Discus Tankmates

[jolliolli]

hey guys,

Well Im looking at buying some discus and am hoping to integrate them in to my existing tank setup and i'm wondering if it would be suitable in terms of filtration/size etc and also the tankmates. The discus i'm looking at buying are a pair 10 - 12 cm. The specs on my tank are

4ft Juwel Rio 300L Aquarium

Inbuilt Juwel Filter system (1000L/h)

300W heater

Tank is planted with indian stargrass, swords, grasses etc. Currently in the tank are around 15 neon/cardinals, 6 mollies, 4 BN, 4 corys, 2 snakeskin gourami, 4 honey gouramis, 2 blue rams, 1 siamese fighter (female)

So any thoughts on whether the setup would handle it and whether the tankmates are compatible?

Also in terms of water quality is the filtration sufficient, currently i'm doing water changes fortnightly, would i need to switch to weekly? I have an additional via aqua 300 external cannister filter which i could (700l/h) add if need be.

Thanks for the advice in advance, i'm looking to go in to this with eyes wide open

[Faran]

I would recommend weeding out the tanks current inhabitants of neon tetras (cardinals are fine in higher temps), and the gouramis. The mollies might be okay, but I'd watch them for aggression.

You'll want to raise the temp of the tank to at least 28 degrees and start doing water changes twice a week.

The more filtration the better, so look into hooking up that external canister filter.

Best of luck and enjoy the beautiful new additions to your fishy family!

[Guest Anonymous]

We all do different things with discus

i would remove the mollies as find them to aggressive

and cut down the number of some of the other fish

But this is just me :lol:

as far as temperature, i breed discus at 26 and all show tanks and growing tanks are at 24

unless it is wild caught discus, or closely related, i then run temperature of 28

water changes, are another things, depends on how stable your tank is, some do daily, some do weekly water changes

mostly i do weekly or fornightly changes, except in babys tank that get water change every second day

Realy, it comes down you, you and how you feed and the quality of the water in the tank :roll:

[jolliolli]

Thanks for the feedback guys, currently the tank is at 27/28 (which i know its a bit weird the neons being in at this temp but they have been fine). B&K you mentioned the gouramis might be need to be removed, is there a reason for that?

cheers

[The Great White Hand]

Hi Jolliolli

Are you looking at a breeding pair? I started with one (the so-called "single discus set-up"), then couldn't resist adding another, subsequently had to add another three to disperse aggression. I know people have happy pairs though, just my own experience and something to consider

Blue suggested gouramies may be an issue, my experience is with a single dwarf gourami, it killed my siamese fighter about 7 mths ago (my only fatality, touch wood) and certainly gives my discus a bit of a hurry up, despite the fact they "dwarf" him. I don't know about the larger gouramis though. Something to be thoroughly research I think - which is exactly what you're doing here!

Definitely, the more filtration the better, I run a CF1200 as well as the built in on a 215ltr.

The discus will be awesome in the Rio though!

Regards, TGWH

[jolliolli]

Hey GWH,

Thanks for the advice , the pair I'm looking at have bred together and produced fry apparently so i'm thinking they may be ok together.., there is also another male available but i'm not sure how they would be with the pair (although I think they are all in the same tank at the moment).

Its strange a lot of people mention gouramis and siamese fighters having issues but my honeys, snakeskins and fighter coexist happily, no fighting at feeding time etc. Im wondering if they fact the fighter is a female may have something to do with it, maybe its worse with a male?

As far as introducing the discus in to the tank are there any special precautions I should take. I've read of ppl introducing tank water slowly in to the bag from your existing tank to help acclimate the fish. SHould I be doing this to help ease stress at introduction time?

I'd be interested to know often do you're doing water changes with the additional filter GWH?

[The Great White Hand]

Hi Jolliolli

I'd definately acclimitize slowly. Dare I say it, I've dumped fish in before, but I'd take my time with discus to avoid more stress.

A breeding pair from what I understand, are intolerent of other discus and probably any fish in general when spawning. There are many on this site that will be able to elaborate.

I think the gourami/ siamese fighter thing is much worse with males.

I'm pretty obsessive and do approx. 30% WC every 2 or 3 days, but a few of my discus are 70mm or less.

Sorry, I don't know anything about mollies, "non- dwarf" gouramis and female fighters with discus.

Have you looked up the "Simply Discus" forum? a whole section on discus tankmates.

Regards, TGWH

[cichlid7]

hi if its the red ones on trade me you are thinking of buying then they will need to go in a tank on their own thats why they are selling them. As they are chasing the other fish in the same tank.

[jolliolli]

if its the red ones on trade me you are thinking of buying then they will need to go in a tank on their own thats why they are selling them.

Not the red ones but they are from the same person.