Rummynose Tetra are great (my favorite Tetra) and I've never seen them at a large chain (even alot of the readily available fish are not suitable tankmates though I doubt you'll hear that in the store). Discus are great, but because of their high temp and extreme soft water needs, do limit tankmates.
what can i put with discus??
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yea i guess they'll be the center of attetion the way it should be. what kind of pleco should i get? I know that some grow either too large or decide to try and suck the slime off the side of discus. I'm looking for something other than the regular brown one sold at the larger chains. strips or dot's would be nice
I like Bristlenose Plecos. They stay pretty small ~ 5", aren't impossibe to find, aren't insanely priced, do a reat job on algae, and have alot of personality. You could probably do 2 easily. Check out www.planetcatfish.com.
i've used bushy nose with my discus and i didn't have good luck with that, so it really depends. rummynose would work good i've heard, but cardinals would work fine too, because discus can't catch them and with time they just give up and don't bother them. the best algae eaters that would work great with discus are true flying fox. i hope you know how many water changes you really have to do for discus to grow and stay healthy. good luck.
For loaches, Pangios, Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki, Botia striata, Botia kubotai and Botia histrionica often work as long as they are kept in large numbers enabling them to divert their attention away from the discus, should they become inquisitive. The Pangios are the least problematic and should be totally fine there.
There are things I want to say about this post, but I'll bite my tongue and keep them to myself.
Yes, discus really do need a MINIMUM of 4-5, preferably 6+ to be happy. If you're interested in some of the trials and tribulations I went through getting my 55g tank converted to discus, check out this thread. http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134578
As I believe was mentioned by another poster in this thread, you are in for a LOT of water changes. You're looking at an absolute minimum of 2 50% changes a week... and keep in mind, I really do mean MINIMUM. I do 50% changes every other day, and more often than not will do a ~30% change in between the bigger changes. On weekends, I'll substitute ~70% rather than 50%. (keep in mind, I do go a little overboard with my tank, as I like to keep the water as pristine as I can legitimately keep up with... most discus breeders do 80-100% daily water changes. To be honest, the 80g tank you mentioned would be better for the discus than the corner tank... I keep mine in a 55g tank as it is the largest tank I can keep presently. (and yes, by looking at my stocking list, my tank is a bit overstocked. I won't make excuses. Suffice it to say, I plan to sell one or two discus, and then consider it pretty much stocked, though I could likely keep all 7 and have them be happy/healthy, granted the immaculate care they receive)
One last thing to consider: diet. Discus will not thrive nor survive on tetra-min flakes. They need a very meaty diet, supplemented with some vegetation. I feed my discus blood worms, beef heart, plankton, brine shrimp, flakes, hikari algae wafers, HBH super soft carnivorous and herbivorous pellets, and on rare occasion, hikari gold cichlid pellets. (less than .5% of their diet)
Good luck, and keep us posted.
If you like stingrays you could trying some "Borneo Suckers." They look a lot like rays but are a funky little pleco. Keep in mind that these are mainly carnivorous and wont help with eating algae. I also have no idea how they would get along with Discus.
Many of the species mentioned come from the same waters the discus are from naturally, so many would do very well with them. Discus do not come from some lake of hot, super soft water where they are the only fish. They are from Amazonia, home to MANY fish. So there are a lot that can go with them.
Discus can do very well with: gold nugget pleco, bristlenose pleco, many tetras: (cardinal tetras, rummynose, bleeding heart, lemon, serpae, black phantom, and many others), many loaches (clown, angelicus, zebra, kuhili, yoyo, and others), marble and silver hatchets, angels, rams, and many other fish. Every fish is different so none of these are a guarantee, but all of these can work very well with discus. For some that are small like cardinals, they simply need to grow up with the discus. If the discus grow up with them they recognise the individuals and do not see them as a snack, unless you don't feed them for a while.
My discus get nothing but New Life Spectrum and are doing very well on it. You can check out pictures of them on my PhotoBucket page in my signature. Very meaty foods provide a lot of protein which if not balanced can be powerfeeding, leading to fast growth but an unhealthy and/or incorrectly proportioned animal. Fast growth does not necessarily equate to a healthy animal.
There are simply no stingrays that stay small enough to be kept in a 55.
Discus can do very well with: gold nugget pleco, bristlenose pleco, many tetras: (cardinal tetras, rummynose, bleeding heart, lemon, serpae, black phantom, and many others), many loaches (clown, angelicus, zebra, kuhili, yoyo, and others), marble and silver hatchets, angels, rams, and many other fish. Every fish is different so none of these are a guarantee, but all of these can work very well with discus. For some that are small like cardinals, they simply need to grow up with the discus. If the discus grow up with them they recognise the individuals and do not see them as a snack, unless you don't feed them for a while.
My discus get nothing but New Life Spectrum and are doing very well on it. You can check out pictures of them on my PhotoBucket page in my signature. Very meaty foods provide a lot of protein which if not balanced can be powerfeeding, leading to fast growth but an unhealthy and/or incorrectly proportioned animal. Fast growth does not necessarily equate to a healthy animal.
There are simply no stingrays that stay small enough to be kept in a 55.
I read your thread and you have some beautiful fish. Please don't hold back, let me have it:help:. I'd rather learn tough than lose some fish. I plan on have a eheim filer with built in heater, an RO system, UV, live plants, driftwod, and proper lighting. I plan on 50% WC weekly as I feel the water will be in god condition. I looked at some of the loaches suggested and a few cought my attention. I'm so anxious to get this tank set-up:headbang2:
anyone know of any breeder's in the northern NJ, NYC area. I'm sure there's some in such a populated area.
anyone know of any breeder's in the northern NJ, NYC area. I'm sure there's some in such a populated area.
What is your tap water's pH? Most likely you don't need to use RO. Mine is naturally hard with a higher pH and mine are doing great. If you are wanting to breed that is a little different. The stability of the pH is more important than the precision. I do 80% weekly water changes. If you want to breed, yeah, you might need to do them more often. The goal is to keep nitrates under 20ppm. If you have live plants that will help with this a lot. Mine seem to be doing even better now that they are in the 40breeder with live plants. I also do not think a UV sterilizer is necessary. My equipment is the filters, the heater, and the lights. The filters have mechanical and biological media. No carbon, no ammonia absorbing media, just mechanical and Biomax.
Honestly the best place to get discus is out of a LFS from a tank of 'assorted discus'. These won't be the high end ones that will win a show, but you don't need those. The hardiest ones are not the high end ones, but the ones that come out of a LFS as 'assorted discus'. The high end ones are bred for certain traits that someone, somewhere, at some time decided 'that is what a discus should look like'. That doesn't mean you have to buy those. When you breed for certain characteristics like that you are not breeding for the hardiest animals. You CANNOT breed for hardiness/health AND anything else. One will have to be given up to get the other. You may breed the hardiest of the nice looking ones, but you can't breed the hardiest and the other traits. That is why the 'assorted discus' at the LFS are hardier, they simply were not bred for the perfect shape, perfect colors, etc.. I got most of mine from the LFS I work at, they came in as assorted discus. I later got three from a breeder. They were great. They were healthy, great colors, I was glad I got them. Then, before too long, they were falling behind. The others simply grew faster and were more dominating. I had to get rid fo two and the only oen I kept is now the smallest and barely tough enough to make it with them. When breeders do these massive water change schedules it makes the fish used to that. The conditions the parents are kept in and that the babies are raised in has a big effect on what the offspring will tolerate. They get used to these super pristine conditions and can't tolerate much less, which is what most hobbyists keep them at, at least a little less. This is why the commercially bred ones seem to do better for many people. They won't be the best example of a pigeon blood or turquoise that you will ever see. But they will be beautiful fish that will do better in your tank.
Honestly the best place to get discus is out of a LFS from a tank of 'assorted discus'. These won't be the high end ones that will win a show, but you don't need those. The hardiest ones are not the high end ones, but the ones that come out of a LFS as 'assorted discus'. The high end ones are bred for certain traits that someone, somewhere, at some time decided 'that is what a discus should look like'. That doesn't mean you have to buy those. When you breed for certain characteristics like that you are not breeding for the hardiest animals. You CANNOT breed for hardiness/health AND anything else. One will have to be given up to get the other. You may breed the hardiest of the nice looking ones, but you can't breed the hardiest and the other traits. That is why the 'assorted discus' at the LFS are hardier, they simply were not bred for the perfect shape, perfect colors, etc.. I got most of mine from the LFS I work at, they came in as assorted discus. I later got three from a breeder. They were great. They were healthy, great colors, I was glad I got them. Then, before too long, they were falling behind. The others simply grew faster and were more dominating. I had to get rid fo two and the only oen I kept is now the smallest and barely tough enough to make it with them. When breeders do these massive water change schedules it makes the fish used to that. The conditions the parents are kept in and that the babies are raised in has a big effect on what the offspring will tolerate. They get used to these super pristine conditions and can't tolerate much less, which is what most hobbyists keep them at, at least a little less. This is why the commercially bred ones seem to do better for many people. They won't be the best example of a pigeon blood or turquoise that you will ever see. But they will be beautiful fish that will do better in your tank.
