Mojosodope's Endangered Species 150G

**mojosodope** · 12-17-2012, 03:33 AM

Hey guys, I'll be using this thread to track the progress of my tank for anyone who is interested :)

It's a 5ft x 2ft x2ft 150 gallon which has been established since August. I initially wanted to go with a Discus only tank but I have recently decided to switch it to a Community tank.

I'll be posting pics tomorrow but here is what is going on as of now. I have had 6 Discus since August and they're doing great, no sign of illness etc.

My tank water parameters are as follows: 8.4 pH, 7GH, 8KH. 80 - 82 degrees with no heater. Filtration is a Fluval Fx5, Coralife 36W UV Sterilizer in line, and a sponge filter rated for 100gallons.

I do a 60 % water change every 3-4 days.

I recently added 12 emerald rainbow fish, 6 male, 6 female, 4 bolivian rams, I think I have 2 female 2 males but I'll pics tomorrow for you guys to help me determine what I have, and one male albino bushy nose pleco, looking for a female to add.

Currently the only thing I have planned to add is 6 juvi clown loaches to deal with my snail problem and a female abn for my boy. Pics tomorrow and I welcome any suggestions or ideas for my tank.

**BiGBlak** · 12-17-2012, 04:21 AM

Sounds like a pretty nice set up one thing i will say is isnt your a bit too hard for discus and bolivians ? but if its working for you its working. Looking forward to see the pics.

**ddavis1979** · 12-17-2012, 06:16 PM

I think 5'x2x2' is 180 gallons. Yay, more space!

**mojosodope** · 12-17-2012, 06:26 PM

nope, I wish!, it's 149.61 US gallons or 124.58 UK gallons, not accounting for the thickness of glass and water displacement for the sand and driftwood. I assume it's closer to 120 US gallons of water when I account for everything.

@BiGBlak, thanks for your comment man, that was my initial worry when I first got discus but my pH is stable at 8.4 year round and I think that's more important than a low fluctuating one. Also I'm not looking to breed them. My bolivians on the other hand I got from a guy who breed them in my exact water parameters so I know they can handle it, they're still juvies tho, I'll post pics a little later once the glare on the tank goes down.

On another note, I left a moon light on last night to see what would happen and I woke up with a bunch of black fish mess all over the floor, I'm not sure which of them made so much mess but I'm assuming it's the emerald rainbows. Did a water change and siphoned all of the crap out.

**fishmommie** · 12-17-2012, 06:57 PM

Keep in mind that discus are slow eaters and will not run to their food. Most of time discus fish food will fall to the bottom and they will search the bottom for food. So avoid aggressive fish (like other cichlids) in the tank because they'll eat the food and your discus could starve. And stay away from fish that are as big as or bigger than your discus.
Generally you should also stay away from fast moving fish because discus are very shy and fast swimmers can intimidate them. I'd avoid danios and barbs and rasboras which can also be nippers. Not sure on the rainbows - I know some are very fast swimmers so that may be a problem.
Also not sure how those rams will work out as they, too, are cichlids and may be too aggressive for the discus.

A good match would be cory cats (instead of the loaches), cardinal or rummy nose tetras. All are non threatening fish.
Just food for thought...

**mojosodope** · 12-17-2012, 09:12 PM

thanks for your suggestion! the emeralds are pretty fast but I make sure to hand feed my discus daily with freeze dried black worms, they all eat and if anything they show complete dominance when feeding off the nls pellets which I have on an auto feeder. I didn't go with small tetras because the intake on my Fluval Fx 5 would surely suck them in and I wasn't going to put a pre filter sponge on it.

**icefreeze57** · 12-17-2012, 09:19 PM

can't wait for pic

**mojosodope** · 12-17-2012, 09:23 PM

As promised, here are the pictures, I just put on the lights to take this so my Discus went into hiding.

**mojosodope** · 12-17-2012, 09:24 PM

^ Can anyone help me determine which are male/female?

The emeralds are scarred of the camera

**KevinVA** · 12-18-2012, 12:05 AM

Beautiful tank! I love those 3d backgrounds. They definitely finish out the tank. Are you going to add more decor, like rocks? If you add more points of separation in the tank, it could alleviate some of the stress from territorial disputes. Otherwise, you have beautiful fish and and tank.

It looks like you have 2 Female and 2 Male bolivians, so you made out. =] You can tell by the head shape. The females have a smooth transition from the tip of the mouth to their back. The males do not. Not sure how to describe it, but it slopes up from the mouth, meets a ridge, then slopes up again right above the eye. There are other ways to tell, but it's kind of difficult with the pictures posted. The fins kind of blend in with the substrate, etc.

If you didn't want the clown loaches, you could opt for something with less of a footprint, like a Banjo Catfish or Assassin snails. The Banjo cat isn't exactly pretty, but it'll get the job done and then that would leave room to add something you actually want. Clown loaches are still pretty cool, though.