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  • Discus and friends

    Does anyone know the other types of fish that will go with Discus that are native to their region. I plan on having a 200+- gallon tank with Discus, some dwarf cichlids and what ever else goes with them. I want to have it as a peaceful South American tank. So all of you guys help will be greatly appreciated in coming up with my fish list for my new tank/project.
    Resident fish bum
    330G FOWLR
    34G Reef
    330G Discus biotopish (no longer running)
    28G JBJ Reef (no longer running)
    Treasurer, GHAC

  • #2
    Re: Discus and friends

    here are some cichlid suggestions

    Cleithracara maronii - Keyhole Cichlid (never see these in lfs)
    Laetacara dorsigera - Red-Breasted Acara (never see these in lfs)
    Mesonauta festivus - Flag Cichlid
    Apistogramma nijsseni - Panda Apisto
    Dicrossus filamentosus - Lyretail Checkerboard Cichlid (i love mine, very nice looking dwarf)
    65 gallon - ADA 120p - planted
    55 gallon - AGA standard - mix cichlid
    30 gallon tall - eclipse acrylic - semi-planted

    live and let live

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Discus and friends

      Since Discus don't like a lot of fast moving fish as companions you're going to be pretty limited to your choices.  I've had success with German Blue Rams and Neon or Cardinal Tetras.  Discus like much warmer water in the 86 degree range so that is another limitation.  Discus do not take well to being with agressive fish not of their own kind and will become stressed in the blink of eye if they feel threatened or intimidated.  I had limited success with Angelfish until they became young adults and starting raising a ruckus in the tank.  All in all, I personally believe Discus thrive better in a species specific tank, at least mine do.  With a large, well planted tank you may have more lattitude in your choices, but the warm water also makes it a challenge to keep your tank nicely planted, at least it does for me.
      Reasoning with some people is like trying to nail jello to a wall...

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Discus and friends

        I have neon tetras and some panda corys with my discus.
        I think that these might be native to S. America
        www.ventralfins.com

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Discus and friends

          all of the fish i have suggested are from south america and are all suppose to be peaceful, i've personally have had experience with lyretale checkerboard cichlid - very peaceful - even when they spawn (their aggression is minimal at best)
          65 gallon - ADA 120p - planted
          55 gallon - AGA standard - mix cichlid
          30 gallon tall - eclipse acrylic - semi-planted

          live and let live

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Discus and friends

            in fact, my german rams were more aggressive during spawn compared to checkerboards
            65 gallon - ADA 120p - planted
            55 gallon - AGA standard - mix cichlid
            30 gallon tall - eclipse acrylic - semi-planted

            live and let live

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Discus and friends

              If you're going to keep Discus you might want to check out a few of the Discus Forums, Simply Discus  is a good one.  My rams never tried to spawn, my guess is the water was too warm for their liking.  Cory's are a good cleanup crew, if you want a pleco, stay with the bristlenose ones.  The larger ones have a tendency to go after the tasty slime coated billboard the Discus provide.
              Reasoning with some people is like trying to nail jello to a wall...

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Discus and friends

                I've kept neons, cardinals and rasbora hets with my discus for years. Recently, about three months ago, I added a school of green fire tetras to the tank and they are doing very well. Check out Heiko Bleher's discus book that came out last year. They found several species in the same waters as the discus: apistos, angels, festivums... I also keep kuhli loaches, amano shrimp and pygmy aspidoras in my discus tank. Many plants do well in this tank, but some species definitely don't like the higher temp and don't thrive.


                Mark
                What are the facts? Again and again and again--what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore devine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell", avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history"--what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your only clue.

                Robert Anson Heinlein

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Discus and friends

                  Any type of neons, cardinals, or rasbora would all work.  Personally, I would get some apistos.  I'm bias because I just like cichlids and I use to have a breeding pair of apistos. Good luck on your pick....can't really go wrong with any of the above mentioned.
                  I ate my fish that died.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Discus and friends

                    darbex, what color discus are you thinking?  what size?  where are you getting them?  HAW?  they had some blue diamonds - AMAZING, if i had room, i would get those in a hearbeat, personally i like all one color, looks amazing in a group
                    65 gallon - ADA 120p - planted
                    55 gallon - AGA standard - mix cichlid
                    30 gallon tall - eclipse acrylic - semi-planted

                    live and let live

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Discus and friends

                      What is HAW? I am partial to Heckel and Turquoise Discus. I was either thinking one type but I might go with both I will have to see. I was also thinking of having some rams and apistos and didnt know what tetras to put in and if there was something that would be cool in there that I didnt know about. I havent decided if I wanted to start off with juvi or adults. I do want to go to somewhere where they use tap water and not a whole filtering to reduce the amount of effort needed to get the water exactly right for WC
                      Resident fish bum
                      330G FOWLR
                      34G Reef
                      330G Discus biotopish (no longer running)
                      28G JBJ Reef (no longer running)
                      Treasurer, GHAC

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Discus and friends

                        HAW is the Aquarium Warehouse that Dan owns. He told me he keeps his discus in tapwater which was a factor in my recent purchase of the wild greens I bought from him. If you start with juvies I would grow them out in a bare bottom tank. A couple of reasons for this:
                        1. It's much easier to clean up after the three or four feedings a day juvies need.
                        2. Once juvies get comfortable in their tank, they start arranging their pecking order. Having lots of plants and other places to hide will allow the subordinate fish to get less food and eventually stunt.

                        Lots of water changes while juvies are growing out helps ensure optimum growth rate along with quality food.

                        Mark
                        What are the facts? Again and again and again--what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore devine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell", avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history"--what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your only clue.

                        Robert Anson Heinlein

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Discus and friends

                          Most domestics will live in tapwater. Even those that don't may be slowly acclimated to tapwater.
                          The tapwater around houston is usually 7.8 ish, which is quite suitable for domestics.

                          If you want to do heckels, i would suggest a pH lower than 7. Mine turn dark and clamp up above 7. Below 7 they are a nice bright yellow.

                          My family used to pride ourselves in breeding large and round discus in singapore (before the government ate our land) , so i'm strongly biased when it comes to adult vs juvie issue.

                          For juvies to reach their full potential size (up to 8" in some cases) they should be fed lots and have good clean water, which may mean 30 - 50% WC's every 2 days or so, otherwise there is a very high chance of stunting. Which is pretty much why many of our discus (mine inclusive) never reach more than 5" - 6" in most home aquariums which don't do as many WC's.

                          This is not necessarily a bad thing...It's really your personal preference.  The whole point is that if you are looking to get juvies and want to grow them out to monster sizes, then it takes a lot of committed work and wc's. If you don't mind 5" adults, then by all means, go for juvies + medium maintainence tank will do.

                          However, if you want a medium maintainence tank and have large discus at the same time, I would suggest buying them as large adults to begin with.

                          Then again there is cost. Nice sized adults are usually disproportionately priced compared to juvies. So there's another thing to consider.

                          Again... i'm biased... people might disagree... and that's fine.
                          www.ventralfins.com

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Discus and friends

                            nacra, i've heard the same thing from others (about the feeding and water change regiment), personally when/if i get discus i would not mind 5" or 6" (actually would prefer that size), as long as they are nice looking i don't care if they are the biggest size they could be, but like you said, all depends on what your goal is and what you can do based on your available time
                            65 gallon - ADA 120p - planted
                            55 gallon - AGA standard - mix cichlid
                            30 gallon tall - eclipse acrylic - semi-planted

                            live and let live

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Discus and friends

                              There are certain times of the year that I work a lot and I high maintenance schedule is not for me and 5-6" is not bad to me. I guess it will depend on whether I feel like getting some adults or juvis at the time I am ready to set up. Thanks for the info Ncara. Are Turquoise any different than the Heckels?
                              Resident fish bum
                              330G FOWLR
                              34G Reef
                              330G Discus biotopish (no longer running)
                              28G JBJ Reef (no longer running)
                              Treasurer, GHAC

                              Comment

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