Ideas for some of the less common discus tank mates?

[Johanna]

So I've been thinking about finally adding some small fish, but with most species, the high temperature seems to be a problem. I know most people keep sterbai corys, rummynose tetras or lemon tetras with discus.... but I'd like to look for other alternatives. Might still end up with sterbais at least, but it would be interesting to try something a bit different.

Has anyone here tried Corydoras gossei or duplicareus or something else?

Any other dwarf cichlids than rams (I'm a bit worried about rams being very sensitive and generally having a short life span)?

What about Otocinclus? I'm not worried about them sucking at the discus' slimecoats (it's never happened with 7 different plecos in a planted tank, I guess they have more than enough food and other activities in there), but would they be harassed or out-competed by the bigger plecos?

Also, feel free to suggest any small, soft & warm water species that would be interesting to try with discus, but might not be one of the most common tank mates.

[brewmaster15]

Johanna what temp are you running your tank at?

[Johanna]

29C... I could bring it down a degree but will it negatively affect the discus growth? I know they won't reach full size in a planted tank but I want to give them a chance to gain a bit more size&weight if possibe. The discus are a priority, I will only add other tank mates if they can adapt to discus parameters.

[brewmaster15]

If the tank is under 82F consider

Bolivian rams... they live longer than german blue rams

Look at Laetacara dorsigera or L. curviceps. They are beautiful cichlids usually gentle unless breeding (they are afterall cichlids)

Biotodoma cupido.. the cupid cichlid.. really a cool little guy doesnt get overly big

festivums

keyholes

havent kept these yet but I plan to when I can... Pacman Apistogramma d12.

for bottom.. look at L129 Columbian Zebra


oh and also
Dicrossus filamentosus.. checkerboard cichlids

[brewmaster15]

29C... I could bring it down a degree but will it negatively affect the discus growth? I know they won't reach full size in a planted tank but I want to give them a chance to gain a bit more size&weight if possibe. The discus are a priority, I will only add other tank mates if they can adapt to discus parameters.

you can lower your tank to 82f/27-28c. many here use that temp.. I keep adult breeders in it.. juveniles and fry I keep at 84-86 as it boosts metabolism and growth rates when coupled with plenty of food and water changes.

[Johanna]

Awesome, thank you! The checkerboard cichlids are definitely on the list if I can get them, they look really interesting and can be kept in a group. Google says they should be available in Finland, although I don't remember having seen them in stores. We don't always have a very good selection of the less common species... But I think Bolivian rams should be available, keyholes definitely and I've also seen festivums but they might be a bit bigger than what I'd like.

I lowered the temp to 28C for now.

When I get these new fish, would it be safe enough to quarantine them all together in the same tank even if some of them are from different stores?

[brewmaster15]

theoretically every store has its own unique parasites and pathogens so fish should be quarantined separate.

if you are willing to risk that you can quarantine together . In our case its really about making sure things are discus safe. With Non-discus fish suppliers you are usually looking for external parasites like velvet... and worms.. and overt bacterial infections like vibrio... viruses are possible like lymphocystis but thankfully you dont get the cross species transmission of alot of really pathogenic virus.

[Johanna]

Thanks, I agree that the discus safety is definitely the priority. As you may recall... I never even quarantined new fish properly before getting these discus! The way I see it now... I'd rather over-medicate all the new fish in quarantine anyway, just to be sure they don't bring any nasty surprises. I'm thinking of Camacell and eSHa Hexamita as prophylactic treatments and if there's any sign of bacterial or ectoparasite issues I have sera Omnipur at hand. I'm going to prepare both the 125 l qt tank and the small hospital tank for the new fishes arrival in case I decide to qt something separately but keeping them all together would make things a lot less complicated regarding maintenance.

[Johanna]

So I've been reading about the checkerboard cichlids, especially, and apparently the same goes for many apistos etc: they seem to be very sensitive and timid and need hiding places and sand on the bottom. Would it still be ok to quarantine them in a bare bottom tank with just a few rocks and a piece of wood, or do I need to build an actual decorated tank for them?

[brewmaster15]

Most of the Articles you read on fish care will say they need this substrate or that substrate. Often they are geared towards the majority of fish keepers that keep tanks .. these usually have substrate. That doesnt mean they need substrate.

heres an example .. search "
"Do mikrogeophagus ramirezi need sand?"

And you will see reference to how they need sand..

example aquarium reddit post..

setting up the tank, you – first and foremost – want to get sand. The Mikrogeophagus genus literally is named “Small eartheater”, and they’re benthophagous by nature, hence why they need sand the thrive. You can see them take up, mumble, and spit out sand and fine gravel, stripping it of biofilm nutrients and food that’s been left on the substrate

do they like sand... yes. do they need it ? absolutely not. .. Many of us here breed and raise them in Bare tanks.

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Bare bottom tanks are fine especially in quarantine tanks. where they make most sense.

If the fish is particularly shy you can scatter a dusting of sand and a few well placed river stones.. just big enough for the fish to hide behind. A small piece of driftwood works too..

[Johanna]

Ok, here they are! I bought a couple of checkerboard cichlids (hopefully male and female but I'm not 100% sure) and a couple of Apistogramma nijsseni . No more small fish this time because I couldn't find sterbai or any other Corydoras that I was sure would be ok with discus... And I couldn't get more dwarf cichlids at the same time because they needed to be quarantined in the small tank after all (see another post... ). It wasn't previously cycled so I added materials from the main tank. They don't seem to be timid at all, they're all eating and swimming around chasing each other.



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[brewmaster15]

Congratulations! They look very good!

al