Discus tank mates

[marshy92]

I've been looking to add 6 Discus to my 90 Gal. It's a comunity tank but I've removed and rehomed 2 Angel fish, 1 Red tail shark and 3 Bala/Silver Sharks because I no they arn't the best fish to have with Discus.

I now have 1 Half Moon Betta, 2 Horseface Loaches, 2 Chinese Algea Eaters, 2 Pictus Catfish, 4 Skunk Cory, 5 Clown Loach, 2 Chinese Golden Zebra Loach, 1 Albino Bristlenose, 10 Zebra Danios and 10 Rummynose Tetras.

Are all these compatable with Discus? And What else could I add, would Congo Tetras be ok? I dont want any fin nippers because of my half moon, but I like the shoaling Tetras. (Or other Shoaling fish)

 

[Cynic]

The Algae Eaters are a 100% no, not even debatable. I would perceive the danios could stress out your discuss as they are a very active fish so would remove them as well.

Pictus are interesting as while bottom dwellers they do tend to be active so I'm unsure how discus will go with them...

 

[marshy92]

The Danios are no more active than the Rummy Noses Shoaling around all the time and the Rummys are ment to be one of the best tank mates for Discus. I will Remove them if they will be a problem but i dont see how they'd be worse than the rummy noses

 

[marshy92]

Oh but thanks for the fast reply!

 

[Jenkins]

I have heard that bristle noses, among other plecostomus, can get along fine with discus. I've also heard, however, that bettas and other antibatids should not be housed with discus, as they will attack and stress the discus.

The others, i have no idea....but good luck

 

[Cynic]

I have heard that bristle noses, among other plecostomus, can get along fine with discus. I've also heard, however, that bettas and other antibatids should not be housed with discus, as they will attack and stress the discus.

The others, i have no idea....but good luck

Good point! Missed the betta but that's almost definitely a mistake to mix those two as well.

 

[Jenkins]

I have done some more research on this topic, and i have come up with this:

Clown loaches are a mixed blessing, as their active nature and large bio load when full grown can startle and harm discus. However, it is said that they also do a good job cleaning the bottom of the tank, which can help with water quality. Cories and the smaller loaches also do a good job cleaning the tank, but it is said that some cories cannot tolerate the higher temp. That discus require. It wasn't specific for which kinds of cories though. Hope this helps!

 

[sp0ng3r]

Here is the thing. I have done some research on this lately as well. In my opinion, while this might be "true" on paper, life does not always play by the rule book. After raising fish for a long time (And don't get me wrong, I am no expert), I can tell you that I have made many mistakes, and also made many wise decisions as well. In my mistakes, I have kept fish with an "ideal" warm temperature with fish that prefer "ideal" cooler temps. Personally I believe that while the "correct" temps and water conditions do somewhat influence the survivor ability of a fish, I also believe that a secondary portion of this relies on the individual fish.

I have read many things about fish that are widely believed to be impossible or unlikely occur in my tanks. I currently have 4 different varieties of rainbowfish schooling together, have had a Gourami, a Bala Shark and a Denison Barb school with each other, and have had cardinals thrive in 68-70 degree water... You get the idea. Unless my tanks are living in the Twilight Zone, I think that some very uncommon things commonly happen in all of our tanks that do not naturally occur in the wild.

I am of the mind that what you are commonly told about fish, is mostly just a guideline. It is "ideal" for fish to live in these conditions, but it is not the only recipe for happy fish. I have had fish thrive in conditions that defy the rules on paper for years past the "recommended or suspected" life span. I do recommend that you follow these guidelines, but if you have your heart set on cories, and Discus, I personally think you should give it a try.

My wife has a saying for our tanks.... "Only the strong survive". She is not referring to poor conditions or hinting that I mistreat our fish, but instead she is pointing out that there are good and bad batches of fish out there. You can find a great batch of cories that are strong, and will do great in warm temperatures, and find another batch that is weaker and will not make it under conditions that are considered warm for the species.

I am sure my opinion will be very unpopular with many readers, but I am just speaking from my own experience. I think if you want discus, that you should give discus a try, and if cories are the other fish you desire, you should give them a go as well. My only advise would to be to buy small and see how they do. If you buy 3 cories, and they survive a few weeks, go back and buys his tankmates.

Those are my long 2 cents. Thanks for reading, if anyone made it this far...

 

[Scottyhorse]

Here is the thing. I have done some research on this lately as well. In my opinion, while this might be "true" on paper, life does not always play by the rule book. After raising fish for a long time (And don't get me wrong, I am no expert), I can tell you that I have made many mistakes, and also made many wise decisions as well. In my mistakes, I have kept fish with an "ideal" warm temperature with fish that prefer "ideal" cooler temps. Personally I believe that while the "correct" temps and water conditions do somewhat influence the survivor ability of a fish, I also believe that a secondary portion of this relies on the individual fish.

I have read many things about fish that are widely believed to be impossible or unlikely occur in my tanks. I currently have 4 different varieties of rainbowfish schooling together, have had a Gourami, a Bala Shark and a Denison Barb school with each other, and have had cardinals thrive in 68-70 degree water... You get the idea. Unless my tanks are living in the Twilight Zone, I think that some very uncommon things commonly happen in all of our tanks that do not naturally occur in the wild.

I am of the mind that what you are commonly told about fish, is mostly just a guideline. It is "ideal" for fish to live in these conditions, but it is not the only recipe for happy fish. I have had fish thrive in conditions that defy the rules on paper for years past the "recommended or suspected" life span. I do recommend that you follow these guidelines, but if you have your heart set on cories, and Discus, I personally think you should give it a try.

My wife has a saying for our tanks.... "Only the strong survive". She is not referring to poor conditions or hinting that I mistreat our fish, but instead she is pointing out that there are good and bad batches of fish out there. You can find a great batch of cories that are strong, and will do great in warm temperatures, and find another batch that is weaker and will not make it under conditions that are considered warm for the species.

I am sure my opinion will be very unpopular with many readers, but I am just speaking from my own experience. I think if you want discus, that you should give discus a try, and if cories are the other fish you desire, you should give them a go as well. My only advise would to be to buy small and see how they do. If you buy 3 cories, and they survive a few weeks, go back and buys his tankmates.

Those are my long 2 cents. Thanks for reading, if anyone made it this far...

Good point!

 

[Cynic]

Here is the thing. I have done some research on this lately as well. In my opinion, while this might be "true" on paper, life does not always play by the rule book. After raising fish for a long time (And don't get me wrong, I am no expert), I can tell you that I have made many mistakes, and also made many wise decisions as well. In my mistakes, I have kept fish with an "ideal" warm temperature with fish that prefer "ideal" cooler temps. Personally I believe that while the "correct" temps and water conditions do somewhat influence the survivor ability of a fish, I also believe that a secondary portion of this relies on the individual fish.

I have read many things about fish that are widely believed to be impossible or unlikely occur in my tanks. I currently have 4 different varieties of rainbowfish schooling together, have had a Gourami, a Bala Shark and a Denison Barb school with each other, and have had cardinals thrive in 68-70 degree water... You get the idea. Unless my tanks are living in the Twilight Zone, I think that some very uncommon things commonly happen in all of our tanks that do not naturally occur in the wild.

I am of the mind that what you are commonly told about fish, is mostly just a guideline. It is "ideal" for fish to live in these conditions, but it is not the only recipe for happy fish. I have had fish thrive in conditions that defy the rules on paper for years past the "recommended or suspected" life span. I do recommend that you follow these guidelines, but if you have your heart set on cories, and Discus, I personally think you should give it a try.

My wife has a saying for our tanks.... "Only the strong survive". She is not referring to poor conditions or hinting that I mistreat our fish, but instead she is pointing out that there are good and bad batches of fish out there. You can find a great batch of cories that are strong, and will do great in warm temperatures, and find another batch that is weaker and will not make it under conditions that are considered warm for the species.

I am sure my opinion will be very unpopular with many readers, but I am just speaking from my own experience. I think if you want discus, that you should give discus a try, and if cories are the other fish you desire, you should give them a go as well. My only advise would to be to buy small and see how they do. If you buy 3 cories, and they survive a few weeks, go back and buys his tankmates.

Those are my long 2 cents. Thanks for reading, if anyone made it this far...

It's a fair point but people shouldn't just try things because they 'might' work. If you put two betta together they will most likely kill each other, sure in some cases they don't. Conversely that arowana may be a runt and happy to live in a 150G. I'm not crying treat your fish as if it's your flesh and blood but still don't give your fish death sentences because it 'may' work.

 

[sp0ng3r]

Yes, I do agree with that as well. I think people should play by the rules, but I also think that bending them slightly is not always a "no-no". I agree that there are many many rules that should not be broken such as aggressiveness and fish size. I was mostly talking about temperatures.

I also forgot to mention that I did not drop warm water fish in cool water immediately. My method for this is actually to drop the temperature a degree over a week period in my quarantine tank until I get to the desired temperature to avoid shock. I also make sure to monitor them to notice any changes in behavior as their temperature drops over time. I did not mean to come off as irresponsible, I do have a method that seems to work in almost every case I try it in. But you still need to know your parameters. Fish like Discus, this would probably not work on as they are not as hardy as others.

I also do not agree that it is fair to keep fish that have the potential to be large in a small tank, I feel that that can be cruel. I keep a 135 gal, so this is not typically a problem for me. But even still, I do not keep catfish or Arowana.

 

[marshy92]

Thanks for some of the feedback! I'll take the Algea Eaters out, but will the Danios be ok as I dont think there any more active that the rummys? plus in my LFS they keep Bettas with Discus and said there great tank mates if u have a placid betta, which mine is.

But is there any other great tank mates? I've been told about Ram's and Cardinals but arn't Rams Cichlids? Which are aggresive.

And the cardinals are small wont the Discus swallow them hole!

 

[sp0ng3r]

Rams are cichlids, but they are very docile. In fact, they are more shy then most community fish actually and the discus should not harm the cardinals at all.
Most common tank mates for Discus seem to be Cardinals and Rummys. Peaceful and share the same temps/water requirements.

I was actually doing a little research for you on Corys. Please see this site below for temps. I think you can find a good match!

False Julii Cory Care And Profile - Corydoras Trilineatus (look below to find links to the other corys.

Best of luck in your search.

 

[Jbaygurl78745]

Rams are cichlids but not to aggersive (unless breeding) but a single one is peacfull i have two femals in a tank wit glofish ghost cats n mixed tetra i love rams

 

[marshy92]

I like the idea of a couple of female Rams, what about cardinals? are they fin nippers?

 

[sp0ng3r]

Not at all. One of the most peaceful options you can get.