My tank setup, what are the problems that may occur?

[TheChad]

Howdy,

I am only fairly new to keeping tropical fish (4 mths) and discus (3 wks) so I ask for your recommendations as I tend to not believe the LFS's as they may only be out to make a sale in most cases?

I have a 3ft tank setup.
200W heater in center of tank
Aqua One 104F Maxi Internal Power Filter
Temp 28C


1 discus
3 Angel fish
2 ghost knifefish
2 kissing gourami
2 Bumblebee goby
2 albino catfish
2 red-tail sharks

My gf wants to keep getting fish but I have put my foot down and said that it is the absolute limit. It's already crowded, and not getting anymore for this tank.

I bought my first discus only 3 weeks ago.
The discus swims freely throughout the tank and is not bothered by the other fish, even the angels.

I have had all of the other fish for about 4 mths and none seem to bother each other.

Sometimes the discus does hide behind the plants, but not for long periods of time.

[weird]

I would recommend starting off with a pure discus only tank ... bare bottom , i.e. no gravel.

Why ?

Discus need very clean water ... no ammonia or nitrite ... so you will be wanting to do atleast 2 large water changes a week.

Discus are slow moving fish ... other fish can often out-compete them when being fed.

Discus should be fed 3-5 times a day. Excess food should be easily identified and removed with gravel cleaner.

Discus like warm water 28-32 degrees. 28 is near max for some of these fish ... for discus that is min.

there are lots of other reaons ...

Oh ... also discus like being with their own kind ... recommend min 6.

Also ... one of the strengths of discus is that they can tolerate higher temps, so if a nasty bug should strike ... increasing temp to 32 degrees for a week can often kill the bug ... however you won't be able to do this in the main tank with the other fish.

Discus can be challenging ... but following simply guidelines they are easy to keep ... however discus should be the number one fish in the tank , and every other fish should compliment them ... not the other way around.

[Dave76]

The ghost knifefish will get way too large for a 3ft tank.

Also I'm assuming by 'Albino Catfish' you are talking about Corydoras, which should ideally be kept in schools of at least six.

Red tail sharks can get quite aggressive towards others, especially other RTS, so only one should be kept in a small tank.

As stated by 'Weird' your Discus needs some friends, but with the current stocking there isn't really any room for any. :(

Hope this helps.

Dave

[Billy]

Also the kissing gourami will suck on the discus and take off their slime coat. This certainly happened to me when i had kisser and discus together !!

Just keep an eye on them!! :wink:

[anti-generic]

sorry to absolutely pull your tank apart..
but your bumble bee gobies are not very suited to the soft and acidic waters for discus.

[luvmydiscus]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Bumble Bee Gobies are "Brackish" fish. I used to keep them in a brackish tank, cute little guys they can be quite aggressive towards one another. Don't put these into your tank.

I would keep the Discus of course, the albino cats if they are cory's and the Angel fish if you want. But if you are able to get more Discus I would have just the Discus in there with your cory's and a nice school of tetras. Absolutley breathtaking.

How many gallons is your tank?