List an compare your tankmates with others discus maniacs

[Nathan]

i thought this maybe an interesting topic plus i really need some help with deciding on what tankmates i should put in my tank, so please list your tankmates and some pics would be great aswel.

Cheers guys
Nathan

[Dave001]

Here's what I have in my 125g at the moment, should give you some ideas, I'll take a couple of pics tommorow and post them up.

1x Pigeon Blood Discus
2x Red Turquoise Discus
1x Blue Diamond Discus
1x Black Ghost Knifefish
1x Elephant Nose
1x Peacock Spiny Eel
2x Clown Loach
2x Striped Kuhli Loach
2x Black Kuhli Loach
10x Cardinal Tetras
10x Glowlight Tetras
10x Black Neon Tetra
10x Fancy Guppies
2x Bristlenose Catfish
1x Albino Bristlenose
1x Peppermint Bristlenose
1x Orange Spot Bristlenose
2x Sterbai's Corydoras
5x Otocinclus
2x Siamese Algea Eaters
1x Royal Whiptail
2x Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami
2x Bolivian Rams
2x Blue Rams
4x Shrimp

All the fish get along at the moment, if/when a fish becomes a problem, i'll just take him back to the LFS and swap him for a younger version.

For anyone reading this list, please keep in mind my tank is very heavilly stocked, I do 50% water changes twice weekly (I use to do them every 2nd day, but have found the water quality doesn't suffer by cutting it back to twice a week), and have a 25g wet/dry (600gph) for filtration, I wouldn't suggest this level of stocking unless you have excellent filtration, and don't mind doing a bit of work.

Dave

Edit: Added Pics.

[Nathan]

thanx mate thats great stuff, yea lookin forward to the pics.

nathan

[goldenpigeon]

ok besides over having over 25 discus i have:

1 large elephant nose
school of rummy nose tetras
school of cardinal tetras
6 german smokey blue angels
2 F2 wild angels
2 assorted angels
2 large gibbiceps
3 apistos (cant remember species)
1 whiptail catfish
10 common bristlenose
1 peppermint bristlenose
4 longfin albino bristlenoses
bettas
glass catfish
clown loaches

thats it i think lol

[sammigold]

I have 4ft planted tank with....

1 Blue diamond Discus
1 Brilliant Blue turquoise discus
1 pigeonblood discus
1 super red? discus
1 brown/blue turqoise discus
2 solid blue snakeskin discus
1 pleco/gibbecep
2 clown loaches
10 cardinal tetras
3 rummy nose tetras
5 black widow tetras
1 angel
2 columbian tetras
6 bolivian rams
1 bristlenose

thats it.... all live happily together...

[foo]

Hi all...

I have a lightly planted 4 foot tank with ;

1 x white butterfly
1 x red melon
1 x PB
1 x Red Turq
1 x Gold Severum
1 x Peppermint BN
1 x Pleco
2 x Blue Rams (Wild caught)
3 x white skirt tetras

Its lightly planted coz my Gold Severum seems to like gardening and staring my plants float to the surface and not stuck on ground where their meant to be... all the fish are doing fine and used to each one and gets along...

[sammigold]

You have a beautiful tank Dave... it looks great!

[endless]

Lots of discus and three goldfish (red cap called reddy, black and gold oranda called big head and a black moor called dasher). They help to "clean" up the tank by eating all uneatean food as well as all the poo on the bottom ...eewwwww. Although they swim around alot my discus are not bothered by them at all. My discus outnumbers them 7 to 1 and their constant movement seems to make my disucs more active and bolder. I used to have an albino oscar in the tank but have since moved it to my nephews tank since growing to large.

[vicky]

Discus with Goldfish!! don't the goldfish require lower temperatures than discus??

[endless]

nah they do alright at 30 degrees as well

[FishyGal]

nah they do alright at 30 degrees as well

But they won't live very long in those temperatures. :(

Val

[vicky]

@endless
Goldfish only seem happy at those temperatures, they are just not supposed to be kept at these temperatures . Even from the moral point of view. In my opinion you sould move the goldfish to cooler tank (about 27C) immedietly, i'm sure they're quite miserable in this tank.

[endless]

Well i cant say for sure whether they are happy or miserable but one things for sure they've had a growth spurt since being introduced in the discus tank. They have doubled in size in a two week period. Could be the clean water or the food that i've been feeding the disucs. Now one of the gold fish keeps chasing the other in an attempt to breed. Now if they were that miserable i dont think breeding would be on their minds.

[dreamer]

higher temp speeds up their metabolism, they eat and grow and grow but it will shorten the lifespan. goldfish is coldwater fish btw

[endless]

How long do goldfish live in say cold water as compared to warmer water. Also dont people keep gold fish in tropical countries like malaysia and singapore where the water temp is constantly high. Im sure they dont use chillers in their tank

[dreamer]

i have to admit i kept many varieties of tropical fish back at home in jakarta where the weather is pretty much hot all year round, but the water temp is not constantly 30c it usually around 27.

[emily]

Does BP stand for Blood Parrot? I don't yet have one of these beautiful fish but I really want to get started on them, my only worry is if they will get along with my Jellybean parrots I have. I only have two of them in my community tank with an angel, black and white sketred tetras and tiger barbs. My friends are getting along great and from what I've read it sounds like Discus would fit in. I read a post that said they had a BP with them and hope this is a sign to go for it. Help, I dont want to get a Discus and have it turn out badly for him.

[Nathan]

wouldnt be putting barbs in with dicus, as barbs can sometimes be agressive, even in larger groups they can now an then turn on other fish, and even though they dont do that often i think itd be to much for discus to handle.

nathan

[emily]

boy, that's to bad, I guess I'll have to what till I get another tank set up. I am really looking forward to having several Discus so maybe it would be better to hold off and devote a whole tank to a group of them. Thank you for the tip, I'll be happy with the community I have going and not put any beautiful Discus in a situation where they won't be happy. Just out of curiosity, if I were to put the barbs in another thank, would a few Discus and my Jellybean Parrots be alright together?

[SandyLynne]

I have 12 discus with water temp at 30° that share a tank with:

school of rummy nose tetras
school of cardinal tetras
4 bristlenose
2 glass catfish
3 clown loaches
2x Panda Cory Cat
2x Otocinclus
4x Flying Fox
8x Honey Dwarf Gourami
4x White Tip Ornate Tetra
1x Mystery Snail

Fish that didn’t survive :cry:
Neon Tetras
Hatchets
Halfbeaks
Praecox Rainbows

[fish_r]

i have a 5 foot planted tank with :
5 small discus
5 sae
5 Bn's
15 rummy nose
10 harlequin rasbora
20 neon tetra
and 3 clown loaches in quarrantine soon to go in...

[Phlipper]

I have my 6 Discus in with a variety as well, but in hindsight I will remove some that I feel may eventually be detrimental to the health of Discus, and I've noted which which I think are wise or not

2 Marlboro reds
2 Red Turks
2 Dlue diamonds

along with.......................

12 young Albino Pearlscale Angels.........only temporary until adult size ???
8 Long Finned Serpae Tetras.............very suitable and my favorite
3 Yoyo Loaches......can be troublesome, as they like to suck on the Discus
1 large Upsidedown Catfish.............no problems at all, very good
1 large Rainbow Shark..........can be bossy, not really recommended
1 large Black Lace Angel........no dramas so far ???
1 Male and three Female Bettas..........very suitable.
4 Adult Albino Bristlenoses.................they are coming out soon as they
tend to foul the water quickly, if you've ever has Brissies in a bare
bottomed tank before you would see how much these fish poop, they
poop more than any other fish available

[fish_r]

a cpl of my SAE are starting to fight a bit now so i'm going to split them up and put 2 in my 3 footer and also going to put all my neons into there as well, but am going to add some more rasbora and rummy nose to my 5 footer.

[ellwa]

Went and got some new babies for my tank last week out at SLS.

Now it looks something like this..

Red Turq
Blue Turq
Yellow Mellon
Blue Diamond
Royal Whiptail
Male Bristlenose
SAE
2 Panda Corys
2 Bronze Corys [1 Male, 1 Female]
4 Black Skirt Tetras
4 Red Serpae Tetras
4 Red Emporer Tetras

Heavily planted 40G.

[savrocca]

4 Ft Tank with

1 x Brilliant Blue Discus
1 x leopard Discus
2x Blue acara
7 x Tiger Barbs
8 x Zebra Danios
13 x Cardinal Tetras
2 x Angel Fish
1 x Bolivian Ram
3 x Congo Tetras
3 x Otocinclus Catfish

[Discus Dan]

In my 132G aquarium

10x Juvenile Blue discus
2x Blue rams
4x Clown loaches
2x Yoyo loaches :(
2X Bristlenose
1x Peppermint Bristlenose
6x Shrimp
2x Kuhli Loaches
school of 25-30 Rummy Nose tetras

Wishlist:
2x Whiptail catfish
Twice as many Tetras
A few more Rams
and two less Yoyo Loaches!

[taksan]

Evening
10 discus
1 Red Tailed Catfish

Morning
1 Red Tailed Catfish

8-)

[Merrilyn]

You're in that sort of mood, aren't you taksan :P

[FishLover]

125g tank
11 discus,
6 Sterba cory,
4 otos,
2 bamboo shrimps
2 Albino BN

I'm thinking of add one or two clow loaches into the tank to control the snails. Is that OK or the clowns will chase my discus?

[DiscusEden]

In a 540L tank, currently lightly planted, but planning to become more heavily so:

Discus:
1 First of the Universe
1 Giant Anakonda
1 Albino turq
1 Red Gold Diamond

Tankmates:
2 royal whiptail catfish (breeding pair)
8 peppermint bristlenose catfish
19 cardinals
6 emperor tetras
2 bolivian rams
2 gold rams
1 blue ram

I think that's it at the moment. I'm hoping to get mates for all of the rams - including the bolivians, and another 4 discus, maybe 2 or 4 more peppermint bristlenoses, to grow them out, in order to keep 2 males & 4 females.

Great topic by the way, very interesting! :D

[Discus Dan]

Expensive meal for the redtail Taksan.

I'd love to have a redtail, but the wife wont let me, says they're ugly...

[ILLUSN]

I'll bite
4x1.5x2 HEAVILY PLANTED ECHINODORUS comunity tank
1x pigion blood pearl scale
2x?pigion blood X
4x Ocean green
2x Yoyo loaches
6x Kulli loaches
4x Dwarf loaches
4x Salmon red rainbows
3x Bosemanni rainbows
2x lacustrus rainbows
6x thread fin rainbows
20x Cardinals
4 common bristle noses
1x 18 inch common plec
1x 16 inch gibbicep

[ILLUSN]

Sorry everyone please add
3x large SAE's
1x upside down catfish
to my above list

[JamezMan]

You must have good filtration.

[ILLUSN]

You must have good filtration.

not really that tank was only filtered through an aquaone aquis 2400.

50% water changes with gravel vac 2x weekly. canister was cleaned every fortnight without fail.

tank has been re-done now, was only a holding tank for 9 months while the new place was built. all the fish have moved into their new homes in the fish room.

[mesia]

Along with my Discus Ive got:

1x Pictus
3x Clown Loaches
1x Longnose Whiptail
1x Gibbiceps
1x Bristelnose
3x Congo
5x Buenos Aires Tetra
1x Yellow eel tail catfish
2x Upside down catfish (rescued from another tank, and are doing surprisingly well in high temp acidic water)
1x unknown fish, possibly a tetra of some sort, although Ive never seen it in books or on any websites (its definately a characin though)

All are living together happily, with no deaths since I set up the tank.

I'll post some pics up soon, and perhaps someone can help me ID the unknown charcin :D

[gibbo91]

15 Neon Tetras
10 Rummy Nose Tetras
2 Corydoras Axelrodi
2 Corydoras Panda
2 Peppermint Catfish
2 OS Bristlenose
1 L168
1 Banjo Catfish
1 L091
1 L010a
2 Pelvicachromis Suboccelatus "Matadi"
6 R. Eigenmanni

Looking to put some more Discus in seeing as there's only 2 in there.

Oh, and also 5 Nanochromis Transvestitus.

[samir]

I'm not really a fish person but here are my tanks :lol:
3X2 has 7 heckels
1 X 20"high 2 footer has 1 golden albino and 2 red melon albino
1 X 20"high 2 footer has Wayne's albino intermediate pair

6 X 20"high 3 footers on a sump, one tank contains 14 fish, rest are empty.
4 leopard
2 leopard snake
1 albino int brown
1 blue snake
3 ring leopards
3 red rose
keep them all in one tank because it seems to stop them from spawning.

[sadystikal1]

i have:
2 pigeon blood discus
12 congo tetra
2 rainbows
2 bala sharks
2 black skirt tetras
2 corys
1 red crab
1 vampire shrimp
1 oto
2 giant danios

i think i am going to get rid of the congos and the danios in liu of a small school of rainbows. i like them more.

[mesia]

15 Neon Tetras
10 Rummy Nose Tetras
2 Corydoras Axelrodi
2 Corydoras Panda
2 Peppermint Catfish
2 OS Bristlenose
1 L168
1 Banjo Catfish
1 L091
1 L010a
2 Pelvicachromis Suboccelatus "Matadi"
6 R. Eigenmanni

Looking to put some more Discus in seeing as there's only 2 in there.

Oh, and also 5 Nanochromis Transvestitus.

where did you get the banjo catfish ? Ive been after one for ages (Im in Victoria btw)

[gibbo91]

I got it from Amazing Amazon, one of the sponsoring aquariums of Discus Forums. He's really awesome, buries himself in sand and only moves around at night for Mysis Shrimp and meaty food :roll:

[arjones]

ive got
2 x brown discus (i think)
1 x marlboro

1 x golden nugget plec
1x albino plec
1 x pink kisser
2 x siamese flying fox
2 x marbled/ yellow head angels

[purplefishtail]

i have:
2 pigeon blood discus
12 congo tetra
2 rainbows
2 bala sharks
2 black skirt tetras
2 corys
1 red crab
1 vampire shrimp
1 oto
2 giant danios

i think i am going to get rid of the congos and the danios in liu of a small school of rainbows. i like them more.


I've never heard of keeping crabs with discus...how does that work out? My boyfriend keeps lusting after the red crabs when we go to the LFS and I keep telling him no, but do they do alright?

I have some clown loaches who love to eat shrimp and snails, I assume they wouldn't go after a crab that's at least an inch in size. They're only about 4-6 inches themselves. Or do you think it'd be a problem?

[DiscusEden]

Um, ever eaten crabcakes?

I've seen clown loaches almost a foot long, and even the little guys hunt down cardinals after dark. It wouldn't be a problem for the loaches. But you might need to tell the crab to "run, crabby, run!"

HTH

[1fish2fish3fish]

..Thanks everyone.. this thread has been most helpful.. as Im setting up a 77gal and wondering what would be suitable with Discus/Angels.. you have answered my questions..2 angels and not going crazy numbers on Discus..tops 4.. I was wondering about upsidedown cat and clowns that I want to move over when ready and alot of you keep and dont seem to have a problem with..
also Congo tetras, maybe Diamond or BonAries tetras, threadfin rainbows too..
they all sound like such Wonderful tanks..
Sue

[Heiko Bleher]

Hi,

this is Heiko Bleher and I just see these maniacs here, for me unbelievable the mixture of fishes from all continents in one aquarium...

Has anyone of you ever given it a thought for example why in a Zoo, if in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide or elsewhere they do not keep like: Lions together with an Elephants, Antas or Grizzly bears, Orang Utan and Gorillas as well as Guinea pigs and parrots, lizards and mice in a single cage?

Di one of you ever given it a thought why they do not do what you all do?

I have no more comments, but in any case I wish you all a merry Christmas and a healthy and happy 2009 and PLEASE "think fish"

always from one who loves fishes,

Heiko Bleher
www.aquaptess-bleher.com

[Dave+Amy]

Hey, in my 5' tank are:

1 X Pigeon Checkerboard Discus
1 X Blue Diamond Discus
1 X Wild Type X Discus
1 X Alenquer Red Discus
1 X Snakeskin Discus
1 X Blue Turquiose Discus
1 X Electric Dream Discus
20 X Cardinal tetras
4 X GBAs
10 X Dwarf Chain Loaches
2 X Siamese Algae Eaters

Found this combination to be a good mix, have housekeeping fish to keep snail population down and keep keep the algae under control.

[Basti]

i have atm in a 6x2x2

6 harlequins
12 hengelis
8 c.sterbai
4 ottos
1 baby BN

will have soon
2 blue turks
1 marlboro red
1 blue diamond
2 undecided discus
3-4 blue rams

good/bad/get more/get less?

[Dave+Amy]

3-4 blue rams

good/bad/get more/get less?

maybe give the rams a miss? They are quite territorial plus you've got heaps of middle water column fish as it is.

[Barracuda]

In my 132G aquarium

Wishlist:
2x Whiptail catfish
Twice as many Tetras
A few more Rams
and two less Yoyo Loaches!

Whats wrong with the Yoyos?

[Basti]

3-4 blue rams

good/bad/get more/get less?

maybe give the rams a miss? They are quite territorial plus you've got heaps of middle water column fish as it is.

yeah i was not set on the rams.

my discus are finally here.

ended up with 2 turks, 1 hi fin cobalt, 1 red melon, 1 yellowy pigeon blood, and 1 leopard spotted blue. the cobalt an leopard seem to like each other. lol

[Hollowman]

Absolutely nothing wrong with Rams imo/ime They are great tankmates. They never bother the discus, they might be territorial with eachother, but I have never seen them compete with a discus before, in my years of keeping them together.

H

[peppermintman]

4x2x2 Tank
3 Royal Wiptails
2 Blue Diamonds
2 Sunrises
15 Rummy Nose
10 Cardinals 5 Peppermints
1 Checker Board
CO2 System
Rare Plants
Breeding Peppermints in other tank 150litre
Peppermint fry in another 150litre

[Ottoplec]

In my 6x1.5x2

1 x Breeding pair Blue Neon Turqs
1 x Juvenile Blue Neon Turq
2 x Marlboro Reds
1 x White Diamond
2 x Yellow Lemon Diamonds
15 x Cardinal Tetras
3 x Danios
5 x Congo Tetras
1 x Golden Baloon Ram
3 x Bolivian Butterflys
2 x Blue Rams
2 x Clown loaches
3 x Peppermint Bristlenose
1 x Bristlenose
1 x Golden pleco
1 x Longfin Peppermint Bristlenose
1 x Whiptail
2 x Khuli Loaches
2 x Black Khuli Loaches

[Ghoti]

Am only just setting up my discus tank, but plan to bring across my 8 banded rainbows and 5 Praecox rainbows then add:
6 x Discus
4 x Siamese Algae Eater
4 x Bristlenose Pleco
10 x Cardinal Tetra
10 x Rummynose Tetra

This is in a 6x1.5x2 tank running a trickle filter with 1800lph pump amnd a 1200lph canister. Interesting thing is Aqadvisor says this is overstocked and all but the Cardinal tetra require lower temps than the discus.

is this correct?

[goodoo]

In my 4x 2 x 2

5 discus
1 fighter
1 ram
1 royal whiptail
1 khuli loach
2 corydoras
1 cockatoo dwarf
2 otos

[broadfoot]

In my first discus tank :D

8 Red Turks
23 Cardinal Tetras
7 Sterbai Corydoras
4 Otocinclus
~10 Cherry Shrimp