Discus with German Blue Ram

[waack]

So i know it's a question that's asked quite a bit, i have goggled it and i have read on this forum people asking this question before. From all this I'm going with yes these two fish are compatible. Both in terms of temperament and water conditions. I'm just looking for opinions from people who have actually done it or seen it done. My 6 discus are going great settled right down, worked out their pecking order and are gobbling my DIY food and discus pellets. I'm now wondering if adding GBR is a good idea. The tank is a 150gal 5x2x2 tank for more details info is in the sig.

[mojosodope]

While I don't have a GBR I do have 6 Bolivians with my discus. As they're not that different from GBRs ill tell you my experience. It really depends on the temperament of the individual fish and whether or not you have enough natural boundaries in your tank. I have the same size tank as you and I also had 6 discus and 8 Bolivians at a point in time. What I noticed is that two of the Bolivians were bullying the discus as soon as the discus came close to their territory while the other 6 ignored them completely. The aggression is also amplified if they are mating so my advice to you is to go ahead and add the GBR but make sure to monitor any aggression, also make sure there is an area in the tank he can claim as his territory with boundaries.

[fishmommie]

mojo's got the GBR discus issue covered. I just want to add that your corys are schooling fish. 6 would be the minimum for your albino cories but in that size of a tank, you could easily up it to 10 or 12. sounds like a pretty tank.
photos would be great :o)

[talldutchie]

Don't you guys run into temperature problems with these combinations?

[mojosodope]

I just saw your sig and I agree with fishmommie on adding the corries.

@talldutchie My tank is always around 82-83 degrees, the bolivians were bred around 80 degrees and I've seen no signs of illness or negative effects. German Blue rams are suggested to be kept in a temp range of 79-81 so once they are properly acclimated they would be fine IMO.

In reference to waacks tank I would be slightly concerned about the temp for the rcs, everything else should be fine.

[waack]

Tank is 30 degrees celcius and I added the RCs to see what would happen I got 120 for $20. So far it seems ok they can always be seen in the tank wondering about. I had 6 albino cories to begin with but I woke up one morning to find 4 dead. Everything else was find even the shrimp. But the cories are red circular marks on them. They were also in one area of the tank. Came to the conclusion the albino bristlenose that WAS in the tank got agressive at night when they wondered in his territory. Needless to say he was removed and haven't had issues since. I'm looking at upping the school size just haven't had time to get to the Lfs.

So with the gbr is can be done but monitoring required is that the general consensus. I wanted to do 2 but I figure if they spawned it would create issues ??

[Sandz]

Ive kept the GBR and Bolivian combo in the past. Also have added corries and done sand bottom tanks with discus when I was growing out breeding stock. Its in no way bad for these fish and specially at the temps you are talking about. Everyone should do just fine.

[Cermet]

Sounds good - the 30 C may or may not be good for the GR but other's here say it works. For discus, and Sterba's (ONLY!) cories (that might explain the deaths of the albino cories), that is the ideal temperature. Many that keep discus say BN are fine but also, attacks do occur so keep a close eye on the discus to see if they look stressed at all. If they do, consider relocating the BN and test if that helps. When attacks do occur, they are generally late at night so don't expect to see it happening.

[Berylla]

I have discus and have tried to keep GBR's with them but they only last a year or less. I just recently had to euthanize my female so I only have a male one left. I have no luck with them.

[waack]

Sounds good - the 30 C may or may not be good for the GR but other's here say it works. For discus, and Sterba's (ONLY!) cories (that might explain the deaths of the albino cories), that is the ideal temperature. Many that keep discus say BN are fine but also, attacks do occur so keep a close eye on the discus to see if they look stressed at all. If they do, consider relocating the BN and test if that helps. When attacks do occur, they are generally late at night so don't expect to see it happening.

I'm almost certain it wasn't the heat that got the cories they had big circular suction marks on theirs sides, had to be the bristle nose, not a great outcome but, lesser of 2 evils in terms of them latching onto a discus, bristle nose have since been removed.