100 gallon planted Discus tank

So, I just order 3 big tubes of aquarium sealant, because I don't trust the old sealant that's on it, because that sealant has to be 20+ years old lol. So I'll be stripping the old sealant so I can replace it, and the stand needs the most work. 1 of the doors is broke, and I want to add some 4x4's for stability to the stand.

I plan on sanding the entire stand to strip off the old finish, and making all new doors, and painting the stand black with white trim around it. This will be a long process getting this tank up and running.



As you can see from the picture it needs a lot of work before it can be setup and running. I also plan to make my own braces for the top of the tank, I'm thinking of using two 1/2" thick glass braces on the top of the tank. Also plan on doing a plastic center brace in order to fit two 36" T5 light systems, I'm trying to make it a low-light planted Discus setup, and using low-light plants like Anubias and Java Ferns.

The tank itself will be repainted black along the trim, and then once it's all finished and ready to set back up it'll have 2x300w submersible heaters, 2xMagnum 350 canister filters, 1 Jaebo 912 4-stage canister filter, and I will be doing my own custom background on the tank.

I anticipate it will take me around 3-4 months to get it fish worthy and set back up.

Sounds like a great project, and I'm anxious to see updates as it comes along.

100 gall discus setup sounds just awesome mike as bob says i'm looking forward to the updates aswell mate.

So tonight I really looked over the stand, and it's in really bad condition >:\

So I've decided that I'm going to try and salvage all I can of it, and anything I can't salvage will be redone with all new lumber. Luckily HomeDepot is very cheap here in Denver, so I'll spend a good amount of money on this project, but I won't go broke doing it lol.

Not sure why the pic of the setup isn't showing up, so I'll just post links that go to the images.



Click to view Image 1

Click to view Image 2

Click to view Image 3



I've also decided that the stand will be painted a dark ebony color, which from what I've found looks amazing. I'm also thinking of adding some matching wood trim around the outside of the tank, top/bottom/sides so it appears that the tank is surrounded by wood. I may also make a matching wooden canopy to cover the top of the tank, but haven't made up my mind yet if I want to do it or not.

I just finally finished stripping all of the sealant from the tank, now I just need to clean out all the debris from the tank, then I can get started on re-sealing the tank when my order of aquarium sealant comes in.

Next month I'll be picking up a new sander to start on sanding down the stand, getting the wood for all the new doors, then in Feb. 2012 I can get started on all new 4x4's and 2x4's to use inside the stand for more stability, and I'll pick up the paint so it can all be re-painted.

I'll probably pick up the the two 1/2" thick piece of glass and get them sealed into the top of the tank as braces. I'm thinking of ordering specialty lighting rods that will be screwed into the back of the stand, and the lighting will hang from it.

that's a fantastic looking setup mike and from the improvements you are going to make it will look awesome, thanks for the update.

So earlier today I decided to take a look at the inside of the stand, and found out the stand's built around a steel skeleton frame lol, which means the stand's more stable than I thought. So that's some good news, means I won't need to do the 4x4+2x4 addition to the inside of the stand.

I've also decided that I'll be using 4 canister filters on the tank, 2xMagnum 350's (1 on each of the back corners), 1xJebao 912 on the right side center of the tank), and 1xEheim 2213 (on the left side center of the tank). The Jebao and Eheim both have spray bars which will be used on each of them, but the DIY background will cover all of the intake/output tubes, but I'll be cutting the rear of the background to fit each of the filters intake/outputs, and I'll also cut some outflow areas into the background so the filters outflow will work, I'll be using acrylic mesh to seal these areas so the fish can't get in there.

I've also decided to use 2x30" Aqueon, and 1x48" Aqueon Lighting fixtures for the tank. This will be 208w of lighting on the tank, and will equal 2.08w per gallon, and with the lighting hanging 6" above the tank, it puts me into the low-light category.

Why 4 canister filters, one at each end would do the trick surely

Because I'll be running peat in them, so by using 4 canister filters it will help with maintaining a steady PH because peat is used as a PH buffer to lower the PH to 5.5-6.5 . So by running the 4 canister filters it'll help to keep the PH steady in the tank, so it doesn't fluctuate which would then stress the Discus.

Or I could run peat in 2 of the filters with no carbon, and then run activated carbon in the 2 other filters. Because using peat discolors the water by giving it that driftwood tea coloration, the activated carbon will then clear that up without affecting the PH.

I always kept tank bred discus at a pH of around 7.0 as they are housed in those parameters, for breeding purposes I would lower the pH in the breeding tanks by using an RO/HMA mix to ensure that the pH was constant. Peat can also be a bit hit and miss but does work for a lot of keepers.
The wilds were kept at a lower pH to match their natural waters.

So I've given it some thought, and going with two 48" Nova Extreme T5 lighting fixtures. So I'll have 216 watts of lighting, which will still keep me in the low light category.

I know some of you are thinking "why not get a 72" T5 fixture to use on the tank", well that's because a 72" T5 lighting system runs around $500+ whereas going with two 48" T5 fixtures will only run me around $275. Then I can spend the extra money on some standing light kits to hold the fixtures 6" above the tank.

Then because I'll need around 200lbs of Eco-Complete substrate to get a 3" bed in the tank, I'll be going with 4 bags of 20lb Eco-Complete and 4 bags of 20lb Flourite planted substrates. Then I'll be mixing in some first layer pure laterite in the areas where the plants will go.

I'll be getting two 50lb bags of pool filter sand to cover the plant substrate bed, hoping to get a 3/4" thick bed of sand covering the plant substrate.

I'm now on the hunt for some really big pieces of driftwood to use in the tank, I'm thinking probably 2 big driftwood pieces, and then maybe 3-4 small/medium pieces. Depending on what I can find locally will determine how many pieces of driftwood I'll be using in the tank.

i'm looking forward to seeing this setup developer i love discus they are so regal looking.
great thread mike.

So I ran to Lowes tonight because they had a Orbit 5" Sander listed on their website for $19.97 so I couldn't resist the price. So I picked up the sand, 4 of the 80 grade sanding pads, and 4 of the 220 grade sanding pads, along with a 8" sanding file to use on the background to smooth it out in areas.

So in 2 weeks I'll pick up some more of the sanding pads to finish off the stand. But that's about all I'll get, because my Durango needs new brakes installed. I'll take some new pictures of what I get done this week.

great bargain on the sander mike, looking forward to seeing the pics.

So here's some new pics of the stand, I'm half way done with getting it sanded. I'm waiting for my older brother to come over 1 of these days so he can help me to put the tank on the floor so I can finish sanding the stand.