Rummynose and Discus

[twig]

Hey can I have a tank with rummy nose and discus? I have an 80 gallon tank that i am re-doing (gave my boesmani rainbows to a friend who is starting his own rainbow tank at 240 gallons!) and i wanted to have a planted tank with some rummynose and a couple discus. >.>

I never kept discus before but i have kept other sensitive fish (puffers, cory, rainbows). So i'm not sure how they go in terms of community tanks and how much space they need!

[BrkD]

imo, you can go for a group of 5-6 discus in an 80g. discus are compatiable with rummynose tetras so i wouldnt worry about much.

[BIGgourami]

yeah, they actually go together quite nicely. people usually use the rummies as water quality indicators. is that what you're doing?

[Star_Rider]

go with at least 6 . if they are young feed them often..they need lots of food. feed at least 3-4 X per day.
clean all un eaten food..btw.. they are foragers so will look for food on the bottom of the tank..you should to small water changes when cleaning up the food..with young discus you should do several water changes per week..
the idea is to provide a pristine water condtion.
this provides the discus with optimal growing.
I suggest you find a local breeder to get your fish. the quality is much better.

[Marinemom]

Ruumynose go great with discus and offset the colors of the fish nicely. I would put the rummynose tetras in the tank first and let them get established for a week of two before adding the discus. This way the rummies will have established their territories and the discus will not see them as potential food. As far as the discus are concerned they are a schooling fish and need to be in groups. I would recommend no less then five in the tank and they should all be added at the same time. They establish a pecking order so adding them all at the same time is way easier then trying to add to the group later although it can be done. I would add some Bio-spira at the same time as adding the discus so you do not see a spike in your water conditions that the discus could be seriously affected by. Also discus require very clean pristine water conditions so you will need to do several water changes a week. Also discus need temps in the range of 82-86 degrees on the farenheight scale with the higher end of that preferable. These temps are by the way fine for the rummies as well.

I wish you all the luck in the world with them. They are amazingly beautiful fish that seem to just glide through the water.

Marinemom

[davexstumpe]

rummies and discus are pefect together.

Also, GBRs would go great with the mix as well.

[twig]

Thanks. I do plan on establishing the tank slowly by getting the rummynose in first.

How many rummy's do you think will be enough? I know Discus are very sensitive to water so i don't want a huge bioload but i'd like a nice school.

The only other thing I intend to add are amano shrimp to help forage (and come on ... they look so nice!)

[Marinemom]

In an 80 gallon tank you could have a nice school of the rummies. I would say maybe 18-20 along with your discus. For foraging you might want to consider cories. I like the pandas and the peppered cories but there are several varieties to choose from.

Marinemom

[12 Volt Man]

in an 80 gallon with discus I would start with 6 and work up to 20-24 or so.

20-24 rummies will look nice in a tank that big without being distracting (you don't want to take too much attention away from your discus :))

I like larger schools of tetras in big tanks.

they look really good.

[12 Volt Man]

LOL great minds think alike :)

[legendaryfrog]

In addition to rummynose tetras, cardinal tetras are good candidates for a discus tank.

As for how many, 30 tetras would be adequete, and enough to make a nice school.

[jm1212]

you could have a big school in there, even with discus. both like softer water, and rummynoses are tight schoolers that are to big to be eaten by the discus.

[Marinemom]

I have seen some rummies that are small. Just make sure that the ones you select are good size.

Marinemom

[FishyMatty]

where a lot of people say discus need a lot of space they actually need to fill up their Tank space. By that I mean if you bought 10 2" discus they would be a lot more comfortable in a 30 gallon then a 55 gallon. I you got adult or semi adult discus you could happily house 8 in a 80g.
And Discus and tetras go great together, especially rummies since they school well it makes the discus feel safe. Other good tank mate are blue rams their calculated movements don't scare discus.

[severum mama]

I keep rummynose (h. bleheri, not rhodostomus) with my discus, and all is well. Like others have said, if you select rummys that are decent size, you shouldn't have issues with your discus eating them. Out of all the tetras I have kept in the past, they are far and away the best schoolers... if this appeals to you, then go for it.

[FishyMatty]

I never had a discus even the adult fish eat another fish even baby cherry shrimp or baby neons.