Suitable Tank Mates for Discus

Hi Guys,

Busy setting up my new 400 L tank.Making it a discus tank have already purchased 6 juvenile discus around 6 cm in length. Have been doing some research would regards to good tankmates. I have narrowed it down to the following groups

- Tetra's ( Neons, Cardinals, Rummy Nose)
- Clown Loaches
- Plecostomus
- Dwarf Cichlids ( Rams)
- Corys

Will i have any problems with the Rams being aggressive. And what else will i be able to keep with my discus besides the above.

Thanks for the assistance

 

Careful with the plecos, I believe they tend to 'suck' the slime off slow flat fish like Discus...

 

They do tend to make Discus a bit jumpy and bother them (well they did in my tank so I took them out) but then again in all the major Discus breeding set ups I have seen they have them in every tank but once again the guys in the east don't mind treating there fish rough, you should see how some of them do water changes.

regards

Jason

 

Neons like cooler water, cardinals and rummynoses are perfect. Corys : Sterbais are the perfect ones because they like warmer water just like Discus. Greetz Aad

 

Neons will not survive , because the temperature for discus needs to be between 26-31C .:smile1:

 

Correct!!! Cardinals are Discuscompany !!!

 

How about harliquin rasbora?

 

ive seen zebra loaches with discus

 

You should avoid keeping any boisterous fish with discus. They tend to make the discus shy and reclusive. I would avoid clown loaches. A group of cory's and some tetra will work well.

 

Rams are also good, and as far as plecos go I've heard that bristlenoses are good discus companions. Also some of the hypancistrus species. I don't think the common pleco is a good idea.

 

Oh, and I've also heard of lemon tetras being good in discus temperatures. But definitely cardinals/rummynoses (also good indicators of water quality!) sterbai corys, rams, ancistrus/hypancistrus plecs. Also read about some odd pairings working out - harlequin rasboras (like @slowpoke said), pearl gouramis, even a Siamese fighter... Also seen an amazing tank with discus and Mesonauta festivus (festivums). And of course angels - it's a myth that they carry some magic disease that kills discus. They might outcompete the discus for food though. Number one point is to make sure they (all of them, not just angels) are 100% healthy and quarantined, and then in the case of bigger fish that might end up too boisterous for the discus, to have a plan to move them out if the discus are getting stressed.

 

Thanks guys for the replies will be posting some pics in the next few weeks with my setup. Will be getting some rams, cardinals and rummy noses for now.

 

I will let you know how cardinals go with discus this afternoon. I have 14 odd cardinals and 12 odd cory sterba's. I got these after a lot of research into discus companions (and by co-incidence @sarf was selling a bunch). The only question is whether the cardinals are big/ quick enough not to end up as lunch.

I have set up plenty of escape routes should they come under attack.

 

I had between 40 to 50 Cardinals with my discus as well as 4 Farlowella Acus, 4 Sturisoma panamese whiptail catfish, 8 cory's, 16 Badis badis 8 otto's, 6 Sae's, 2 Apistogramma cacatuoides and 2 apistogramma agassizi. Everyone got along fine with no problems... Until about 8 months later, when our power cables were stolen, we were without power for two days. I only found out when I got home from work and found 7 dead Discus and 3 more very ailing Discus at the bottom of the tank... Temp had dropped in the 5hrs to 25 deg. I decided not to restock until I had got a decent generator!
Anyway three years later the tank is still running and all fish are happy, the only addition have been 15 harlequins and one Dantum Angel.
The Cardinals are a definitite for Discus... As big a school as possible. They serve as 'dither fish' in that they lure the discus into the open and as a result are not shy.


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Rummynose Tetras are also an excellent choice as tank mates. They love the warm water, are very active and shoal together nicely.

 

Yes! In the big discus tank that I'm setting up, I'm going to add rummys first. Their noses also act as a good bio-indicator of water quality. Once they have been doing well for a bit, I will start adding sterbais, then cardinals, then rams, then the discus, and lastly a couple of angels.

 

Discus_lover mentioned that the discus ate all his tetras. I have Cardinals but I purposely got a mature bunch and the Discus occasionally eye them out but no murders yet.

 

Hehe, I guess that depends on the individual discus. I'm planning on trying to minimise the chances of that by putting the smaller fish in first to get larger and established. I think rummys are less likely to become lunch than cardinals, too. But I really do want cardinals.

 

Oh, and we forgot hatchets. There was another thread about them recently. Adding them here for future reference