discus tank mates

[KIWI13]

6 discus in a 45 is ok for NOW, but to grow them out as adults, its better to have a 60 giving each discus 10 gallons of water.

For light bacteria infections I use natural salt, its a safe way to treat the tank. Dose 1 tablespoon for 10 gallons of water.

Bio load is an important factor, make sure you have good filteration.

Good Luck

Jason

[crash]

Hi candy,
No more eggs,
I kept changing the tank setting since then, giving the discus less space to hide. They wouldnt stop shying away. I have to tell you it worked. they are alot bolder now. So rams havnt found another spot yet to lay eggs.


Jason,
I tried aquarium salt. It didnt seem to help as Furan-2 it quickly took the gill bacteria out. This is whats funny, the bacteria infection didnt affect other 5 only the 1 discus. I think its ok now, its got its color back.
I was glad i didnt have any loss.

Is there a preventive measure that you guys use to keep bad bacteria away.


Sorry didnt mean to take over this forum, apologies to ctmpwrdcamry

[ctmpwrdcamry]

Thats fine, the more i read the more i know what i am getting myself into.

I dont plan on trying to bread them, actually i have been told by the land lords(parents) no more tanks. I plan to get a 20h or 20l to put under the 75 in the stand as a hospital tank. I have had hospital tanks in the past, but they always turn into show/planted tanks.

[KIWI13]

I do it simple. I keep my temperature in the high range of 30°c and keep the water clean. Clean water is the remedy to just about all diseases. It helps.

I would like to add that gouramis can be territorial and aggressive, I would not recommend them with discus. especially the dwarf gouramis

[Kindredspirit]

I do it simple. I keep my temperature in the high range of 30°c and keep the water clean. Clean water is the remedy to just about all diseases. It helps.

I would like to add that gouramis can be territorial and aggressive, I would not recommend them with discus. especially the dwarf gouramis

Hey Brat~

Jason, what temp, ( for us blondes) is 30C? ( i dont have that little circle for the degrees..i want it...how come you have it and i dont....I want it too!lol ) And i have heard as well, that gouramis do not mix well with discus too... not sure what they are ...but have read it as well~


Marie~

[crash]

Hi Jason,
Correct me if I am wrong.
But high temp is a good remedy against parasites but for bacteria infection high temperature means bacteria growth.

When I had the bacteria infected discus i lowered my temperature at 83 F about 28 C
It seemed to help a faster recovery.

[crash]

I dont know about gourami's either.
I mean for a fish like discus you wanna create its natural environment,
So rams ,tetra's excellent addition.
I read it somewhere that when u have tetra's, new discus sees them roaming around and knows its safe to come out.

Relieves stress.
I have neons, my discus never bother them.
Rams do sometimes pick at the discus nothing harmfull though.
Lil competion should be healthy, dont want your discus to turn in to wuss that runs away every times its disturbed.

[candyl70]

lol crash... wuss? I had a neon blue dwarf gourami in my tank with the discus (not currently) and he never bothered them. He is really not that aggressive with any fish except a paradise that i had. In fact his favorite activity is to chase his reflection in the glass... back and forth. lol anyhow, maybe that is just his personality. They are all a little different. I heard that as the discus get bigger, they will eat the neons though. Cardinals might be a better choice since they are a little bigger.




Candy

[gators111]

Hello,

I recently set up my 75 gallon planted tank. I plan to get discus in a month or two once the filters cycle and the plant growth is started. What fish would you recommend to help cycle the filters that i will not have to get ride of when the discus arrive? Someone mentioned yo you loaches but i am worried they are to active for discus. Any recommendations are welcome.

Thanks

Please do not use any fish to cycle your tank. Fishless cycling is easier and more humane. Go get unscented, non-sudsing ammonia, it should be labeled as clear ammonia. If your not sure, shake the bottle, if it foams up it, don't use it. In a 75 gal tank use 2 capfuls and test until it reads around 4 ppm. If you have another tank, squeeze some of the water out of that tank's filter media into the new tank to help jump start it. There are articles on this site and elsewhere for more info.

Also, cardinals and rams are not hardy enough generally to cycle a tank.

[ctmpwrdcamry]

I hear thats what you are suppoed to do for not planted tanks, but planted tanks i have always stuffed full of plants, then add fish, never had any deaths. I have plenty of stuff from my other filters, all the other tanks filters were rinsed in the new tank. It was cloudy for a while, now it just looks like i need to vac the bottom of the tanks really bad.

[CAGE-RATTLER]

I dont know about gourami's either.
I mean for a fish like discus you wanna create its natural environment,
So rams ,tetra's excellent addition.
I read it somewhere that when u have tetra's, new discus sees them roaming around and knows its safe to come out.

Relieves stress.
I have neons, my discus never bother them.
Rams do sometimes pick at the discus nothing harmfull though.
Lil competion should be healthy, dont want your discus to turn in to wuss that runs away every times its disturbed.

I thought i read somewhere that gouramis are also native to the same waters of the amazon as discus.......but iu could be wrong.

mine are fine with my discus.

In fact my gold gorami swims to the front and top along with my discus when i enter the room and when its feeding time.

[candyl70]

Cage,
I remember reading that somewhere as well about gourami's and rasbora species..

As for cycling with loaches, they do not have scales and the ammonia would burn them. If you aren't going to use some sort of hardy tetra to cycle the tank, then i would follow the suggestion of using a fishless cycle.

I am not too clear if you are looking for fish to cycle with or tank mates. Most fish that you cycle with don't like that same kind of water tempature wise. You will most likely have to take the cycling fish back.


Candy

[gators111]

Sorry I missed the part of it being a planted tank already.

As for the rasboras and gouramis, they are from east Asia. Although both are hardy, gouramis, I've heard can carry alot of diseases, whether those pathogens can survive in 30C water is another story.

[Y0uH0]

I would suggest that for a planted tank,start off with just some algae eating fish like SAE and otocinclus as they are hardy fishes. U can add in corys as well to help maintain the gravel area clean of fallen foodbits. After about 1 to 2 weeks,when the water has stabalised,u can add in some cardinal tetras or rummy nose tetras as these fish thrive in water conditions which are similar to what is required by discus. So u can actually use them as a gauge to determine if your tank water is suitable enough to introduce the discus in. In suitable water conditions,the head of the rummy nose will be very bright red and the cardinal tetras will display their colours very vividly. After you are sure that they are comfortable in the environment,it would more or less be save for you to introduce in the discus fish. But by then,it would have been about 3 weeks since you have started your tank so the water should be stabilised by now.

It is also advised to do regular water testing to ensure that the water quality is suitable.

[neon]

In the past I have mixed kribensis,rams,neons,lemon tetras,corydoras catfish. My tank was a 29gal tank an they live together for many years. Check for fish that like warm and acid water. Good luck