90g stock list? I need some help

[Giuliano]

Hi there! I'm currently setting up a 90 gallon. Here's the catch: it was previously a saltwater aquarium. Regardless, I bought it used (along with its stand and canopy) and polished it off quite nicely! As the tank was originally a saltwater aquarium, it also comes with the overflow and return system (i.e a "weir" in one of the corners of the 90 gallon), including a reeftrigger crystal clear sump. I'm not too sure of the exact model, but I'm not worried considering I know that it will be more than enough filtration to power a 90g freshwater tank (this, in total, makes the total water volume of the aquarium roughly 120 gallons.)

Anyways, all this to say that I'm going to keep discus in there, with the six I already have now in a 55g as the bare minimum. Once the aquarium is fully cycled and everything has settled, I'd like to move them to that aquarium, since right now they're in a 55 gallon right now (and over a year old):/. It will also have a fine sandbed, and not be barebottom. Ideally, I don't want the aquarium to be too crowded with fish/plants/driftwood. I want the discus to "stand out" when I look at the aquarium. With that being said, I'd like to keep other fish with them, such as "dither" fish, dwarf cichlids or even some oddballs! Since I just recently signed up to this forum (but have been lurking around reading for months,) I'd like everyone's answers/opinions/suggestions on what I should stock this aquarium with (and how many of each fish), considering I'm planning on keeping my discus.Temperatures will be warm, so I'm making sure that these fish I'm keeping will be able to thrive the same way that the discus will. After all, all fish deserve to thrive in their own ideal water parameters, and if two different water paramters of two different fish conflict, then they were just never meant to be kept together.

Here's the stock list so far:
- The 6 Discus fish, which currently reside in my 55gallon until they're moved.
- A pair of apisto. agassizii "fire red"
- Any kind (preferably Cardinal) tetra
- A single/group of geophagus, if possible. The "geophagus surinamensis" really caught my eye.
- A true siamese algae eater
- A group of Corydoras Sterbai
- An albino bristlenose pleco
- and Sturisoma panamense.

I thought of mostly bottom feeders, is there too much at the "bottom" level? Please leave me your thoughts/opinions on this. I would definitely love to see suggestions for potential dwarf cichlids, or gouramis, tetras, oddball fish, etc. Definitely thinking of adding anywhere from 1-4 more discus to the aquarium when the time is right As far as I know, the filtration/sump is excellent, so a fairly stocked aquarium will not be drastically impacting the overall quality of water parameters. Like I mentioned earlier, I still want the discus to really be the centerpieces of my aquarium, regarldless of how many other fish I have in there.

Any help/feedback is much appreciated! And if anyone would like to see updates + pics of the aquarium, let me know. I'd be more than happy to share this build with the forum's community and members.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Giuliano and welcome to Simply. I am liking what you have doing with this 90. Since you are adding more discus to your original six I would suggest you fore go the geophagus and perhaps consider a group of cories instead like Sterbi. The geophagus will compete with the discus both for food and being the centerpiece of your tank. Also pics are a plus
Pat

[gators111]

I did exactly what you did, going from a 55 to a used saltwater 90 with an overflow. I never had much luck with the apistos, the high temps (84) got them. Rams too didn't do well, probably from bad stock. Pat's right, Geo's are too rambunctious for discus. I've had good luck with cards, candy cane tetras, and hatchetfish. Just make sure you've got a tight lid, or you'll have crispy hatchetfish on the floor around the tank. Sterbae's have done quite well too.

[cooper666]

Phags look great with discus, but IMO it requires a very large tank.

My discus slaughter my cardinals at dawn and dusk, the ones that don't get killed outright get holes punched in them, Beware!

I've go a 180 with 15 sterbais and 6 brislenose. The bottom is crawling with action, and I like it. They keep the poo moving and the bottom clean.

I'm new here too, so take this with a grain of salt.

Good luck

[Sweetmule]

I'm starting a new tank as well and was hoping to have 8-9 discus and 5 Geophagus and some Corys in a 135 gallon. I am hearing the same thing about the Geos - that they will get all the food. My hope was that the Geos would help keep the bottom clean as it looks to me like the discus take their sweet time to eat and a lot of food ends up on the bottom. I know the Corys will help with that, but why not have Geos that will dig a little deeper?

[bluelagoon]

IOM , if your going to put Geos with discus, make sure the discus are grown out before adding them. I have geos and they can be boisterous big eaters compared to discus. It is true they do stift the sand and keep it cleaner. You will need a big tank. Rummy nose tetras do well in a discus tank.

[JamesW]

That's an interesting stock list!

I have a 90 gallon tank (3 x 2 x 2) with a 29 gallon sump and have the following:

7 Discus
~10-15 cardinals
~10-15 wild-type endlers
2 Bristlenose plecos (one male, one female)

Sump:
Pregnant endlers (trying to boost the population)
10 Amano shrimp (discus chased them into both the return and overflow for the sump)
1 Baby bristlenose

There are also many assassin snails which keep my nuisance snail population negligible and scavenge food.

I can take some pics tonight but the tank looks pretty well stocked with what I have. I've tried to keep GBR's but they only last a year or so, and was warmed off apisto's because of temp concerns.

[Giuliano]

Thank you all so much for your replies! I'm getting the plumbing for my sump coming in this week. I'll post updates once I'm done setting it up.