Hi! My name is Ron and I have been lurking for months. Summers are usually very busy as most ppl therefore forum time is less. However, fall is here and winter is quickly approaching therefore............its fish time! :thumbs:
A little background! I love discus however my first experience with fish was a betta and a 2G bowl. However, that was not enough therefore I managed to 'borrow' a 30G from my Uncle and setup my first tank. At that time, I had no knowledge of bio and cycling so I bought 6 neons and threw them in. Looking back now, I am in awe at what I did and how the fish still survived. After a couple of weeks, tiger barbs were next followed by german rams. To further my growing desire, the rams decided to lay eggs so I removed the neons and barbs and brought them to Dad's where I originally bought them. The eggs turned into fry and my wife and I were mesmerized by how the parents took care of the fry. Anyways, after that my plans revolved around getting a 90G which my dad and I custom build the stand for. Around this time I found the nitrogen cycle and what it does and how to use it. It was also around this time that discus caught my eye. Thanks to Don Gross, I was able to start with 6 discus which really looked nice in my 90G. Couple months later, someone in eastern Canada was selling a ton of plants for cheap so I did crash research on planted tanks and filled my 90G with real plants which replaced the fakes.
The discus did well in the 90G for which I was incredibly happy so I was drawn even deeper into the discus abyss. I found simplydiscus.com which turned my fascination in obsession. Now a 90G and 30G just was not enough, I had to build a rack of 6 tanks which I placed in the spare bedroom (house only has 2 bedrooms upstairs and we rented the basement out). Smokey was an incredible source of info, helping me build my own tanks plus had excellent ideas for the rack, I was able to successfully build a nice rack for discus. The birth of my son made me relocate the fishroom from the now babyroom to a bigger room in the basement. This was great, more room, more tanks, etc. I was able to add another 2 65G tanks to my collection which currently house my discus. I first had to get the 65s racks build and running to transfer the discus before moving the rack from upstairs to downstairs. The original rack however is not up and running yet which I one of my goals this winter.
From the beginning I had always planned to do as little maintenance as possible (like vacuuming and draining/filling tanks) therefore tried to automate everything as possible. Since Im an Electrical Engineering Technologist, my studies in automation was a great help and was able to use a PLC to help with my water changes which I completed successfully this last spring on 1 of the 2 65G racks which is working great btw. This is where Im currently at and hope that this winter I can complete my fishroom, get the original rack running and automate both the rack and other 65G. I would also like to try my hand at breeding which I need to setup the R/O. So, a lot of work ahead but Im loving it.
Here is some info and pics of my racks:
Mini rack as I call it
http://www.simplydiscus.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28496
Present fishroom
http://www.simplydiscus.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36454
Currently I have a 90G planted tank in the livingroom (clowns, tetras), 2 65G with discus, empty 30G and 6 empty 20Gs rack tanks.
About me:
Im 28 years old, married to a wonderful, patient girl Anita and have a beautiful son, Marcel who is 16 months old. As previously mentioned, I work as an electrical designer/consultant here in Edmonton but I live in Wetaskiwin.
Anyways, glad to join this wonderful forum and see local hobbyists able to discuss this amazing hobby.
Thanks
