Uaru and angelfish in 75 gallon? Other ideas?

[ryansmith83]

Interested to know why? Or the mix of them with other species?

Discus are slow eaters. They like to graze. Almost all medium to large SA cichlids will outcompete them for food every time.

If people are not familiar with discus, they should always start with a species-only tank and learn all the tricks and quirks to discus before trying to mix them with other species, especially bold and boisterous species like Guianacara, Geophagus, etc.

 

[Pudmuppy]

Discus are slow eaters. They like to graze. Almost all medium to large SA cichlids will outcompete them for food every time.

If people are not familiar with discus, they should always start with a species-only tank and learn all the tricks and quirks to discus before trying to mix them with other species, especially bold and boisterous species like Guianacara, Geophagus, etc.

That makes sense. It's such a shame discus are such sensitive fish, I love their looks and that you can have a large group together reasonably peacefully... Veto to discus until I can do a species only tank I guess. Still looking for that show piece species! Something that will do well with the Geo or guianacara and my angels... Maybe severum? Still need to do a ton of reading... Half the fun is the research, I find!

 

[DonnyB]

I felt the same way about discus and converted my 75 gallon from an Oscar tank to house 6 discus. After keeping an Oscar in there the tank while gorgeous was boring to me with discus. Think of a discus tank as a liv8ng painting... gorgeous to look at but... I just lost interest. Have a young Midas who is anything but boring in their now ( for the tank police out there he’s getting an upgrade this year)

 

[duanes]

I think a 75 is an OK tank for about 4 or 5 Guianacara and maybe a bunch of dithers like tetras, probably a little too small a tank for more species of other cichlids though.
They can get quite hefty for a small cichlid as full grown adults.


Mine were sold as G geayi, but were probably something else.
I moved them to a 6 ft tank with some small Crenicichla pike cichlids after the grew, and used Lemon Tetras as dither fish, until the pike grew large enough to eat the tetras.
The tetras added movement and gave interest to the more upper regions of the water column the Guianacara seldom went


I also agree with the others, a 75 is top small to house Uaru, or any cichlid that gets more than 7.5".

 

[neutrino]

The more common severum types ("Heros" to be technical about it), greens, golds, rotkeils, etc., are generally fine with the fish you've been talking about. Some Heros species can be more aggressive and are large for a 75, the occasional individual of nearly any type can be aggressive, but they're generally compatible with a range species of varying size and temperament ime. You mentioned wanting groups, you can keep (most) sevs in groups, but you'd want a larger tank for a group of adults.

I've kept sevs with all the fish you mentioned except discus. They're a nice complement to a number of geo species or guianacara. Can be done in a 75 as juvies-- and as adults if you get the right combination of fish and numbers.

 

[DonnyB]

Severum... a great suggestion but only 1

 

[Pudmuppy]

Thanks to everyone for their ideas so far! I am still a bit torn as to whether I want to do a discus only tank, guainacara or geophagus with a couple of angels, or something else like a pair of rainbow cichlids, blue acara or a pair of festivum as the stars.... I keep changing my mind on a daily basis! I won't be getting the tank for about a month so I have plenty of time to think about it and continually change my mind right up until the last second.
I am also going to contact my very good LFS and see what they can actually obtain, cichlid wise as that will be a huge factor as well

 

[Serpentine]

I think you could do discus with some gentle SA non-cichlid friends such as Julii or Sterbai cory cats and / or cardinal tetras.

It sounds like you may succumb to a common affliction amongst fish keepers... MTS, or Multiple Tank Syndrome.

 

[Pudmuppy]

I think you could do discus with some gentle SA non-cichlid friends such as Julii or Sterbai cory cats and / or cardinal tetras.

It sounds like you may succumb to a common affliction amongst fish keepers... MTS, or Multiple Tank Syndrome.

I am hoping that if I go the discus route, that I can add some corydoras, rummies and a pair of Rams in a few months when they are established. As for mts, I am very much a sufferer of this condition- sadly my husband doesn't have the same calamity and has refused- for now!

 

[Serpentine]

I am hoping that if I go the discus route, that I can add some corydoras, rummies and a pair of Rams in a few months when they are established. As for mts, I am very much a sufferer of this condition- sadly my husband doesn't have the same calamity and has refused- for now!

Rummynose tetras like cooler water temperatures than discus. Discus prefer water temperatures in the mid 80s, which can make it tricky to find tankmates that are both temperamentally compatible and able to take the heat. Cardinal tetras can take it. Julii corys can take it up to about 83F, which is as cool as I'd go with discus. Make sure you get actual C. julii rather than the lookalike C. trilineatus a.k.a. "False Julii," which isn't as heat-tolerant. Most other tetras and cory cats will struggle. German blue rams would be perfect in a discus tank. Bolivian rams like it a little cooler.

Also with discus, make sure your water is perfectly clean. They don't deal well with less-than-ideal water quality or parameters. It may be worth it to invest in an R/O system just for aquariums. Those aren't too terribly expensive. By contrast, you'll spend a lot on the fish. Discus ain't cheap. You don't want to have to replace them!