I apologize for the cut-n-paste, but I just finished posting this on my forum and...well...I'm to lazy to type it again. So...rather than just sending the URL...

You all know I've been wanting for some time to have a nice sized tank for my Discus. I finally got the wife to agree to it if I broke down the 55g. Deal!

So I got one yesterday. I wouldn't have even thought of shopping for one of these, but it's cool.

Most 150g tanks are 6' long. This one is 48 x 31 x 24. Not quite a cube, but a big, fat rectangle. It really looks fantastic set up - even though it's by no means done yet.

It just so happened Some friends of mine were wanting to get rid of their 150 african tank at the same time I was looking for one - so good for both of us.

This "High" design is really neat - a huge viewing area like a big screen TV almost. (except more interesting)

Beforehand, I got my decor ready & my silica sand rinsed. ($4 per 50 pound bag at Home Depot!) So I paid $12 for 150lbs of substrate.

Home-made driftwood thingy...


Here's what it looked like when it was delivered...



It seemed like it took forever to fill. About 1/5 of the water was from a discus tank waterchange to help the cycle out.


Also to help the cycle along, I used a lot of wood and probably 5 pounds of the dirty gravel from the Discus tank.

I placed the decor down, put down a nice thin layer of cycled gravel, and then added the silica sand. Very murky & cloudy...




With only a Magnum 350 running, the water showed notacible improvement by bed time...


But by morning...not too shabby! You can see all the plants, wood & rocks have pretty much just been dumped in at this point.


I then arranged things more or less how I want it (for now)...


I even buried a couple BN hideouts in the sand. One on each side of the tank...



Then I put on a coat of black paint...


And that's pretty much where I am now.

Before bed I added a very well seeded 125g sponge filter. This morning I did some water testing and everything looks good. All indications are pointing toward a quick re-cycling. So I put in 2 c. paleatus and 4 c. metae (which I usually spell wrong) who seem to be doing great. They're having a ball in the new space.

I'm going to monitor the ammonia & nitrites daily and when it looks stable, in go the Discus two at a time.

I'll post more new stuff as it happens.

I could not be more psyched.

That's great ! Are we ok to use your stuff as our Tank Setup example, when the time comes ?

That is a top looking tank. I can see what you mean about the viewing area. Gunna be fun for you to sand Vac tho', heh heh !!

Still want to know how you painted the back of the tank ?
Also have you changed the depth of the sand yet ?

That looks fantastic. They've plenty of room there.

Time for me to clean my glass and wip off a tank shot. I think I've finally reached 'natural' look with my planting.

Are you going to plant across the back, Gary ?

Starting to look the part mate Very nice, very nice indeed. Just keep a nose on your sand, i.e. if you smell rotten eggs its time to rake through your sand asap (but dont forget to rake the sand every so often)

I'm just thinking plants for the height element, as well as the 'Discus' shape of the fish.

Something along the lines of sagittaria, one of the longer leaved variaties.

Ah, found it... Vallisneria spiralis. Stick a heap of that along the back, with it thinning as you come forward. I reckon they'd love zipping in and out of there.

Shit, that's a good looking tank !

Think it depends on which species you have of saggittaria as just like fish they differ, but the best possible person to answer that question is possibly the paw

That's a gorgeous tank! Very impressive & BIG. Some day I want to do a saltwater set-up w/the sand & all, natural looking. Don't really have the time right now w/a 4 year old to chase. Just wanted to put in my 2 cents...sorry don't know the conversion for the rest of y'all in other countries.

No worrys we use the same saying in the uk for some strange reason

I've always found Sagittaria fairly hardy. Without looking anything up, I'd imagine it'd do ok. The stuff I have growing now, came from a handful I bought early 1992 !

Sagittaria, and Amazon Swords, you'll never have to buy a plant again !

Interesting thing I did with my young Swords on the runner, was to snip them back to 3 ft lengths, secured 2 or 3 lengths in parallel on to those suction cups for holding tubing/spray bars. Run them through the 'U' clamp, then fasten them with a rubber-band.

Then suckered a couple of rows to the back of the tank. Should come up nice (I hope), giving a bit more depth to my jungle. I put them low, so it'll be a while to have any effect.

Have you taken any pics ?

I think I missed that one for some reason. Probably have my chance when the suckers come loose.