First timer with discus: do they NEED tank mates/dither fish?

I’ve become confused. Many places I read that keeping “dither fish” will make discus less stressed. Then I go look at water parameters for commonly kept tank mates and very few seem to be identical to discus... especially as regards temperature.

Here’s an example: I went to read up on cardinals v. Neon Tetras and found that neons were the better choice for temperature, but then the article clearly stated that these were NOT dither fish, so don’t buy them for this purpose.

I’m planning on a BB tank. I *think* this means that if I vacuum, I don’t need clean up fish. If so, my questions are two:

1) Do new discus (as in 15 3” discus added to a fully cycled 120 with no other tank mates present) NEED tank mates?

2) If so, what are the best tank mates you know that can thrive at 85 degrees F?

I have green cory with my discus. The corys are all over the tank. The corys help to police the bottom for uneaten food and they also provide comic entertainment for the discus.

Except for cory's and bristlenose plecos, they prefer to be with their own kind.

You have some bad info!

1. No, they don’t NEED any tankmates
2. Neons are colder water fish, cardinals and rummynose tetras do well at Discus temps. Check out the “tankmates” section of the forum.

I keep some Plecos, Rummynose tetras and corydora similis with mine with no issues.

I have all sorts of dithers with my discus: bushynose, german rams, tetras, corydoras, etc. But it's not because discus get nervous without them. If the discus act shy, the problem is never due to the presence of absence of dithers.

Do they need tank mates? I guess it comes down to you. Do you want tankmates? My tank is planted and does have tank mates. It’s a 125 with 13 full size discus,5 ottos,10rams,10 green Cory’s,1 bn pleco,1 SAE and many cherry shrimp and mts snails. Do I need them ? No I like them :). Some people add dither fish because there discus are skittish. These are usually schooling fish like the rummy nose or cardinal tetras. The constant schooling sometime stops the discus from being skittish. All the movement calms them down. Years ago this did work for me. But I used a larger tetra and the tank was a 200. My discus would dart across the tank when I walked into the room. A month with the tetras and it never happened again. So it’s up to you. But being they are small I would maybe add some Cory’s just to eat the leftover food (not beefheart) or wait till they get bigger before adding dither fish. If adding fish allways qt new fish for at least 4 weeks :). Good luck and enjoy your new discus. Water changes are your friend :).

"Need"?... no

Do you "Want"?... sure... I love to add mates. Especially school of small tetras as "canaries" to warn me of water acting up... or cory cats and/or BNs... warm water apistos (they are fun to me)

Personally, I don't add Angel's unless growing a few small ones out (temporarily) or need help controlling cherry shrimp population (temporarily... then I move them).

I have striped Raphael's that have been just fine too (might've lost a dime sized discus or two). I try to keep it only Amazon species that can handle the higher temps