Discus Stocking Question

[glendale15]

hi
 
i'm looking to add some discus to my one discus that i have but i don't know how many i can add to my current stock. my tank is 6x2x2 with a Eheim 2078 Professional 3E 700 Filter and a Fluval 405 External Filter, so it is well filtered. My current stock is: 
 
1 Red Turquoise Discus,
2 Peruvian Angelfish,
4 Cardinal Tetra,
12 Flame-back Bleeding Heart Tetra,
13 Bleeding Heart Tetra,
4 Rummy Nose,
3 Black Phantom Tetras,
1 X-ray Tetras,
6 Darter Tetras,
1 Corydoras Weitzmani,
6 Corydoras Virginiae,
1 Corydoras metae,
1 Corydoras aeneus,
1 Corydoras sterbai,
1 Corydoras caudimaculatus,
3 Corydoras Adolfoi,
5 Corydoras Davidsandsi
 
thanks for looking

 

[Mikey1]

i dont think discus are a very good mix for those tanks mates,
 
discus need a significantly higher temp than most of those fish,
 
i never recommend keeping anything with discus.....except of course, other discus

 

[techen]

I agree with the above, A discus only tank is the way to go if you want them.

 

[glendale15]

thanks for you advice, i have had most of these fish with this discus and with two others that i lost for about a year and a half at temp of 30c 

 

[Wills]

I know its not what you will want to hear but I would up your schools or try to rehome the straglers all those cories and tetras by them selves will be running a very low level of stress in their system which may seem insignificant right now but if the tank takes any adverse turns they will be the first to flag. Granted there are some rarities in there so its not too easy but things like the bronze and the metae I think will work. Schooling fish send out all kind of behaviour signals and also weak communication signals which have all shaped how they have evolved in the ways they have.
 
The other issue as addressed above is the high temperatures particularly your cories some of them live in areas that have cool winters and being kept at 30c all year is not good for them. Again causing that base level of stress I was talking about and it also affects their metabolism which can cause premature death (all be it a reasonably "natural" one) I think your darter tetras may be susceptible to this issue as well but it develop this issues as well. Interestingly it can happen in reverse for some fish as well when kept too cool all year round.
 
I have not kept discus before so cant really comment on their needs but I have heard of set ups where people keep tank mates with things like Rams, Rummy Nose Tetras, Sterbai Cories and a few of the fancy plecs are all good with those kind of temperatures.
 
Not sure which route to suggest
 
Wills

 

[MBOU]

Personally I think keeping discus at 30 degrees is often uncessesary, even in British sumers, there will be short periods of time where even room temps will push temps up to 30 odd degrees, but discus temps in the wild will fluctuate a lot depending on time of year, their location and at what depth they are  swimming at.
 
Personally, I found it important to keep breeding pairs and their young/young growing on discus (as in weeks to a few months old) at 29-30 degrees, however found it much better for the discus and other inhabitants to keep the general tank at 26-27 degrees celsius.
 
I do think you need to revise your stocking of smaller fish and double check the temperatures for darter tetras, i dont know them well enough but they sound more like they would appreciate lower temperatures.
 
The trouble with high temperatures isnt that it often kills the fish as much as it affects their metabolism, speeding it up so they live faster and shorter lives, like someone with an overactive thyroid, they can and need to eat a lot more as their mody metabolises it so quickly, it can have effects on their balance of nutrients.
 
I would lose the smaller groups of tetras, increase two shoals or so to proper sized groups and maybe go for a group of maybe 3-4 more discus of a similar size to the one that you have.

 

[glendale15]

thanks again for the advice, if you think discus won't work would i better of increasing my angel fish

 

[DerpPH]

I say you should increase your rummy nose... they need to be kept in a shoal of 6... they are also good tank mates with discus so if you want to get a new tank with discus its probably best you keep rummy noses with discus...

 

[Electric Warrior]

I keep my discus at 28c and they are completely fine and spawn constantly. The only other fish that I keep which you have are cardinals, who are fine with those temps, but the others I have no idea. My apistos and hatchetfish also do okay with those temps.

Thing is though, unless you have a breeding pair, you are going to want 6 or more to keep them settled/spread aggression.