Discus Compatability

[RossW]

Would it be reccomended to put discus in with Sterbai Cories, Albino Cories, Zebra Loach, Neon Tetra's, and Otto Cat's?

The discus I am looking at are the baby discus listed by apuppet http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=22234.0;topicseen

Thanx,
Ross

[babblefish1960]

Hopefully the Discus will eat the neons, however, they don't have the same temperature tolerance, cardinals are a better choice.

The bottom feeders are all fine that you mention, excepting the loach, I do not like loaches with discus, call me a few names that aren't nice, but loaches, aside from having temperature issues again, are  not a good fish to have with discus ever, in my opinion and experience.

[RossW]

I am just waiting for me neons to pass, they are not my favourite by they were my first.  I am going to grab some rummynose as soon as I can get off my butt.

BabbleFish, Can I ask why you do not like to mix loaches and discus?  Do the discuss pick on the loaches or visa versa?

[apuppet]

Sorry to butt-in,

i dislike discus with clownloach. my Favorite discus had this top fin bitten off, by a baby clownloach. it freaked me out when i saw my discus cowering in the corner with a chunk of his fin missing.   Its grown back, but not as beautiful as before.    I'm not sure if this is a rare occurance. but it has happen, so never again by me to mix them.


cheers,

[Julie]

I kept neons with Discus though the discus can corner them in shoal.  The black neons are a little larger.
My clown loaches would steal the beefheart out of the discus mouth.  If you are growing out babies, I would go barebottom to start.

[Aquaviewer]

 If you are growing out babies, I would go barebottom to start.

Agreed,  The ones listed are still pretty small to go right into a community set up, particularly if you want to grow them out to a decent size.  In their own tank you will have better control over water quality and they can focus on feeding with no competition.

[babblefish1960]

Loaches are very fast frenetic fish that actually can freak out a discus into cowering as has been mentioned.  In my experimenting in the 70's regarding compatibility of various fish species, I continually found many different loaches could figure out how to harangue discus out of their food, and as was also mentioned, the friskier ones would actually nip at them.  The discus is often the principle focus of a tank, and its tankmates should reflect the needs of the discus first.  I would not consider the rummynose tetra for the same reason as loaches, too fast, they hunt and harrass in packs like wolves.

What you really want to look at are the reasonably ideal conditions for a discus, then do some searches regarding their natural environment and suitably even tempered fish that won't over compete for swimming space and food.  Many corydoras are great, but check their temperature limits, there are some dwarf cichlids that fit the bill too, such as the mikrogeophagus ramerizi.

Good luck with your choices, and keep us abreast of your eventual collection.