I have a discus tank with a mixure of corys, tetras, glassys ect.
Just wondering if any other cichlids can be kept with dicus. Apart from dwarf cichlids.
And by other cichlids i do not mean angel fish.
No. At the very least, the water conditions between African rift lake cichlids and discus are polar opposites. They may be able to compromise in a middle range, but compromise should not be the point of fishkeeping. You should want your fish to really thrive, and it’s impossible in this kind of situation.
Yellow Lab Cichlid:
are bright colored mbuna from Lake Malawi. These are the less aggressive out of the mbuna.
Blue Ram:
Awesome looking cichlid that needs to be slowly acclimated and fed a high quality diet.
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No. At the very least, the water conditions between African rift lake cichlids and discus are polar opposites. They may be able to compromise in a middle range, but compromise should not be the point of fishkeeping. You should want your fish to really thrive, and it’s impossible in this kind of situation.
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Yes, I have kept Discus with Bolivian Rams. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+889+1082&pcatid=1082
These Cichlids are not exactly African (American and New World), but this allows them to thrive in more acidic waters that Discus prefer.
These Cichlids should be added in mated pairs to prevent inter-species aggression.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Justin
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Experience
Not really. Africans are aggressive they will tear apart anything with long fins (I’m trying to remember what the glassys fins look like X.e)
And you can really only keep Africans with other Africans of the same size , and sometimes they will do okay with plecos or clown lochs. But a cichlid would eat/kill your tetras and glassys in a matter of days if not less.(I don’t know how it would act with a cory, sorry)
You’ve got more of a ”community” tank from the sounds of it, which is the more tropical , passive type fish. Stick with those. Also keep in mind that different fish need different water types. If you have Neon tetras your going to want to buy water softener for fish. Size of tank also matters, then general rule (that I go by) is one gallon of water per inch of fish. So that means that if it full size of a fish will be six inches, you will need six gallons of water. Seeing as I don’t know the size of your tank or how many fish you have I cant say anything but if its a ten gal. it’s most likely full at this point (unless you only have like two of each fish) and if I remember correctly discus’s get pretty big. If its a twenty gal or above you could add things like gouramis , tiger barbs, gobys or danios . And a small type of eel (like the peacock eel) would probably do okay
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Discus should not be kept with other fish at all (ESPECIALLY AFRICAN CICHLIDS). The high temperatures (mid 80′s) and low pH (6.5) that the discus need to thrive and stay healthy are not in the range of most other fish. Also the discus is a slow moving, very shy fish that is stressed by other fish being in the same tank. Stress in any fish ultimately leads to a breakdown in the immune system and ill health.
It is good that you do not want angelfish, the angels can carry a disease that kills discus. The angels are not affected by it at all, they are only carriers. The discus will stop eating, become very sluggish and turn very dark just before they die.
Discus should only be kept in a species tank (one species only), they are not community tank fish. Some people will tell you that they have done it, but I would be willing to bet that it was only for a short time (few months) until problems developed.
8
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23 tanks up and running at present. 26 years experience in keeping and breeding many species of tropicals, cichlids (including discus), snails and shrimp.
Most African cichlids are aggressive whereas discus are peaceful. Angelfish and discus are compatible due to their similar temperament, but most African cichlids will go after the delicate fins of the timid discus fish.
Not to mention that African cichlids thrive in different conditions than discus fish and should not be kept together.
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