Why must the tank be bare?

[tyrancooper]

I am relatively new to keeping discus. I have been gathering as much information about them as I can, but I have one question that remains unanswered: Why do discus breeders tend to keep mated pairs in bare tanks?What is the difference in breeding success?

I am sure that trying to keep parents and fry in a tank with other adult discus would be unwise. I also know that it is much easier to clean a bare tank. But what might happen in a planted tank with small tetras?

Bare tanks seem to be so unnatural and visually unappealing.

discus are dirty fish.... In nature, they are constantly recieving "waterchanges" via the river. In order to keep their water as clean as possible, we use bare bottom tanks. This makes cleaning much easier, reduced the risk associated with diseases, and helps keep the water parameters in check. I would suspect that some tetras would eat some of the fry, although I have no experience with this so don't hold me to that. I do know that the discus pair will do those best to chase the tetras away, or even kill them.
HTH
brad

[Willie]

Any fish in your tank will likely eat the eggs, the wrigglers and the frys. If your objective is to spawn discus, then keep them by themselves. If your objective is to have a nice looking tank, then keep them with other fish. Its your decision.

Willie

[TheDiscusKid]

Also good to keep the tanks bare bottom because you can see whether your discus is eating or not. also easy maintenance.

HTH

Bruce