Stocking idea need feedback please

[Mlani]

I have a 40 gal that currently homes 5 neon tetras, 3 rams (1blue 1golden 1mix of blue/golden) and 1 spotted cat. I'd like to put one more ram but I've read that they do better in odd numbers. Also I would like to know whether or not an addition of a discus would be a good idea? I've read they usually do better in large schools (3-5) but there has been some information that they can also do well on their own. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Ehhh i dont reccomend discus... Too big and need schools. Maybe rainbow fish?
You should increase your achool of neons

 

[Mlani]

Ehhh i dont reccomend discus... Too big and need schools. Maybe rainbow fish?
You should increase your achool of neons

So no to keeping just one discus? As the star of the tank?
I had thought of getting more tetras as well but I wasn't sure what other tetras would work with the neons? Or should I get more of the neons?

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

What is your "spotted catfish"?

I wouldn't add rainbows. They can be very nippy and are semi-aggressive.

I think you should up your neon's numbers more or add another school of tetras.

 

[Mlani]

What is your "spotted catfish"?

I wouldn't add rainbows. They can be very nippy and are semi-aggressive.

I think you should up your neon's numbers more or add another school of tetras.

I have a picture of the cat in my profile. I'm not sure what it's official name is sorry.
What if I do this:
Add 4 more neon tetras?
Add one or two discus?
And call it full. Think that would work?

 

[Mlani]

It looks like this one from my 65 but it's still a baby.

 

[JustinKScott]

How big of discus? One discus adult might be OK. Emphasis on adult, as a juvie probably won't grow in the tank you are describing.

A 40g tank isn't big enough for two full size discus, and a community tank isn't good for raising healthy juvie discus.

Are you going to raise the temp to 86F & feed beef heart (or similar)? Are you going to do water changes once a week (for adults) or once a day for juvies? If not, skip the discus.

 

[Floggz]

If you want the discus I think you should add it in,it would be the centerpiece of your tank & it would stand out.
Also I would consider cardinal tetra's, they're my favorite tetra!

 

[Mlani]

How big of discus? One discus adult might be OK. Emphasis on adult, as a juvie probably won't grow in the tank you are describing.

A 40g tank isn't big enough for two full size discus, and a community tank isn't good for raising healthy juvie discus.

Are you going to raise the temp to 86F & feed beef heart (or similar)? Are you going to do water changes once a week (for adults) or once a day for juvies? If not, skip the discus.

I was thinking more adult and singular if possible. The research I've done has been conflicting some say you must have large groups, others say on their own is fine. My parameters of the tank were started by choosing which fish to setting up the rock/decorations based on getting a discus eventually. I run R\O and check daily on all
my levels. I do regular pwc on both my tanks. I recently increased my school of tetras and guess what my little new friends brought ich with them. So now my temp is raised and doing salt treatments to clear that out. I'm guessing I'll have to get a new tank and start all over now? Since everything I've read says the discus are sensitive to everything. I don't want to risk putting one in a tank that has had ich. Of course I'm not planning on doing anything until I've gotten this ich gone. Starting from scratch, do you figure a 55 would be better for a discus?

 

[Mlani]

If you want the discus I think you should add it in,it would be the centerpiece of your tank & it would stand out.
Also I would consider cardinal tetra's, they're my favorite tetra!

I like the cardinals myself, in your experience, do you think a discus would be good on it's own?

 

[JustinKScott]

So I am a discus breeder hobbiest... I have 26 discus. I am building a new bigger fish room which will hopefully turn my hobby into a profitable second job.

I have an adult 7" discus in a 30g high. She is happy there, but I don't want to leave her in there forever. I do twice weekly water changes; and feed her beef heart daily. I would rather her eat flakes, as BH fowls the water quickly and she isn't growing anymore.. But BH is her favorite.

Discus like hot water 84F+; ich can't survive in 86F. I say crank the temp to 86 add airstones and see which of your other fish survive.

Discus are a social fish, almost a schooling fish. Lonely discus are unhappy discus. They like being close together too.. So a small tank isn't really a crowding issue.

HOWEVER.. Larger tanks are definitely better, reason being it takes longer for the discus to fowl the water. Discus cannot stand ammo, nitrate or nitrite. If you have ammo or ite; you won't have discus for long. If you have ate more than 10ppm, time to change the water.

 

[Mlani]

I am glad you posted and appreciate your experience. I think (if permitted) I could learn alot from you. my tank has been gradually set to, and now held at 86. I'm on day 4 with my treatment for the ich. Would you think that the tank (after the ich is gone) would still be alright to use for the discus?( I'm a mom, married to a man who isn't a fish fan. So every purchase is scrutinized.) So if the purchase of another tank could be held off for a bit, it would help. As for the discus, I've been looking at the different species of them and there are a couple that full grown are smaller than the rest. I'm thinking one of those may be a wiser choice for the size of my tank?

 

[JustinKScott]

My first concern with discus is they are an expensive fish, far more than a Craigslist used tank. The loss of a discus would raise far more scrutiny. Juvies are ~$25; but raising them to healthy adulthood is very costly in time and material.

Smaller adult (fully colored) discus are called stunted. They'll typically be non round, and almost always are the only thing available at LFS. Stunted discus are a shuned discus in the discus community; however I don't really have a problem with a stunted discus AS A PET. To me it is far more important they are healthy and interactive. (your discus should recognize you and beg for food all the time)

Before we move forward, let me ask some basic questions.. Don't be offended, I'm trying to gauge my recommendations.
Do you have a full water test kit? Do you have chorine/ammo in you tap water? Do you know what a bio filter is? What is the relationship between ammo, ite, ate? Are you capable of providing protein rich live or frozen fish food? (Ie not just flakes, not bloodworms)

 

[Andrew McFadden]

How long have you had the cat? Cause they grow fast and get big. I have two cats and one looks a little like yours.

 

[Mlani]

I don't take offense at all. Questions are what we all use to learn and also guide. I understand that discus are expensive fish that is why I am doing all the research and trying to learn as much as I possibly can before I buy the fish. Not only is it an investment for me, but I would be absolutely devastated if anything happened to it due to my ignorance. I will try to answer all of your questions to best that I can. My whole house is run with reverse osmosis.(I have medical conditions which have sensitivities to the chlorine and other chemicals) I have test kits for ammonia, ph, nitrite and nitrate. Not the strips I use the tubes. I test daily (I have gotten to the point that I can fill them with one pop perfectly to the line each time lol) I understand how each of these effect each other and also the fish. I have no interest in breeding the discus. I am not set up for anything even remotely close to that. Without getting to personal, I (as my kids put it) have no life. I am house bound due to medical reasons and keep my fish for company. I feel I can really relate to them right now. Lol! As for access to the proper fresh food for them, my mother in law comes by quite often to "take me out" I do have a big ALS and pisces pet emporium about 30-45 mins away. I've seen that they have fresh food there however I haven't checked for the specific food you've spoken of. I will the next time I'm there. I hope I answered all the questions, that I didn't miss any? Once again I really appreciate your time with this. Thank you

 

[Mlani]

How long have you had the cat? Cause they grow fast and get big. I have two cats and one looks a little like yours.

I've had the one (in the 65) for two years and the other (in the 46) for about 9 months? The research that I've done on my cats show they'll get between 6-8" full grown.

 

[JustinKScott]

I don't take offense at all. Questions are what we all use to learn and also guide. I understand that discus are expensive fish that is why I am doing all the research and trying to learn as much as I possibly can before I buy the fish. Not only is it an investment for me, but I would be absolutely devastated if anything happened to it due to my ignorance. I will try to answer all of your questions to best that I can. My whole house is run with reverse osmosis.(I have medical conditions which have sensitivities to the chlorine and other chemicals) I have test kits for ammonia, ph, nitrite and nitrate. Not the strips I use the tubes. I test daily (I have gotten to the point that I can fill them with one pop perfectly to the line each time lol) I understand how each of these effect each other and also the fish. I have no interest in breeding the discus. I am not set up for anything even remotely close to that. Without getting to personal, I (as my kids put it) have no life. I am house bound due to medical reasons and keep my fish for company. I feel I can really relate to them right now. Lol! As for access to the proper fresh food for them, my mother in law comes by quite often to "take me out" I do have a big ALS and pisces pet emporium about 30-45 mins away. I've seen that they have fresh food there however I haven't checked for the specific food you've spoken of. I will the next time I'm there. I hope I answered all the questions, that I didn't miss any? Once again I really appreciate your time with this. Thank you

Well, then...

Sounds like you want to do it right? With r/o in the tap and sounds as if you have a good amount of time & love to give... I am going to recommend raising juvies.

They are cheaper per fish about $10-30ea, and as long as you can give them a 50% water change per day you should be good.

I'll describe an ideal tank for juvies, and let you decide if it sounds good.
Bare bottom tank. 6-8x 3mo old discus. 85F. 1-2 daily 50% water changes. 2x daily protein meat. 3-4x daily high quality flake.

My preferred meat is live blackworm. Frozen blackworm works well too. Live doesn't spoil your tank water as quickly as anything dead. California blackworm co ships blackworm to your door w/ free overnight shipping... I use them for my fish.

My preferred flake is oceon nutrition prime reef. It's $7/lg bottle at petco. Very high protein.

 

[JustinKScott]

Your rams and cories should be fine as long as they handle the temp. Your tetras probably won't survive the ich, but if they do they'll probably be fine too.

I wouldn't add anymore fish however.

A 30g won't be large enough for long however. Size isn't a real concern, but your nitrate & hormones will build up quickly. So multiple daily water changes will become more required.

Scour Craigslist for a used 55g which should do you well. I recommend breeder filters, they are cheap.

 

[Mlani]

I've been looking for a bigger tank since before Christmas. Everything that I'm finding is either out of my budget ($175.00) or is trashed :-( I'm patient though and now have even more time to nurse my fishies back to health first. Doesn't mean I'm not still going to look. Lol! I've been looking from the 55-90 gal range. With it being more of a tall tank. I'm excited to start my new adventure!! I'm going to "screen munch" the post you made with all the info so when I go to the store I can refer to it. Here I started out thinking maybe one or two discus possibly and now I'm all geared up for babies!!

 

[JustinKScott]

Just be sure to make your tank bare bottom. That means no gravel. Gravel makes a discus juvie tank way more difficult.

Petco has 55g for $55 right now BTW.

Where is your closest Craigslist? I'm extremely good at finding deals.