75 gal. aquarium tank ideas!

[Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics]

Hello,

I currently have a 75 gallon with room for more fish. I used to have more but due to a parasite spread, I only have 2 male 5" discus in this tank. They are currently recovering from being treated with an anti parasite, but if they fully recover, ( They are a lot looking better! 😄 ) What fish would you recommend I add? I do understand that I have to be picky since they are a cichlid. I am very open to any ideas! Thanks to any responders!

[Brandy]

I am not a discus expert, my family had some as a kid but I have never had them myself. But I would pick a school of rummynose or cardinal tetras, and a few khuli loaches and otocinclus....aaaand I have just listed my current tank stocking list but I don't have discus. My tank is at 83 degrees. About to put in some rams. Fingers crossed. Admittedly, my list is pretty basic. I am going for balanced and non-aggressive.

[Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics]

Thank you. I really like the schooling idea!

[Mr. Ed's Aquatics]

Schooling fish are a must in my opinion. Discus are shy, and if you have an active school of Cardinal or Rummynose tetras, they see the small dither fish out and know there are no predators around. They're much more active that way.

My friends discus are basically alone in his planted tank, and they're always hiding. I keep trying to get him to add something, but he's convinced that anything else will mess with the discus.

[Brandy]

If you go with rummynose, the otocinclus will sometimes jump into the school. They are about the same size. It makes them happy with fewer otos in the tank, I think. My tank isn't quite as large, so I don't want to overstock algae eaters and have them hungry, but they like a social outlet.

[Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics]

How would you keep the discus from eating the tetras? I had as small school of about 15 and in a few months was down to 4. 😞 They were all fine for the first 7 months, but once they got to about 4-5" they began to get picked off. This confused be because I always see HUGE discus with a giant school of tetras. Could it be because there wasn't enough tetras?

[Daniel]

I have kept discus with tetras over the years and I have never seen a discus catch a tetra. I have had tetras disappear but often later I found the crispy body outside the tank. Rummy noses are very unlikely to become discus food (but they are very good jumpers).

Heiko Bleher analyzed the stomach contents of thousands of wild discus and maybe twice found fish in the stomach contents.

Cardinals or Rummy noses are good choices to keep with discus.

[Brandy]

On 8/20/2020 at 8:08 PM, Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics said:

I used to have more but due to a parasite spread, I only have 2 male 5" discus in this tank. They are currently recovering from being treated with an anti parasite

 

5 hours ago, Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics said:

How would you keep the discus from eating the tetras? I had as small school of about 15 and in a few months was down to 4. 😞 They were all fine for the first 7 months, but once they got to about 4-5" they began to get picked off. This confused be because I always see HUGE discus with a giant school of tetras. Could it be because there wasn't enough tetras?

I wonder if the tetras weren't the source of the parasites and just got snacked on as they died? Then again, 7 months is pretty late in the game for that to manifest. I feel like a school of 15 would be sufficient, but maybe more tank cover in the form of plants or rocks or wood...?

[Patrick M. Bodega Aquatics]

Thank you! I didn't think of it that way. I Could see trying both rummy nose and Cardinals again. Do any of you buy your fish online? ( I am in Oregon )