bad? Whats the furthest I can go without changing the water?
-Is aging my water that important?
-Would declorinators affect those Chinese Bamboo plants?

Thanks!

 

[greyhoundfan]

10 to 16 Discus sounds good but you could do more for a 240. If you can afford start off with Adults. With your WC Schedule it will be impossible to raise juvies properly especially in surch a large tank.

I would reconsider the clown loaches, people will give you mixed opinions regarding them since they are fish that is on the go and could make your discus nervous.

I would buy the dwarf variety pleco not the regular ones that get 2 ft long as they can get agressive towards your discus and even development a fondness for their slime coat. 10 or more dwarf variety plecos will be fine.

Ditch the neons and stick with Cardinal Tetras instead. Cardinal tetras are able to tolerate the higher temps your discus will need to stay happy. 6-10 tetras is nothing in a 240 G tank. You want to get a school of them. I'd say start off with 50 or more.

Aging your water is important. It gives you the opportunity to stabelize the pH and to pretreat it and heat it to match the water temp of your tank. I would consider buying two food grade barrels, that'll give you 110 Gallons of water storag capacity and you can do close to 50% WCs at a time.

Since you have a big tank you have more margin for error when your water conditions go ary. Adult discus can go a month w/o eating and still remain healthy. BUT it is important you prepare your fish before you go on long trips.

If you are able to plan for it than it'll be no problem. Before I go on any long trips I over feed my discus for three weeks prior to me leaving. This helps build up their reserves. Than I faste them for the 3 days prior to my trip, and each day I do 60% WCs up until I leave. This will give your discuses the chance to poop out their food and you the chance to clean up your water. It is better to have cleaner water than fed discus while you're gone.

Oh, remember your Cardinal Tetras?? If your discus get hungry enough they'll snack on em'.. small price to pay in my opinion.

I have followed this routine several times and have not lost any discuses.

I like your filtration sounds adequate but I do think you need to step up your WC to at least once a week. The majority of discus diseases can be attributed to poor water quality conditions.

 

[WyldFya]

Avoid the plecos, unless you are getting them for their looks. They are not a clean up crew member. There are many options for plecos though (technically there is no such thing as a dwarf pleco only one species of true pleco (Hypostomus Plecostomus)).

Personally I prefer the blue tetra over the cardinal or the neon.

The plants you want are not aquatic 100%, and will begin to die off without being emersed. They will survive a long time, but not much more than a year.

 

[RyanS]

I would suggest Rummynose tetras as tankmates. They are very pretty and will also indicate the quality of your water. Good water = Bright red nose and vice versa.

 

[WyldFya]

I would suggest Rummynose tetras as tankmates. They are very pretty and will also indicate the quality of your water. Good water = Bright red nose and vice versa.

That is a very good suggestion as well. A little indicator to the health of the aquarium.

 

[awesum]

nice, thanks for the help guys.

 

[The Amazonian]

I would go with a shoal of Emperor Tetra they are the best!!!!

 

[carpediem]

10 to 16 Discus sounds good but you could do more for a 240. If you can afford start off with Adults. With your WC Schedule it will be impossible to raise juvies properly especially in surch a large tank.

I would reconsider the clown loaches, people will give you mixed opinions regarding them since they are fish that is on the go and could make your discus nervous.

I would buy the dwarf variety pleco not the regular ones that get 2 ft long as they can get agressive towards your discus and even development a fondness for their slime coat. 10 or more dwarf variety plecos will be fine.

Ditch the neons and stick with Cardinal Tetras instead. Cardinal tetras are able to tolerate the higher temps your discus will need to stay happy. 6-10 tetras is nothing in a 240 G tank. You want to get a school of them. I'd say start off with 50 or more.

Aging your water is important. It gives you the opportunity to stabelize the pH and to pretreat it and heat it to match the water temp of your tank. I would consider buying two food grade barrels, that'll give you 110 Gallons of water storag capacity and you can do close to 50% WCs at a time.

Since you have a big tank you have more margin for error when your water conditions go ary. Adult discus can go a month w/o eating and still remain healthy. BUT it is important you prepare your fish before you go on long trips.

If you are able to plan for it than it'll be no problem. Before I go on any long trips I over feed my discus for three weeks prior to me leaving. This helps build up their reserves. Than I faste them for the 3 days prior to my trip, and each day I do 60% WCs up until I leave. This will give your discuses the chance to poop out their food and you the chance to clean up your water. It is better to have cleaner water than fed discus while you're gone.

Oh, remember your Cardinal Tetras?? If your discus get hungry enough they'll snack on em'.. small price to pay in my opinion.

I have followed this routine several times and have not lost any discuses.

I like your filtration sounds adequate but I do think you need to step up your WC to at least once a week. The majority of discus diseases can be attributed to poor water quality conditions.

This is all very good advice...

I also don't like the idea of clown loaches. They are just too active and they will compete with your discus for food. If it were me, I would probably scrap the pleco idea and add some nice peaceful scavengers to clean up the leftovers. I like cories for this. I don't have much of an opinion on tetra tankmates, although I like the rummynose suggestion that someone made.

I agree with the conditioned change water ideas. If you're going to invest in quality fish, why not invest a little bit of money and space for an RO system, some heaters, and a couple barrels for change water. Add a mag drive pump and some DIY plumbing work and you actually simplify the water change process greatly. If water changes are not your favorite event, PLAN AHEAD and make them as easy as possible. Time spent in the planning stage can save a lot more time later on.

I also think that a tank that big begs for more discus. They always seem more comfortable in numbers. Nothing makes me happier than a crowd of discus begging at the top of the tank at feeding time.

 

[abpositive]

I would suggest Rummynose tetras as tankmates. They are very pretty and will also indicate the quality of your water. Good water = Bright red nose and vice versa.

+1

The healthiest, happiest Discus tank I have is the one with the Rummynoses in it. I glance at them and if they're faded, it's time for a water change.

I would also like to point out that, unless you want to be a slave to 60 to 80% water changes weekly, you allot about 15 to 18 gallons of water per Discus, and 1 gallon of water per Tetra. Those numbers came from me playing with the stocking of my tanks until I got it right.

So... if you want 16 Discus, you would already be overstocked.

Mind you, I'm not saying that you would be dangerously overstocked, just a water change slave.

There is also another difficulty to be planned for and overcome. Large males and aggression.

I have 4 large males out of all my Discus, (not 4 males total, just 4 BIG ones) and they torture everyone. I had to understock one of my 125's and my 100 in order to keep the peace.
My suggestion just for fun:

40 Rummynose Tetras (40 gals)
15 Cories instead of plecs, more active, hide less, less poop load (45 gals)
12 Discus (180 gals)

This is only a suggestion for your mental health. I have one tank where they're only getting 12 gals per Discus, and my water changes run 80% weekly and could use more.

 

[WeeNe858]

now that people have the stocking part.. ill help you with plumbing. as above i recommend getting a 30 gallon barrel and using that to age your water in. the 30 gallon "sump" is a bit to small to put to good use. unles you want to hook it up to the same tank water and use it as a temp qourintine or just use it as a med/quarintine tank only. as for filtration the fx5 can handle the tank load expecially if your going with bard bottom. so if you want to you can just hook it up lke a normal canister setup.


now if you really want to run a sump setup (which i recommend for discus) your best off with an 80 gallon tank or larger. and everything else will be DIY..

and you can run your canister in the sump