DarkSceptor

So the pencil fish are surface dwelling fish but they are also schooling fish. Having only 2 may not leave them feeling comfortable. After all a school is a form of safety from predicators. Add 3 more and see if the behaviour changes.

Assuming you have no other tanks in the house this is the process I would use. Setup the entire aquarium including plants. It is a pain in the ass to go back later and add plants into the aquarium. Get one or two sacrifice fish (guppies for example) Also get the liquid bacteria treatment. Now fill the tank with chlorine-free water, add the liquid bacteria based on total volume of the tank, and add the fish. Every day you need to test the tank and do water changes as necessary. Those fish may be sacrificial but that doesn't mean they need to die the first week. With each water change add a bit more of the liquid bacteria based on the amount of water changed. You should have a peaceful couple of weeks. But the tank STILL WILL NOT BE READY FOR THE NORMAL FISH LOAD. When you add the fish you want you will get a bacteria bloom. Just live through that and keep an eye on the parameters.

Well the basis of the article was that the tannins on first flush are very heavy. So when you put them in it does not turn the water black but rather releases enough tannins to turn the water brownish-gold. However I've no experience with blackwater firsthand yet. So what I read could be very wrong.

What I've read is as follows: First put them in boiling water as a cleanse. Let the water cool and soak until the water is nearly black. Drain water and add one more batch of cold water and soak for a week. Now in such a small tank you may need to break up the leaves but as long as they "look" to scale just toss them in and let them fall naturally. Try to avoid putting them in the dead center of the tank. And you should have a nice looking dead layer soon,

So my wife and I plan to get a 180 aquarium once we move into a larger house. It is taking time since we want to rent a house near the boys school. So this time is just spent planning. And I'm wavering between using a sump and using Fluval FX6's for the tank. SUMP: PROS: increased water volume = more stable parameters / able to use as many different types of filtration as wanted / can implement a fluidized bed / easy to integrate an ATO (Auto Top Off) system / heaters out of sight / returns replace the need for additional equipment to move water surface for gas exchange CONS: May not be totally silent / may not be able to remove for cleaning / needs tuning so you do not flood during a power outage PLANNED DESIGN: Drilled aquarium with overflow built in at center for easy restart after power failure and return is split to both ends Chamber 1 is socks and sponges Chamber 2 is Media, Chamber 3 is heaters and fluidized bed Chamber 4 is floss filtration and pump return Chamber 5 is water chamber for ATO system Fluval: PROS: self-contained / can be removed for cleaning / with 2 pumps I have redundancy and can alternate weekly for cleaning CONS: Potentially way more expensive than a sump / not as many benefits as a sump / any ATO is isolated from filtration PLANNED DESIGN: One Fluval at each end of the aquarium. Intact moved towards center for both. SO With all that said I'm looking for input (especially from discus owners) on the choice between the two systems. I already had one old "need" for discus debunked in that divers found discus in the faster moving waters of the Rio Negro tributaries. Not in slow moving water! Keep in mind that 1) we live in Colombia so our tap water is equal to what wild fish live in 2) Since we are an hour from the Rio Negra the likelihood of wild discus is quite high. In fact it is quite possible all fish I get are wild caught.

Well if they cannot thrive here they aren't sold here. Most of the shops sell only wild caught fish from the rivers here in Colombia. I would love to have these fish, but if they do not thrive in Discus water then they won't go in. I'm not a newbie, I've been raising fish since 1978. It is just my first tank since I came to live in Medellin with only 2 suitcases of belongings.

They have some shots in the wild ... however they also discovered previously unknown fish! Including a new Pike Cichlid. YouTube Video of the Expedition

Definitely. Living in the "land of the discus" I have to post about it. jejejeje

I already plan on keeping them around 84 though even Cory said that Hillstream Loaches do well at higher temperatures. And, yes, I plan on installing a wave maker to keep the surface active. I also want to have a fluidized bed in my sump which will have lots of air moving the K1 as well. For cardinal tetras this is where they come from...the Rio Negro in the same waters that discus are living in. By placing the dither fish along with a minimum of 10 discus, I expect the discus to do quite well in a 180 gallon tank. I also plan on at least 2 changes per week to keep the hormones down in the water. But if I can find Hillstream Loaches here they will be bred in water here which is about an hour away from the Rio Negra.

Thank you. I'm actually in the opposite direction. I watched the videos on YouTube and in one he mentioned a post here on the forum.

My name is Michael and my spouse is Gloria (she is the Colombian). Currently we have no aquarium because we are searching to rent a 3 bedroom house. Once we are successful we plan to get an aquarium. I am a retired programmer for the Department of Defense and moved here to live on my retirement. Between the cost of food, rent, and medical I can live on only my SSA money. Yeah. We plan on setting up a 180 aquarium with a sump for discus, tetras, and hopefully Hillstream Loach.