Discus

[Womble1234]

Hey guys, I've always wanted to start a discus tank.. I've got a juwel rio 180 with Africans in, I am upgrading their tank soon.. I think it is about 50 us gallons... What about discus is hard? Or do people overly exaggerate? If it is about the cost I don't mind replacing them of something goes wrong? And would they work with
Neons
Black phantoms
Mollies
Platys
BNs
Cories
Because I am hoping to move these in too when I upgrade the Africans.. I don't mind if I have to give some away or rehome them

 

[chew valley]

I have never kept discus but am reading a book and they say it's over exaggerated about hard they are keep. As long as you keep water clean and give them varied diet then you should be fine. I hope to keep them in the future.
They do need to kept in groups of at least 5 so don't think you could have much else with your sized tank.
Platys have big bio load so may make keeping water clean more challenging but may be ok. Mollies need brackish water to thrive and so would not work. Bristlenose are sucker mouthed fish and are not compatible. Not sure about others but bear in mind discus need very warm water so this really narrows down your choices anyway. Cardinal tetras are always referred to as being best tankmates for them.

 

[Mr. D]

50 is fine for discus, I have 4 in a 55 right now... Rule of thyme they say is 1 for every 10-15gl ... They can be a pain if you get wild but if u get 3-4gen tank bred then they are pretty hardy as far as discus go

Just a regular water changes with RO water, I like the kent RO right mixed with discus trace and they seem to to

They need plenty of hiding spots, especially when young... If you get some with generations of tank breed in them ph can be up to 7.2-7.6 but 6.8 is ideal, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate >15, temp 82-84 but can go up to 88 if it's only discus

 

[Mr. D]

50 is fine for discus, I have 4 in a 55 right now... Rule of thyme they say is 1 for every 10-15gl ... They can be a pain if you get wild but if u get 3-4gen tank bred then they are pretty hardy as far as discus go

Just a regular water changes with RO water, I like the kent RO right mixed with discus trace and they seem to to

They need plenty of hiding spots, especially when young... If you get some with generations of tank breed in them ph can be up to 7.2-7.6 but 6.8 is ideal, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate >15, temp 82-84 but can go up to 88 if it's only discus

Tank mates:
Neon/cardinal tetras
Sepia tetras(might nip)
Clown loaches
Siamese alge eaters
German blue rams(may get aggressive/hit miss)

And try to keep them same sizing like I wouldn't try an adult and two babies

 

[chew valley]

Tank is too small for clown loaches, would be a nice looking tank though.

 

[Harryhorse]

Tank is too small for clown loaches, would be a nice looking tank though.

True but clown loaches take a very long time to grow an inch a year so u would get a few good years with it,they r one off the best fish to watch

 

[Womble1234]

How about rummy nose tetras? And the BNs would be fine im guessing.. They don't go near other fish

 

[Mr. D]

Rummy nose: never had them but my Lfs tells me they are safe with a rogue nipper on occasion

And any kind of "sucker fish" should not be with discus IMO... That can attach to them and rip off scales and its just not a worry id want personally

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

It's very risky having any sort of plec with your Discus
But in my 180 Discus tank I actually have about 6 bnp & 6 ottos
20 rummynose tetras that make a beautiful shoal
Hopefully none of my bnp decide to attack any of them so I keep them nice & fed with wafers & veggies

 

[janky]

I've been looking into discus quite a bit too, and I think people may be shooting for the stars with how difficult they make it seem.
You'll get a lot of mixed opinion - some say they need impeccable water and a school of 5+ which won't work in a 55 gal.
Some say they've had 4-6 in a 55 gal just fine
Some say they keep em with plecos, some say it's dangerous (I tend to believe the later - it's a risk you're taking with expensive fish!)
Some say they'll do fine with water temps around 80-82, some say crank it up to 88-90.

Lots of conflicting info on these lil guys!!!!!

I think you'll be fine though, just keep clean, frequently monitored water, a good temp at/above 82, and the pairing you were aiming for sounds ok (just be careful about plecos). I plan on pairing mine with a couple angels and a small school of tetra. I'm still really debating a pleco myself...

 

[paytertot]

I have discus and I keep them with angels, black skirt tetras, bleeding hearts, rope fish, and kuhlis. I had a plec at one point and he never paid them any attention. I also had golden algae eaters and they didn't hurt them but they did bother the rope fish a bit.

 

[paytertot]

Hey I can't answer your pm because your mailbox is full! Lol

 

[laoski]

in my opinion - discus would look good with fishes from their same biotope, it might be boring for some but some other biotope species are agrresive for the discus which can give the discus stress and when theyre stressed - your'e stressed too lol.

research well which fishes from the biotope are found with the discus or if you want a communizy tank - research which fishes are slow moving, have the same water parameters and DONT HAVE A THING FOR SUCKING THE MUCUS on the discus' scales lol.

i recommend:

neon/cardinal
rummynose
serpae tetra (they only nip angelfish fins - saw it)
hatchetfish
black tetra

and a dark background to contrast with the colors of the discus/neons/serpae tetra.

 

[Womble1234]

How about 20 rummynose tetras, 4 hatchet fish and 6 discus?

 

[boadams87]

Do they have to have R/O water? Why? Im cycling my 150 now and I like the discus too!!

 

[paytertot]

No I use my tap water

 

[laoski]

you get cardinals too, since you dont have an angelfish (like me) with the discus! youd be surprised at how the colors would blend in your aquarium ^_^ specially when the discuss would school by themselves and the cardinals would also school themselves on the otherside ^_^

 

[Womble1234]

I don't really like cardinals rather have rummy moss tetras or harlequin rasboras

 

[paytertot]

I had serpaes with mine once, and now they're with black skirts and bleeding hearts.

 

[laoski]

I don't really like cardinals rather have rummy moss tetras or harlequin rasboras

lol dont worry - its your tank im just a little bit of a purist to biotopes might be boring lol but go on and show us your tank when its finished!