Life Changes

About a year ago, we made the decision to convert our 150 gallon freshwater discus tank into a saltwater system. It was a difficult decision to make as we loved our discus. At that time, we were anticipating our first child and contemplating the amount of time and energy we would have available for our aquariums. The discus require large and frequent water changes. With the anticipation of a baby on the way and maintaining a 240 gallon reef tank, the feasibility of trying to juggle two time intensive tanks was daunting. We just didn't believe that we could maintain the time commitment necessary to continue the care for both systems. A few events lead to our decision to close down the discus tank. 

As we mentioned earlier, the discus tank required heavy maintenance. You can check out our schedule of beef heart meal prep, canister maintenance & water changes through the Discus Maintenance Link. Every weekend we had time intensive requirements to keep the fish happy & healthy. Perhaps the most time consuming element was the 90% water changes conducted every weekend. We found the discus tank to be more time intensive then the reef tank. While the reef tank certainly had it's own variables and parameters to maintain, we found its maintenance to be easier to manage through breaking down maintenance into various chores spread throughout the week. This enabled us to spend mere minutes a day on reef tank care compared to the hours of maintenance required in one sitting for the discus tank. In future articles, we'll detail the maintenance we currently follow for the upkeep of our reef tank system.
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Also around the time we were contemplating the future of our tanks, Little Red unexpectedly passed away. He had become a bit of a mascot for us. We had purchased him from a LFS as a young fish at roughly the size of a quarter. At the time of his passing, he was around the size of a salad plate. Little Red was really the only reason we were holding off on tearing down the system. With his passing, our hearts were really no longer in the freshwater aquarium. 

Little Red shortly before his passing 

Between the loss of Little Red and the foreseeable loss of time a newborn brings, we knew it was time to shut down the discus tank. Fortunately, we live in an area with several active fish groups. Through them, we were able to locate someone with previous experience keeping discus and looking to get back into the hobby. We transferred the discus into his care. If you have any fish keeping groups in your community, we highly encourage you to become an active member. Not only can you share your passion for this hobby with those around you, but you can seek advice and assistance from those who live close by. From re-homing fish to seeking help for tank moves or tank "sitting" for those on vacation, fish keeping clubs have several advantages which can help a hobbyist with any level of expertise. 

With an empty 150 gallon tank, we opted to convert the tank over to saltwater. It is currently a fish only with live rock (FOWLR) system. Maintenance on the tank is limited with only a few fish in the tank. In future articles, we will detail the steps we took to drill the tank for sump installation & discuss the livestock and equipment of the tank. 

Drilling the 150 gallon tank for sump integration

It was a difficult decision giving up the discus we had come to love. But with a baby on the way, we just couldn't commit to the time and energy their upkeep would require. It was truly in their best interest that we find them another home. As we said our goodbyes, I couldn't believe we were actually parting with the fish that got us into this hobby years ago. As that song goes "Life Changes..." We now currently do not have any freshwater systems. But you never know, in the future we might choose to keep discus again. They are still hands down my favorite fish in salt or freshwater. When or if the time comes and we keep discus again, there are several design elements I would change on a future system. But that is a topic for a different day...