diff --git a/config/settings.py b/config/settings.py
index d08c807..e778ad7 100644
--- a/config/settings.py
+++ b/config/settings.py
@@ -131,9 +131,9 @@
         "ENGINE": "django.db.backends.postgresql",
         "HOST": env("DB_HOST", default="localhost"),
         "PORT": env("DB_PORT", default="5432"),
-        "NAME": env("DB_NAME", default="postgres"),
-        "USER": env("DB_USER", default="postgres"),
-        "PASSWORD": env("DB_PASSWORD"),
+        "NAME": env("DB_NAME", default="connthreads"),
+        "USER": env("DB_USER", default="connthreads"),
+        "PASSWORD": env("DB_PASS", default="password"),
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 7f7d711..0efbc45 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -11,14 +11,34 @@ services:
       - DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=thisisnotasecretkey
       - DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS=localhost
       - DJANGO_CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS=http://localhost
-      - SQLITE_PATH=/db/db.sqlite3
-    volumes:
-      - dj-sqlite:/db
+      - DB_HOST=db
+      - DB_PORT=5432
+      - DB_NAME=connthreads
+      - DB_USER=connthreads
+      - DB_PASS=password
     command: >
       sh -c "
         poetry run python manage.py migrate &&
         poetry run python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000
       "
+    volumes:
+      - dj-data:/app/media
+
+  db:
+    image: postgres:16
+    volumes:
+      - pg-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+    environment:
+      - POSTGRES_DB=connthreads
+      - POSTGRES_USER=connthreads
+      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password
+      - POSTGRES_HOST=db
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U connthreads"]
+      interval: 2s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 3
 
 volumes:
-  dj-sqlite:
+  dj-data:
+  pg-data:
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml.j2 b/docker-compose.yml.j2
index 72606c8..74958ef 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml.j2
+++ b/docker-compose.yml.j2
@@ -16,7 +16,11 @@ services:
       - DJANGO_SECRET_KEY={{ template.env.secret_key }}
       - DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS={{ template.env.allowed_hosts }}
       - DJANGO_CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS={{ template.env.trusted_origins }}
-      - SQLITE_PATH={{ template.env.sqlite_path }}
+      - DB_HOST=db
+      - DB_PORT={{ template.env.host_db_port }}
+      - DB_NAME={{ template.env.db_name }}
+      - DB_USER={{ template.env.db_user }}
+      - DB_PASSWORD={{ template.env.db_pass }}
     command: >
       sh -c "
         poetry run python manage.py migrate &&
@@ -34,6 +38,33 @@ services:
     {% endif %}
     {% endif %}
 
+  {% set service = 'db' %}
+
+  db:
+    image: postgres:12
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    environment:
+      - POSTGRES_DB={{ template.env.db_name }}
+      - POSTGRES_USER={{ template.env.db_user }}
+      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD={{ template.env.db_pass }}
+      - POSTGRES_HOST=db
+    {% if template.volumes is defined %}
+    {% set vols = (template.volumes | selectattr('service', 'eq', service)) %}
+    {% if vols is iterable and vols | length > 0 %}
+
+    volumes:
+    {% for vol in vols %}
+
+      - {{ vol.name }}:{{ vol.container_path }}
+    {% endfor %}
+    {% endif %}
+    {% endif %}
+
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U {{ template.env.db_user }}"]
+      interval: 5s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 5
 
 # external volumes managed and defined by ansible
 volumes: