Discus, Bumblebee Gobies and Ghost Shrimp ...

[SkinnyChicken]

Hi, (and hello) I'm quite new to the forum and have only been keeping Discus for 7 months but have had quite good results so far - touch (drift)wood. My blog currently describes the almost disaster that is my QT and my question to you all is whether you think that Discus will be okay with ghost shrimp (they are quite small) and bumblebee gobies (also quite small)?

I've toyed with the idea of throwing in a shrimp to see what would happen but can't bring myself to do that just yet! And there is probably no way I could catch either the shrimp or the gobies again in my 80g tank - and I'd hate them all to end up as live food!

I've read that gobies can look after themselves but haven't managed to find anything on whether or not they would be okay tankmates with discus.

Unfortunately, the shrimp and gobies have only been QT-ed for 1 week so far but I really need to get them out of my QT. Is it too risky to introduce these new guys into my discus tank after only one week of quarantine?

Your thoughts would be much appreciated?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I can't say much about the Gobies because I personally have no experience with them. However, the the shrimp are another story. Ghost shrimp will in all likelyhood end up becoming lunch for the Discus as some point. They may do fine for a while but eventually they will slowly disappear.

[SpyderSpy6]

GoldBarb is right. I got a fleet of about 10 shrimps for my planted discus tank. I figured they would help eat up small debris and pick at the algae.

About 2 days after I got them I only was able to see a few, and then about a week after I didn't see any. They are so little too, that the left over pieces of the shrimp will decay fairly quickly.

I also tried an amano shrimp (same thoughts as the ghost shrimp)... no success. The goby sounds cool, but I'm not sure if they will work with the discus

[Kaga's Kritters]

bumblebee gobies are brackish water fish! ghost shrimp will be food. the guppies will probably get ate too, or at least killed by the tetras. Bettas are better living by themselves, also he will end up attacking the guppies.

i just looked up discus care and it says they like low pH, which your other fish will prefer a higher pH than the discus like. it also says they need to be at temps of at least 27C. adult discus need about 10 gal per fish, so you have six which means that 60 gal of your 80gal tank is taken up....The rest of the fish you have listed is too much for that last 20gal.

[helot13]

The gobies will do better in a higher salinity water. Some stores claim they have bred them to live in fresh water which is true, they can survive, but it limits their lifespan and they will not be as healthy or prolific in fresh water. Discus can exist with other fish. They are similar to angelfish in that respect, but it is hit or miss what fish will be okay and what fish will cause problems. All fish have personalities that will differ from individuals as well as species. There is no set rules when it comes to fish keeping. It is all trial and error, even for those of us who have been doing it for decades.

[Tooch]

Even if the Discus do eat the ghost shrimp, it would be a nutrious meal! But with as susceptible as Discus are to disease, you're better off having full control over their diet.