Malta Aquarist Society

Which fish would be ideal tank mates for discus?  Tank is 1000l so there is ample space for both open swimmers and bottom feeders

Good tankmates for discus are cory cats, otos, cardinal and black neon tetras, and other fish that can stand the high temperatures discus need.Some keep angels but it is up to you,i prefer discus alone with some bottom fish.

Thanks

Do you think congo tetras would do well with discus?

I've kept them before and they did well with angels.

Yes they do go well

I suggest you purchase a shoal, say 6 fish of Congo Tetras to accompany the Discus.

martin

Thanks guys

 First I have to cycle the tank as I still have to set it up...but as is usual with our hobby one has to plan things before.

 Most probably tank will have 6 discus, 6 corys, 6 congo tetras and 6 cardinals

Make sure that the Corydoras species you buy can handle higher temperatures. C.aeneus & C.paleatus, two commonly found corydoras don't like temperature above the 30 Deg.Cel. Also I wouldn't recommend Otos, as they like cooler waters.

 Be sure not to have large discus with small cardinals or neons as the discus will surely try to have them for breakfast !!!!!

martin

Corydoras seracin:

Make sure that the Corydoras species you buy can handle higher temperatures. C.aeneus & C.paleatus, two commonly found corydoras don't like temperature above the 30 Deg.Cel. Also I wouldn't recommend Otos, as they like cooler waters.

Temperature will be kept at 28C...however during the summer temperatures do rise to 32C. Do you know of any cories that handle higher temperatures?

vassallomartin:

 Be sure not to have large discus with small cardinals or neons as the discus will surely try to have them for breakfast !!!!!

Discus will be bought when they are still very young and thus still of a small size. Moreover, fish will be introduced in stages so that the system would adapt itself to the bioload. Ideally cories  first then tetras and finally the discus.

 Yes that would be great. Even the tetras by the time you purchase your discus will by then have familiarized themselves to the surrounding and water. But beware as some tetras will not tolerate very high temperatures.

martin

 Hi personally in my discus tank i have three albino catfish and they are doing very well and growing up fine. I also had a panda catfish but i found it dead  this week. But i do not know if it died resulting from high temperature or not. It seems this week the temperature has gone down and the water is cooler.

 I would like to suggest the congo tetra as it grows up to a nice size and is safe from the mouths of discus. I also have the black phantom and rummy nose tetra. Besides that i have three large  clown loaches. Some people say that clown loaches can harass discus, however so far no trouble,  I also have a couple of bristle nose.

You can also keep ramerezi in the tank as well

 Frank

Thanks for your help

 I kept and bred c.panda. unfortunately the adults never made it through the summer, so high temperatures may have been the cause for your fish's death.

I will definately be purchasing some congo and cardinal tetras. I am still rather undecided when it comes to bottom feeders and whether to keep a couple of dwarf cichlids (rams or apistos) or not

Probably the fish to be added will be;
10 bronze corydoras
10 peppered corydoras
10 congo tetras
10 cardinal tetras
10 harlequin rasboras
6 discus
4 apistogramma or ramirezi

What do you think?