How many fish can I keep with my Discus?

[scarhbar]

Hi! I am looking to stock my 75 gallon Discus tank with other fish besides Discus. It is heavily planted, and has an FX5 filter running on the tank.

In a growout tank, I have 6 Discus. When they get to 4.5" I will add them to the 75 gallon. Here are the fish I would like to put with my Discus:

-15 Ember Tetras
-6 Corydoras
-1 Apistogramma Borelli "Steel Blue"

Am I overstocking the tank? Or not? I need some expert's opinions! Thank you, Tyler

[zimmjeff]

not an expert but sounds ok to me.

[scarhbar]

not an expert but sounds ok to me.

Alright, thanks!

[DiscusDrew]

By no means an expect either but you figure you have a spare 15 gallons after what should be left for the discus, and the fish you've selected require very little overall in terms of gallons per fish. I'd say its pushing it but should be just fine. Idk what your doing when it comes to substrate and such but remember if a 75 gal show tank has 75-80lbs of substrate you just decreased the water volume of the tank fairly significantly... Just something to keep in mind. Based on 75 gallons of available water I'd say its fine.

[discuspaul]

Your proposed stocking numbers will likely be quite acceptable.

You mentioned your 75 gal was 'heavily planted' (your words). Just a bit of a red flag - not from the standpoint of your discus' future growth - you did say you wouldn't be adding them till they reached 4.5". The only concern would be the amount of free swimming space for the discus and the dithers, as well as possibly impeding your ability to maintain high quality water conditions & cleanliness for the discus, in a heavily planted environment (not to mention the space being taken up by the plants & other decor which could make for tight conditions, stocking level-wise).
Depending on how heavily planted it is, you may want to consider reducing the plant load before adding your discus.

[scarhbar]

By no means an expect either but you figure you have a spare 15 gallons after what should be left for the discus, and the fish you've selected require very little overall in terms of gallons per fish. I'd say its pushing it but should be just fine. Idk what your doing when it comes to substrate and such but remember if a 75 gal show tank has 75-80lbs of substrate you just decreased the water volume of the tank fairly significantly... Just something to keep in mind. Based on 75 gallons of available water I'd say its fine.

good point on the substrate! I do not have 15 tetras, or cory cats, but that was my plan. thanks for the heads up!

[scarhbar]

Your proposed stocking numbers will likely be quite acceptable.

You mentioned your 75 gal was 'heavily planted' (your words). Just a bit of a red flag - not from the standpoint of your discus' future growth - you did say you wouldn't be adding them till they reached 4.5". The only concern would be the amount of free swimming space for the discus and the dithers, as well as possibly impeding your ability to maintain high quality water conditions & cleanliness for the discus, in a heavily planted environment (not to mention the space being taken up by the plants & other decor which could make for tight conditions, stocking level-wise).
Depending on how heavily planted it is, you may want to consider reducing the plant load before adding your discus.

that is very true! I picked many tall plants, like Jungle Val, and Swords, and I chose those on purpose, so my Discus could swim through them and feel safe :) the only plants that they wouldn't swim through (I think) would be the ludwigia or the rotalla. I have 65% of the tank open to free swimming, and the other 45% has carpet plants, swords, jungle val, rotalla, and ludwigia. If you include the sword plants and jungle val as swimming space, i have about 80% of the tank open to swimming :)

[scarhbar]

Your proposed stocking numbers will likely be quite acceptable.

You mentioned your 75 gal was 'heavily planted' (your words). Just a bit of a red flag - not from the standpoint of your discus' future growth - you did say you wouldn't be adding them till they reached 4.5". The only concern would be the amount of free swimming space for the discus and the dithers, as well as possibly impeding your ability to maintain high quality water conditions & cleanliness for the discus, in a heavily planted environment (not to mention the space being taken up by the plants & other decor which could make for tight conditions, stocking level-wise).
Depending on how heavily planted it is, you may want to consider reducing the plant load before adding your discus.

oh! and the plants use keep all my levels very low, or at 0ppm. so I am definitely not worried about water quality :)

[discuspaul]

oh! and the plants use keep all my levels very low, or at 0ppm. so I am definitely not worried about water quality :)

By water quality conditions, I was referring strictly to the difficulty involved in doing a a good and proper job of cleaning out detritus, uneaten food, and feces, etc. from the substrate, and in & around the plants, in a heavily planted environment - nothing to do with maintenance of the good water 'chemistry' produced by the plants, which would be beneficial.