Needing Advice

[MissaD89]

Hello all :) I'm new to the forum but I've been looking at this forum for over a year for general knowledge on discus. I'm pretty aware of the basics such as they like tall tanks, plants, driftwood, bare bottom vs. Substrate, strains, tankmates, water parameters, etc... My question is this; I have a 60 gallon extra tall tank and I plan on getting discus after it cycles. I really want tank mates like rummynose, Cories, and gbrs/ebrs, and cardinals. Is it doable to have all of those tank mates in my tank with only 5 discus that are 4"?

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Melissa and welcome to Simply. I would suggest only cories with the discus in your 60 as the 60 is a bit small for all those fish. The discus will not be four inches for long and will need the room your 60 offers. You might be surprised to discover that the discus become the center of the tank and really no need for dither fish.
Pat

[discuspaul]

Yes, Melissa, Pat is quite right.
To keep 5 discus in good health with all the tank-mates you've mentioned, you would really need a 75 gal tank, and preferably a 90 gal, the latter in which you could include 1 or 2 more discus.
Do things right to avoid problems - ok ?

[MissaD89]

Thanks guys :)

[pgrhodes1]

Hi Melissa,

I am by no means an expert; however, I can tell you that had just about all on your list in my 92 gal adult Discus tank. There was a lot of aggression which I thought was normal for Discus. Then I decided to remove all other fish and now that they are by themselves they are very relaxed with little aggression.

[rickztahone]

Hello all :) I'm new to the forum but I've been looking at this forum for over a year for general knowledge on discus. I'm pretty aware of the basics such as they like tall tanks, plants, driftwood, bare bottom vs. Substrate, strains, tankmates, water parameters, etc... My question is this; I have a 60 gallon extra tall tank and I plan on getting discus after it cycles. I really want tank mates like rummynose, Cories, and gbrs/ebrs, and cardinals. Is it doable to have all of those tank mates in my tank with only 5 discus that are 4"?

This is actually the opposite of what you need for a discus. You need more surface area in a discus tank and a tall tank sacrifices this greatly. It is far better to get a longer tank than a tall one.

[Jnotjane]

Melissa, I think you and I have the same tank - 48x12x24? We also have similar stock lists - I'm just doing a small school of rummies & cardinals with 5-6 discus. I would like to see how you do with your setup. Mine is currently cycling with the hope of adding the tetras in about 3 weeks, and the discus a month or so later.

[MissaD89]

I might be purchasing a 93 gallon on Saturday, would my original list work then?

[MissaD89]

Jnotjane I have the heartland aquarium, it's super tall. And thank you everyone for the help and advice! :)

[discuspaul]

I might be purchasing a 93 gallon on Saturday, would my original list work then?

Your original list might work fine, depending on the total NUMBER of other dither fish, i.e. how many rummy-noses, GBRS, Cardinals, & Cories were you planning on ?.
The total bio-load needs to be kept to reasonable levels.
Given the tank will be planted with driftwood, 5 - 4" discus should work ok with a pair, or 2, of gbr's, a half dozen or so Cories, and say around 20 each, of Cardinals & Rummy-Noses.
But be sure you do proper quarantining for this set-up.

[MissaD89]

I have a quarantine tank ready :) and I was thinking maybe skipping the Cories since I have kuhlis. And I was thinking more like 12 Rummies and 12 cardinals, with just a pair of ebrs. With perhaps 7 discus.

[Jnotjane]

Jnotjane I have the heartland aquarium, it's super tall. And thank you everyone for the help and advice! :)

I used to have a super tall 65 gallon hex tank, 33" tall, 12" each side, 18" across. Made a beautiful angelfish setup with a large manzanita "tree" in the center with java fern "leaves". Was an absolute nightmare to maintain because of the odd dimensions. After 2 years of losing fish I switch it to a FOWLR salt set up and it was so much easier.

[MissaD89]

Oh I'm sorry Jane :( that sucks. My 60 gallon ran for only a year and I was just experimenting with fish. I had everything from guppies to African cichlids, not at the same time obviously lol. I would always get bored with the fish I had and want to switch it up. Since I found discus I realized they were exactly what I was looking for. I need them in my life lol.