Discus

[krishanu]

im planning to start a 200l discus tank and as a tank mate i was considering an elephant nose fish. is this a bad idea? what fish are compatible with the elephant nose fish?

 

[ArauraDiscus]

hi everyone..unfotunately i have a couple of platties that have started to show signs of velvet,normally this wouldnt be a problem,add medication nd away to go,however,i have 6 ammano shrimp and im struggling to find a cure thats compatible with inverts..my LFS even recommended a fix that specifically says not to be used with inverts!!! unfortunately i dont have the luxury of a hospital tank so cant remove said fishes nd treat them seperately..anyone know of a medication thats safe to use with inverts?? any help greatly appreciated.

When starting a discus tank the best attitude to have is, "what fish are compatable with a discus" and not the other way around. Discus are the kings of the aquarium trade and are very sensitive, hard to keep fish, and even harder to make them happy enough to breed. They prefer certain tank mates. From what I understand about elephant noses, correct me if I'm wrong but they have slight electrical currects, like ghost knives that could adversely bother the discus. Also I think they are a somewhat skittish fish. Discus tend to pay attention to their tank mates. If they are skittish, then the discus wil be too. Actually most tetra are great tank mates for discus. Pencilfish, bristlenoses, Siamese Algae Eaters, and such are also good tank mates. But if you are making a discus tank, best make it for them, and not "with" them in it.



heres a list of some fish Discus do fine with
Rummy Nose
PencilFish
Siamesae ALgae Eaters
Hatchet Fish
Praecox Rainbows
Rasboras
Bolivian Rams
German Blue Rams
Otos
Bristlenose Plecos
Neon Tetras
Glowlight tetra

 

[krishanu]

i guess i should have phrased myself better. i wanted to keep both discus and an elephant nose fish but if i have a choice of one im not sure which one i want to keep. i have a fair idea of what fish can be kept with discus but i have no idea (as there are relatively few resources) on the elephant nose fish.

btw im not so sure otos, plecs and SAEs go particularly well with discus. during breeding discus lose their colour and excrete something called 'discus milk', a highly nutritious substance, from their skin, that fish with suckermouths attach themselves to. i have on one occasion seen a common plec attached to the side of a discus and it isnt a pretty sight!

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

i guess i should have phrased myself better. i wanted to keep both discus and an elephant nose fish but if i have a choice of one im not sure which one i want to keep. i have a fair idea of what fish can be kept with discus but i have no idea (as there are relatively few resources) on the elephant nose fish.

btw im not so sure otos, plecs and SAEs go particularly well with discus. during breeding discus lose their colour and excrete something called 'discus milk', a highly nutritious substance, from their skin, that fish with suckermouths attach themselves to. i have on one occasion seen a common plec attached to the side of a discus and it isnt a pretty sight!

Yeah, I really do agree with you, no catfish with a sucking mouth should be kept with Discus. Some people on this forum recommend the SAE and the Bristlenose plec as they say they won't suck onto the slime coating of the Discus, but perosnally I wouldn't risk it. I would also, personally, go with Discus much nicer then Elephant nose IMO. I would also like to add that both Pterophyllum scalare and Pterophyllum altum are fine tank mates in small numbers.

 

[poopsydrew]

hi everyone..unfotunately i have a couple of platties that have started to show signs of velvet,normally this wouldnt be a problem,add medication nd away to go,however,i have 6 ammano shrimp and im struggling to find a cure thats compatible with inverts..my LFS even recommended a fix that specifically says not to be used with inverts!!! unfortunately i dont have the luxury of a hospital tank so cant remove said fishes nd treat them seperately..anyone know of a medication thats safe to use with inverts?? any help greatly appreciated.

When starting a discus tank the best attitude to have is, "what fish are compatable with a discus" and not the other way around. Discus are the kings of the aquarium trade and are very sensitive, hard to keep fish, and even harder to make them happy enough to breed. They prefer certain tank mates. From what I understand about elephant noses, correct me if I'm wrong but they have slight electrical currects, like ghost knives that could adversely bother the discus. Also I think they are a somewhat skittish fish. Discus tend to pay attention to their tank mates. If they are skittish, then the discus wil be too. Actually most tetra are great tank mates for discus. Pencilfish, bristlenoses, Siamese Algae Eaters, and such are also good tank mates. But if you are making a discus tank, best make it for them, and not "with" them in it.



heres a list of some fish Discus do fine with
Rummy Nose
PencilFish
Siamesae ALgae Eaters
Hatchet Fish
Praecox Rainbows
Rasboras
Bolivian Rams
German Blue Rams
Otos
Bristlenose Plecos
Neon Tetras
Glowlight tetra

Not to envoke any hard feelings, but dont you keep a Chinese Algae Eater with your discus? If I am mistaken or you have moved it forgive me but I would find it hard to take advice on discuc tankmates if you keep yours with a CAE. Again Also I am not sure I would reccomend some of those fish you have listed especially, as noted earlier the SAE, otos, and plec who like CAE will latch on. Also tetras can be nippy and quite active for discus. And if the rams are a breeding pair or vice versa then there will be some aggression. I do agree with your thought process though about keeping discus. To the OP, i have no experience with elephant noses but from the members on this site that have owned them it seems species tank only is the way to go with these delicate fish.

Drew

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

hi everyone..unfotunately i have a couple of platties that have started to show signs of velvet,normally this wouldnt be a problem,add medication nd away to go,however,i have 6 ammano shrimp and im struggling to find a cure thats compatible with inverts..my LFS even recommended a fix that specifically says not to be used with inverts!!! unfortunately i dont have the luxury of a hospital tank so cant remove said fishes nd treat them seperately..anyone know of a medication thats safe to use with inverts?? any help greatly appreciated.

When starting a discus tank the best attitude to have is, "what fish are compatable with a discus" and not the other way around. Discus are the kings of the aquarium trade and are very sensitive, hard to keep fish, and even harder to make them happy enough to breed. They prefer certain tank mates. From what I understand about elephant noses, correct me if I'm wrong but they have slight electrical currects, like ghost knives that could adversely bother the discus. Also I think they are a somewhat skittish fish. Discus tend to pay attention to their tank mates. If they are skittish, then the discus wil be too. Actually most tetra are great tank mates for discus. Pencilfish, bristlenoses, Siamese Algae Eaters, and such are also good tank mates. But if you are making a discus tank, best make it for them, and not "with" them in it.



heres a list of some fish Discus do fine with
Rummy Nose
PencilFish
Siamesae ALgae Eaters
Hatchet Fish
Praecox Rainbows
Rasboras
Bolivian Rams
German Blue Rams
Otos
Bristlenose Plecos
Neon Tetras
Glowlight tetra

Actually, I've had one person who comes into the store, who keeps a Black Ghost Knife with Discus and they aren't any problems.

 

[ArauraDiscus]

btw im not so sure otos, plecs and SAEs go particularly well with discus. during breeding discus lose their colour and excrete something called 'discus milk', a highly nutritious substance, from their skin, that fish with suckermouths attach themselves to. i have on one occasion seen a common plec attached to the side of a discus and it isnt a pretty sight!



===============================

Trust me I know all about discus, don't need any baby talk, but thanks. And thats a common pleco, not a bristlenose, completely different species.

And I apologize poopsy, it was a siamese algae eater, not chinese, my fault.

And that list is straight from my local breeder, who breeds the fish in my avatar. I think they know more than the 3 of us combined, and they reccomended these fish.

Bristlenoses have been fine for me, they only eat algae, virtually nothing else. Otos and sae's as well, don't bother discus, whether they are in breeding form or not. If they do, it's probably more of an isolated case than a trend.

 

[kev_kb]

You could start off with 5 discus (1 per every 10 gallons as a general rule) then maybe add 2 more with experience. Either way you do not have room to add a black ghost knife to the tank.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

You could start off with 5 discus (1 per every 10 gallons as a general rule) then maybe add 2 more with experience. Either way you do not have room to add a black ghost knife to the tank.

I didn't say he could, I was just stating that those electrical currents might not do anything to the Discus.

 

[krishanu]

Trust me I know all about discus, don't need any baby talk, but thanks. And thats a common pleco, not a bristlenose, completely different species.

please dont get me wrong, im not trying to lecture you in any way at all. i was just giving an opinion and i dont think that it is in any way 'baby talk'. i just dont think sucker mouthed fish and discus should be kept together but you are certainly entitled to your own opinion. bristlenose plecs may be a different species but they still do have suckermouths.

 

[angelmouse]

I keep 2 bristlenoses with with my discus and never had problems,they will eat their eggs but other wise stay out of their way, i think the larger plecs are more of a threat
Angel