New tank - help

[Doronxl7]

hello guys,
I got a new tank with 210g.
what you guys telling about this:
* group of 5-7 Discus [when the time comes and the breed will be ill grow up the babys too for a larger group]
* little group of 3-4 Angel fish.
* not sure but maybe 1-2 Motoro Sting Ray
* Self-America spieces:
Geophagus sp. Tapajos "Red Head"
Gymnogeophagus balzanii
Red Hump Eartheater
Severum

* I got only 80W of light's so its wont be with live plants, only rocks and roots.
if I bring the String ray ill tie roots from the top and put few rocks in the side's \ middle.
** I got alot of experience with aquarium's, I had nano reef before. **

[3dees]

sounds like it will work, but raising juvies in a tank that large can cause problems. best to use a 30 or 40 gal until the discus reach at least 3 inches. they must be fed 6-8 times per day. a large tank makes it hard for them to find the food plus doing a minimum of 50% wc's every day is going to waste a lot of water. do not try to raise them with the other fish. even angels are more aggressive eaters than discus.

[Doronxl7]

thanks.
I will put the discus in a little tank then this until they grow up but I wanna know more about the fish's.
If this spieces can be together.

[MuckyFish]

I think you should research more about the discus and tank mates. For the time when these discus are adults, there is a lot of debate about angels with discus because of competition for food disease vector and so on. Some say you can others say to avoid. I probably wouldn't mix them if it was my tank. When I get around to discus I will start with bare bottom no angels and if I do a display tank with rocks/wood/substrate I will probably do sand and have some cories and cardinals to mix it up.

I would also question whether you want earth eaters with the sting rays and discus, I think that could be a little competitive on the bottom surface. Also is it your intention to have a substrate and have the earth eaters kick it up and act as cleaners?

Whatever you do your going to have to think about compatibility for food and feeding habits, discus like to take food in the column and to puff there water off the substrate to eat it so thats why I am wondering if the sting ray, discus and eartheater is going to mix well.

How big are you expecting the sting rays to get?

[3dees]

many fish are hit or miss with discus. I had four festivum's with my wilds. everything was fine until the festivum's reached adult size. although there was no aggression they pushed the discus to the rear of the tank. as soon as I removed them the discus were all over the tank again. other people have no problems with the two fish together. personally, I would get a couple of large schools of tertas and a school of cories and add more discus. they should be the center of attention with any tank.

[koaladarshana]

Discus, especially young ones, are so skittish when it comes to tankmates... My personal experience has been that being around other fish [tiny clown loaches] is enough to stress discus into going on a hunger strike. I have read that tetras and corydoras work well though. Never heard of sting rays... severums, in my experience, can be quite nasty and territorial when it comes to feeding. Angels are pretty and work for some discus tanks but the fact remains most sources warn against keeping them with discus. Why not try a tank where the discus are the centerpiece? When you make the effort to seek out each discus for its unique patterns then you will want to proudly display them as kings of their tank.