Discuss In A Community Tank

[stiffler69]

Hi all im thinking about getting 2 young discuss from a friend they will be going into a juwel rio 125 what currently homes 3 bristlenose plecs and 5 endlers, and 3 corys temporary.

What i want to know is will the discuss be ok with these fish and what is needed for them to have a healthy stable enviroment thanks in advance

 

[joecoral]

what type of cory's are they?
discus need very high water temp, eg 30C+, and many cory's prefer water at the much cooler end of the scale, so they may not be compatible
discus are also a shoaling fish so you would need at least 5 to prevent aggression, which would need a tank of at least 55 gallons to accomodate them
if the discus are still juveniles ie less than 3" across they will need to be kept in a bare bottom tank to ensure top quality water condition so they do not get stunted

 

[part-timer]

For me the tank itself would be fine as a short term measure, but the BN's might annoy the discus at night. Longer term the tank won't really give the space needed and as pointed out as an ideal you would also have a few more discus eventually to ensure they thrive. Temp wise tank bred discus generally still thrive at low 80's - I have my tank around 82-84 and although pushing to the limits of some community fish, your cory's and endlers will be fine in this range.

I don't think a bare-bottom tank is that essential, more for when raising large numbers of young so that waste and food can be cleaned up.

Discus aren't such a specialised fish to keep anymore due to generations of tank breeding and they are much more adaptable but the line still needs to be drawn between providing an environment they will survive in and an environment they will thrive in - in my opinion this setup is in the middle but once the discus have grown its not an ideal setup. Good excuse for a bigger tank though!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Some corys will do fine in warmer water with discus. Sterbais are one I know for sure will work fine. BN should be fine as well. I doubt endlers will be happy in the same params as discus.