Vet Q & AWhat fish are good tank mates for Discus fish in an aquarium?
Thanks for your questions about your tank. You have a number of fish in your tank already - a general rule of thumb is 2.5 square centimeters of fish per 3.8 liters. Depending on how large your fish are, you may be close to the carrying capacity of your tank, and you will also need to plan on how the fish in your tank will grow over time (mostly the rainbow sharks).
If you are looking for tank mates for discus, it is best to look for fish that are housed in the same temperature zone, and occupy different areas in the water column than they do. Examples would be bottom feeders like cory catfish, those that live on the sides and bottom such as plecos, and those that are in the middle of the water column like some species of tetras.
For the question about vacation - I would not recommend leaving your tank for that long without someone checking on it regularly. Power outages can be detrimental for tanks, and water changes or additions would likely be required. Also, automatic feeders also have the potential to fail, and this could cause a large spike in ammonia if a large amount of food was fed, and starvation if there was no food dispensed over a long period.
I hope that helps to answer your questions, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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