Discus only Or mixed Species?

[brewmaster15]

Do you keep your Discus by themselves or with other species of fish? Most of my discus tanks are just discus. I am terribly over protective of them and really do not trust other fish species to not have a negative impact on my discus health. I will sometimes do a mixed species tank with discus but it's usually fairly limited.. Plecos, rams, festivums, maybe tetras. Any tank I have with Discus in it, the discus are the main focus.

My breeding and grow out tanks for discus are always discus only bare bottom tanks. I do feel discus will always grow biggest and best in these setups.

Not everyone has a Lot of tanks and I know quite a few you keep your Discus in mixed community tanks.. What works for you and what and what hasn't? Have you ever tried keeping adult discus in a discus only tank?

[Charlyc11]

Not yet but working at it. My 125 gallon is a Discus and other species tank, Sterbai Cories, Boesemani Rainbow, Rams and L046 Zebras. The 90 gallon is Rams, Boesemani Rainbow, Bushy Nose, Sterbai Cories and Tiger Barbs no Discus. I am working with a new 75 gallon setup that is almost ready for grow out and as I increase my discus population I might shuffle things around. My zebra L046's are almost ready for their own tank as a species only and they don't need a very large tank since the don't travel far from their caves and the stay small. So for now my fry is the only discus only tanks.

[danotaylor]

When I previously had discus in a 125gal I kept them alone. 8 adults in a bare bottom display with some nice pieces of wood.

This was my group the day I brought them home from Dennis Discus Fish in 2018, the tank was bare bottom during QT and I added wood later;
IMG_3060.jpeg

I see a time in the not too distant future where I will have a discus only display…

[jeep]

My rams get along great with my discus.

[Vanman]

I have never had any other fish with my discus. I am considering adding a pleco, but probably will not. Thirty years ago I had 135 with discus, gravel, and sword plants. It was great until I tested the ph and freaked out it was so low. I remember it being in the five range. I removed the gravel and plants. Should have left it alone. The fish and plants were happy.

[illumnae]

Always mixed species for me. I view aquariums not just as a display where to me different species of fish interact to create more interesting behaviors, but also as a closed ecosystem where different types of fish (and other livestock) fulfil a different role in the system. Also, my biotope style tanks for wild discus are meant to emulate natural conditions as far as possible and discus don't live alone in the wild.

[Iminit]

No I’d never have discus alone. Takes away from the hobby. Bare bottom tanks are bland IMG_2997.jpgEven the beautiful discus are lost in a bare bottom tank. Bare bottom really is sterile looking tanks. What you see from all breeders. A planted discus tank with a few other species of fish just looks real. IMG_7083.jpgLooks like the fish belong looks right. It’s what the average hobbiest is looking for. A natural setting. Yes I get it that it’s not the Amazon. But neither is bare bottom. The natural tank isn’t popular on this site. How to upkeep a natural tank isn’t very popular here. The last planted tank thing was about 2 weeks ago. There are 30+ a day on any of the Facebook sites. Seems that’s what people are interested in doing. What I don’t get is when I got into discus in the 80s the planted discus tank was everybody’s goal. The sellers showed their fish in planted tanks. The pictures in TFH were planted tanks. What happened ? I’ve tried the bare bottom tank and boredom set in. To me discus need to be in a natural tank. But the discus today are very hard to keep in a natural setting. Seems the breeding is all designed for bigger discus. Hormones and other stuff added to get bigger more colorful fish. So many fail because they’re looking for natural but the fish need sterile. So planted for meIMG_2905.jpg

[gimaal]

Just Discus. I went through a period where I had some Corydoras in the tanks, C. oiapoquensis, which are high heat-tolerant and attractive. It was unproblematic but phased that out over time. Not sure why--just did.

[brewmaster15]

No I’d never have discus alone. Takes away from the hobby. Bare bottom tanks are bland Even the beautiful discus are lost in a bare bottom tank. Bare bottom really is sterile looking tanks. What you see from all breeders. A planted discus tank with a few other species of fish just looks real. IMG_7083.jpgLooks like the fish belong looks right. It’s what the average hobbiest is looking for. A natural setting. Yes I get it that it’s not the Amazon. But neither is bare bottom. The natural tank isn’t popular on this site. How to upkeep a natural tank isn’t very popular here. The last planted tank thing was about 2 weeks ago. There are 30+ a day on any of the Facebook sites. Seems that’s what people are interested in doing. What I don’t get is when I got into discus in the 80s the planted discus tank was everybody’s goal. The sellers showed their fish in planted tanks. The pictures in TFH were planted tanks. What happened ? I’ve tried the bare bottom tank and boredom set in. To me discus need to be in a natural tank. But the discus today are very hard to keep in a natural setting. Seems the breeding is all designed for bigger discus. Hormones and other stuff added to get bigger more colorful fish. So many fail because they’re looking for natural but the fish need sterile. So planted for me

Tom I get where you are coming from and can appreciate the point of view.. However that 30 people a day on face book post planted tanks on any site really mean you see the beginning.. Not the end. Most people stunt or kill their discus in a planted tank. Once a hobbyist figures that out they either go bare bottom..possibly with potted plants. Or leave discus for more more forgiving fish or they do what you have done.. Modified your fish keeping to give you a better Success rate. It's a fact frequent water changes are not something advocated by most people with planted and substrate tanks.

Personally I Consider it a failure in my discus keeping if My fish are runted,sickly or die prematurely by years. But for many hobbyists that's the norm in their planted substrate tanks. A discus dies they go buy another and plop in. Discus are to them disposable pieces of eye Candy for their tanks. To me that's just plan sad. Discus should be able to live years in a tank not months.

[illumnae]

Tom I get where you are coming from and can appreciate the point of view.. However that 30 people a day on face book post planted tanks on any site really mean you see the beginning.. Not the end. Most people stunt or kill their discus in a planted tank. Once a hobbyist figures that out they either go bare bottom..possibly with potted plants. Or leave discus for more more forgiving fish or they do what you have done.. Modified your fish keeping to give you a better Success rate. It's a fact frequent water changes are not something advocated by most people with planted and substrate tanks.

Personally I Consider it a failure in my discus keeping if My fish are runted,sickly or die prematurely by years. But for many hobbyists that's the norm in their planted substrate tanks. A discus dies they go buy another and plop in. Discus are to them disposable pieces of eye Candy for their tanks. To me that's just plan sad. Discus should be able to live years in a tank not months.

Buy adult discus - problem solved?

[Willie]

Buy adult discus - problem solved?

Everyone says that until they see the prices.

[brewmaster15]

Buy adult discus - problem solved?

That helps but most hobbyists especially new ones do not want to shell out that kind of money and. Even if they did.. Buying adult discus doesn't mean you can neglect them.. It just means they won't get Stunted. But the flip side is you spent a Lot of money for what is in reality a used product...some one else raised that fish and sold it. It's already lost a year or more of its life... For most hobbyists that means a significant part of its life.

[brewmaster15]

Everyone says that until they see the prices.

exactly

[illumnae]

As with any hobby, you buy and keep what you can afford. I understand the stunting issue with planted tanks and to me a pre requisite of keeping discus in a planted tank is that you buy adult discus from the outset. If that's beyond your budget then either save longer or look to keeping something else like a planted tank without discus or discus without a planted tank or accept that you aren't going to have perfect looking discus. However I don't agree that keeping discus in a planted tank necessarily means dead discus or a shortened lifespan. That's just personal bias speaking. Is it impossible? No. Is it harder to achieve success with? Perhaps. Does that mean that hobbyists should be discouraged from trying? I don't believe so. Instead of being faced with negativity, I think hobbyists who enjoy the idea of a planted discus tank should be encouraged to do the proper research beforehand and put in the effort to try and succeed and to achieve their dreams. SPS reef tanks are also hard to succeed in, probably harder than a planted discus tank but on reefing forums I don't see so much negativity and discouragement against SPS reef tanks. Instead, people encourage each other, share knowledge and tips, celebrate with each other when their tanks succeed and put their heads together to help each other solve problems when they occur. The fishkeeping hobby, including discus keeping, is a diverse one and everyone has their preferences. My opinion is that this diversity should be encouraged and celebrated if the hobby wants to continue. Discrimination and negativity will only drive more people away from already dwindling numbers.

Just my opinion and observations.

[brewmaster15]

As with any hobby, you buy and keep what you can afford. I understand the stunting issue with planted tanks and to me a pre requisite of keeping discus in a planted tank is that you buy adult discus from the outset. If that's beyond your budget then either save longer or look to keeping something else like a planted tank without discus or discus without a planted tank or accept that you aren't going to have perfect looking discus. However I don't agree that keeping discus in a planted tank necessarily means dead discus or a shortened lifespan. That's just personal bias speaking. Is it impossible? No. Is it harder to achieve success with? Perhaps. Does that mean that hobbyists should be discouraged from trying? I don't believe so. Instead of being faced with negativity, I think hobbyists who enjoy the idea of a planted discus tank should be encouraged to do the proper research beforehand and put in the effort to try and succeed and to achieve their dreams. SPS reef tanks are also hard to succeed in, probably harder than a planted discus tank but on reefing forums I don't see so much negativity and discouragement against SPS reef tanks. Instead, people encourage each other, share knowledge and tips, celebrate with each other when their tanks succeed and put their heads together to help each other solve problems when they occur. The fishkeeping hobby, including discus keeping, is a diverse one and everyone has their preferences. My opinion is that this diversity should be encouraged and celebrated if the hobby wants to continue. Discrimination and negativity will only drive more people away from already dwindling numbers.

Just my opinion and observations.

It is not bias.Its experience and fact backed up by years of real hobbyists experiences. Perhaps instead of accusing me of bias you should perhaps look at yourself. Your experiences are not typical with regards to Discus keeping. I'm fairly well versed in the forums disease board and how many have had substrate tanks.

I do not discriminate nor am I negative . I'm pragmatic and experienced and my goal has always been to help people Keep discus. I spend a ton of time doing just that.