Schooling fish for discus tank

[Discusdude7]

Any ideas for schooling fish that I can add to my discus tank?
I already tried Cardinals but my discus managed to eat and kill a school of 25 fish in 2 days so looking for suggestions fish that are big enough not to get eaten

[DonMD]

Rummy nose make excellent schooling fish, if you can find them.

[Keith Perkins]

Rummy nose are a personal favorite of mine as well.

[Ryan]

I like rummynose and also lemon tetras. Longfin serpae are nice but they can be nippers, so you have to keep them in a large enough group that they nip each other and leave other fish alone.

[Discusdude7]

Rummy nose make excellent schooling fish, if you can find them.


Rummy nose are a personal favorite of mine as well.


I like rummynose and also lemon tetras. Longfin serpae are nice but they can be nippers, so you have to keep them in a large enough group that they nip each other and leave other fish alone.

Do rummynose get bigger than cardinals? My discus ate my cardinals so I'm worried they will do the same with rummynose

[Ryan]

They usually end up longer and slightly deeper-bodied than cardinals, IMO. Example:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJF6z9SBVGA

[jmf3460]

since someone mentioned lemon tetras I will throw in my person experience of them. I love lemon tetras, I have 14 of them in a 20long tank. they are a most excellent fish and their coloring is so nice against a dark background. their red eyes really pop against their yellow bodies. I have never put them in with my discus, mainly because they are so happy in their 20 long with their anamo friends. I really like how easy it is to tell when I need to do a water change, their bright yellow starts to pale and I know I need to do a wc. this is a tank that only gets like one water change or two per month.

[Ryan]

^ Rummynose will do the same. They're sort of like the canary in the coalmine. Their red noses start to fade when water quality is off and they signal that there are issues.

[Keith Perkins]

I seem to recall rummynoses being maybe 1/3 larger than cardinals. Lemon tetras are good, skirted tetras might be an option as well. Don't remember how much skirted tetra school though.

[bluelagoon]

Anything new going into your tank will smell like a piece of fresh meat,especially if it's smell enough.I have had discus go after and hunt down a school of rummy noses within a few hours.Your best bet would be to hold and feed your tetras in a breeding net or a large fish net for a day or two to take on the chemistry(smell) of the tank.Works a whole lot better.

[rickztahone]

Anything new going into your tank will smell like a piece of fresh meat,especially if it's smell enough.I have had discus go after and hunt down a school of rummy noses within a few hours.Your best bet would be to hold and feed your tetras in a breeding net or a large fish net for a day or two to take on the chemistry(smell) of the tank.Works a whole lot better.

additionally, introducing smaller fish to a discus tank after about feeding (about 30 minutes or so) and/or lights out helps with not losing many to predatory discus.

[pastry]

Lemons, Priscilla's (sp?), rummies, hummingbird tetras, hatchets, small school of cories.

Stay away from buenos aires.... Hatchets jump out... Neons are fine only if biiiig...

[Mgus]

Lemons, Priscilla's (sp?), rummies, hummingbird tetras, hatchets, small school of cories.

Stay away from buenos aires.... Hatchets jump out... Neons are fine only if biiiig...

I have cardinals and Priscilla's. I really like the Priscilla's they're a bit larger and I like the deeper body. They are very hardy fish I've had a school of 15 for about 10 mo the and just lost my first this week. Think it was a case of hungry discus and angels. They didn't get fed much this week. The Priscilla's also travel in a very tight school which looks nice.

[pastry]

Yeah, I really enjoyed priscillas. Even had a few albino ones for a slight variation with the school. they multiplied just as fast as my lemon tetras. I'm surprised you had a discus eat one! Angels I could see going after them but still, priscillas have some size to them (compared to neon)!

[Mgus]

Yeah, I really enjoyed priscillas. Even had a few albino ones for a slight variation with the school. they multiplied just as fast as my lemon tetras. I'm surprised you had a discus eat one! Angels I could see going after them but still, priscillas have some size to them (compared to neon)!

Did your tetras reproduce in your discus tank and did any of the fry survive?

[ddr1981]

If you're looking for size, I'd try Bloodfin Tetras. I have a school of 10 and a school of 20 Rummynose. The Bloodfins school much tighter and are pretty big as far as Tetras go, definitely bigger than my Rummynose.

[pastry]

Did your tetras reproduce in your discus tank and did any of the fry survive?

Yes, I've had several different types of tetras reproduce in my tank... and I wasn't trying... and yes, they survived. The priscellas and lemons had the best rate. I don't know "when" they spawned but all of a sudden I would start to see little groups of tinie-tiny "replicas" moving around (usually hiding within the leaves of my amazon sword). Most little ones I saw "appear" at once was probably about a dozen. When I switched to lemons I started with 7 in my 150 discus community tank... after a year I had just over 40 at one point. Had to give some away because I had so many. Then, they started reproducing all over again. While trying to go from canister to DIY sump I royally screwed something up and lost all lemons, a few discus, and discus stopped spawning for a long time. Sooo... right now I have 6 lemons and since the discus started spawning again then I might expect to start seeing baby lemons again. That said, seems that the discus eggs are having a lot more fungus problems than in the past... I never should have screwed with filtration... ah well.

I think if you look at my old thread in the planted section then you'll see some baby lemon and/or priscellas mixed in to some pictures. At just a few mm's they look just like parents practically.

[a.person61]

Hockey sticks, rummy nose, and possible glow light

[pastry]

If I get anymore lemons out of my current group then I'll give'm too ya :) I've remembered to keep an eye on my amazon sword for you as well. Haven't forgotten about ya bud

[Gooseend]

Beautiful plants Ryan

[DISCUS STU]

Black Tetras may work better than Cardinals and get much larger.

[Skeksi]

I noticed someone mentioned to not use a school of BA Tetras. Why?

[ddr1981]

I noticed someone mentioned to not use a school of BA Tetras. Why?

Buenos Aires Tetra are spastic! They move way too fast and will annoy the Discus. I have some that I inherited that are nearly 10 years old, but they aren't in with my Discus.

[pamdb33]

I have Black Phantom tetras in my discus tank. They aren't always the tightest school, but their colour and shape offer a great contrast to the discus. They are a larger tetra, so I haven't had any issues with the discus going after them.

[Skeksi]

Buenos Aires Tetra are spastic! They move way too fast and will annoy the Discus. I have some that I inherited that are nearly 10 years old, but they aren't in with my Discus.


Thanks for the explaination. I have three in a different tank and can see what you are saying. I was just curious if there was a seperate reason to that.

[Jack L]

I have Black Phantom tetras in my discus tank. They aren't always the tightest school, but their colour and shape offer a great contrast to the discus. They are a larger tetra, so I haven't had any issues with the discus going after them.

i had a school of black phantom, they are one of the nicest looking tetras and very interesting to watch their interaction. they are ofter sparing with each other, but i removed them from tank once i added the baby discus as the tetras were stealing all the food from the Ds

[pamdb33]

i had a school of black phantom, they are one of the nicest looking tetras and very interesting to watch their interaction. they are ofter sparing with each other, but i removed them from tank once i added the baby discus as the tetras were stealing all the food from the Ds

I love watching the males & females interact. I've been wanting to setup a breeding tank to see if I can grow out my school but haven't had the time.

I've been lucky with the tetras and smaller discus, the tetras don't seem very interested in the discus' beef heart mix or black worms. I had a few discus in a grow out tank that were not getting along, so I added a few of the BPs as dither fish. It really helped calm the discus down.

[Jack L]

Well at that time the baby discus were about the size of those tetras. now the discus would win the fight for the food and territory :-)

[The Hack]

Hi Guys,
What about Harlequin Rasbora. Would they make suitable tank mates?
Peaceful and big enough to not end up as dinner for a Discus.
I'm starting a new tank and was considering them.
Are they not popular for a reason?

[Boyd Luth]

I have had a school of rummy nose, and cardinals a few years now, out of about 20 cardinals, I have 9 left, and still maybe 16 rummys.....so that is why I never find dead cards, Discus eat them maybe, or catfish. I so enjoy both of these, as they school, and scatter when Discus approach. Had to separate one Discus, as he would chase all Tetras. I did end up putting him back, after he was imprisoned in a smaller tank, he seemed to settle, lol.....

[pastry]

Salt and pepper cories good on bottom.

[jkratzwald]

Theyre not equipped to handle the heat of a discus tank. Max temps for them are about 77-78 degrees.


Hi Guys,
What about Harlequin Rasbora. Would they make suitable tank mates?
Peaceful and big enough to not end up as dinner for a Discus.
I'm starting a new tank and was considering them.
Are they not popular for a reason?

[The Hack]

Theyre not equipped to handle the heat of a discus tank. Max temps for them are about 77-78 degrees.

Bugger!
I've seen them with Discus in photos and videos, but maybe its pushing the boundaries a bit too far.
Here's an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=068PCNgaw1k

[we4wieners]

Had anyone considered black emperor tetras, not black neons.

[Jack L]

Had anyone considered black emperor tetras, not black neons.

no i haven't, i actually don't see then in LFS much, which is probably why. i wouldn't be afraid of trying them though, and they get bigger than black neons

[Las Vegas]

WoW, Discus will eat cardnial tetras? I didn't know that. People who like to show their tanks usually have these tetras schooling in the tank with Discus. Good to know.

[Goldenmelondiscus]

What happens if you introduce small discus in with Cardinals and Neons?

[Keith Perkins]

What happens if you introduce small discus in with Cardinals and Neons?

I had very good luck doing it this way...for a while. Everyone got along great, the discus never bothered the tetras at all. Then one day the discus spawning began and I learned two things very quickly. First, tetras love to eat wrigglers and new free swimmers and are quite the threat to them. Second, discus parents can take GREAT offense to their babies being eaten by tetras and will go to great lengths to eliminate threats to them. The only tetras that survived were the couple that hid under driftwood that I caught before the parents did.

[Willie]

I've tried lots of things with my discus. What I find is that discus eat up emperor tetras much more readily than cardinals, possibly because cardinals swim faster. Eventually though, they'll eat up all the cardinals. Rummy nose tetras seem to do well in my discus tanks, although I've never had large swarms of them.

I notice that discus will also eat the pygmy cories, C. hasteus and C. pygmeus. They don't last in my discus tank.

Willie