Discus and Tankmates

[Steven A]

I recently visted my store and found some fish I really like. However i dont have enough room for species tanks so it looks liek ther eis going to have to be a mix. I have 2 discus (small) in a 3 foot tank on there own I would liek to get my discus in the fuur but I also have seen some other fish I like I was woundering if you could tell me if they would be ok with the discus. The fish are:

Sajica Cichlid (small)
a Common Snakehead (really small)
Rams (I know i can keep them with the discus)
A rare form of Krib
Altum angels (I know I can)

Any Suggestions I like fish that respond to the drie world.

Please reply a.s.a.p

Thank you 8)

 

[Steven A]

uuuu I also like the idea of having shrimps / crabs / lobsters in my tropical tank

LOL

 

[macman7010]

Well Steven Discus really dont make a very good community fish. Honestly, if you plan on keeping any of the fish species that you quoted above with the exception of the Angels and Rams I would see if a fish store would give you a trade on your discus.

Not only will many other fish types pick on Discus, there tank requirments, and suceptability to internal parasites makes nearly all tank mates to Discus unacceptable. The though of keeping a snake head with Discus is insane - snakeheads are very aggressive, and grow extremely large and undoubtly would kill your discus and eat just about anything else in the tank. Also, check your states importation laws, I know here in MD it is illegal to import or export snakeheads.

The only fish type you mentioned other than the Angels and Rams that might be ok with Discus are the Kribensis, and even that is very iffy!

The high tempatures and soft, acidic water Discus require would likely be ill suited to keeping Kribensis since they originate from Rivers in Africa that may or may not have different chemical makeups as Discus' Brazillian origins.

What you can keep with Discus are a variety of smaller community fish. Angels or course do fine, as do most Tetras and Tiger Barbs as long as they are kept in schools of five or more.

One thing I like keeping with my Discus are plecos. You have to make sure you either supplement thier feeding with algae wafers or have plenty of algea on your glass and plants if you plan on doing this. Without suffiecient food plecos are known to feed on Discus' slime coat.

hope this helps

 

[severum mama]

I have seen lots of discus keepers who have a school of cardinal or rummy nose tetras and they look great. I prefer the rummies personally, I think their schooling patterns are more interesting. Rummies and blue rams would look amazing with discus IMO. But I would think that a 3 foot tank would really limit your stocking options, my 3 foot tank is only 35 gallons. Discus get pretty big when grown and I think a tank that size wouldn't accomodate much else. Might be wrong though, I have never ventured into discus keeping and don't know much about them. :?

 

[macman7010]

Rummy nose tetras make excellent companions for Discus. They are a really neat schooling fish, and thier color patterns are different and eye catching. Your 35 gallon should allow you one pair of adult Discus or two pairs of juvenile Discus, with the plan of either upgrading the tank or giving them away when they get larger.

If I were you I would try a pair of German Blue Rams with a school for 5 or more Rummynose tetras, and if you can get the Brazilian rams that are yellow in color a pair of them as well. Rams do not get large at all, so your size tank would afford more than one pair. Just make sure you have strong filtration - enough for a 90 gallon tank.

 

[aquazen]

Do discus eat the smaller fish?

 

[32Bit_Fish]

Talk to me with any questions about discus

Hi guys,

Discus is not aggressive fish and they do not prefer to live with any other aggressive fish. Also discus requires abit of acid water with extreme high quality of water. Therefore, I do not recommend them in a community tank.

Anyway, I have some photos of my discus. And more photos availabe at the link below:

http://www.nyc-discusfanatics.com/face/dragonball/LatestPhoto.asp

Please feel free to join the discus community at www.nyc-discusfanatics.com if you have anymore discus related questions.