Discuss are quite needy fish and their needs should always be catered to first when building an aquarium. While they make vibrant and interactive pets, they also require an experienced level of care and are not well suited to beginners.
You might be able to guess where I’m going with this but for all of these requirements, choosing a tank mate for discus fish can be quite difficult.
In this article, I’m going to cover whether discus can live with pleco or if these two species would create more harm than good when kept together.
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Can Discus Live With Pleco
Discuss are very particular fish that require an expert level of care in order to keep them healthy and happy. They are prone to illness and can become stressed easily when cleaning the tank, moving them, or keeping them with other fish.
For all these requirements, can discus fish live with pleco?
A discus can live with a pleco, however, there are some criteria that first need to be met. The pleco needs to be a smaller breed and that will not latch onto the discus to try and eat its slimy mucus coat. A bristlenose pleco is often considered to be the best breed of pleco to keep with discus.
As you can see, keeping discus with pleco is not an impossible scenario and they can actually make quite good tank mates but certain conditions need to be met before considering this.
Discus are the priority and therefore you need to meet their specific requirements before you even consider adding any other fish into the tank, this includes pleco!
Discus Care Requirements
Before getting into this section, the care guide on Acqueon states that discus is not as difficult to care for now that generations have been bred in captivity, however, they are still relatively difficult to care for. Therefore it’s important to make this distinction as they still require an experienced fishkeeper to care for them properly.
Discus fish are elegant breeds that are often referred to as the “kings of the aquarium” due to their standout colors and the way they move slowly, methodically, and almost commandingly through the tank. Despite their impressive presence, they are not hardy fish and require specific tank conditions.
The water, for instance, will need to match the water levels that they were raised in (if store bought) which means the water hardness, ph, and temperature will need to be similar. If not, a discus can easily become ill and distressed.
Aquarium Co-Op says that you should keep the water temperature at around 85 – 86 degrees Fahrenheit (if this is the temperature they were used to) as warmer water makes them more active, speeds up their metabolism, and shows off better colors. Colder temperatures in contrast will cause them discomfort.
Next, discus grow to be quite large in size, and tanks not only need to be tall in height to match their body type but they also need a relatively large tank with minimum recommendations being 55 – 75 gallon tanks. It’s important to note that this is at a minimum.
This requirement is however quite beneficial when considering getting pleco as the larger tank will keep the fish apart and give them plenty of space to counteract any territorialism.
Potential Issues With Keeping Discus and Pleco Together
One of the biggest issues with trying to keep discus and pleco in the same tank is that the pleco will often see the slime coat that discus produce to feed their young as food and if the pleco gets a taste for it, you’ll find that the pleco will constantly latch on to the discus and cause it harm.
The frequent attempt to eat this slimy coat is the key cause for concern when looking to keep pleco with discus and there are very few breeds (despite what some online forums might suggest) that will both get enough food from the tank alone and not be tempted by the discus.
As I mentioned earlier, the bristlenose pleco is perhaps one of the few breeds that stay small enough to get enough food from around the tank (pellets, algae, etc…) and also not take too much of an interest in the discus’ coat.
Even with a smaller pleco like the bristlenose or zebra, there is still a possibility that they will get a taste for the mucus on a discus and once this happens, it is difficult and almost impossible to stop them from latching on in the future.
The video below shows that one breed, in particular, can be compatible with discus but the comment section for this video was unanimous in their opinion that he should return the fish and consider the smaller bristlenose pleco instead.
This just goes to show that there is a very strong opinion when it comes to keeping pleco with discus and that your options are actually quite limited.
The slow movement of a discus does not help the situation and therefore while the two can live together, it will require frequent checks, perfect feeding, and a large enough tank to keep them apart for this to work effectively.
How to Properly Keep Discus and Pleco
To properly keep discus and pleco in the same tank you will first need to cover some essential requirements. The discus is ideally going to be the centerpiece of your tank and everything should therefore be planned around this fish.
They are vibrant in color and are what bring your tank to life but the focus is not on them solely for aesthetic purposes. No, the main reason for focusing on the discus first, as I mentioned earlier, is because they require a good level of care which needs to be mastered.
If you do not provide discus with the correct environment, they are unlikely to survive long enough to see you add more fish to their tank. This may seem slightly drastic but it’s the truth. You first need to plan how many discus you want to keep and this will then help you to dictate the tank size.
I’d opt for the more cautious approach and use a tall 75-gallon tank as a minimum requirement but if you can get a larger tank, it will only help.
Larger tanks not only allow your fish more room to swim but they will help maintain a better quality of water for longer (though regular water changes and gravel vacuuming will still be needed).
You also need to take into consideration how many fish of each type you plan to keep. Discus are schooling fish and while you can keep a single discus, a small group would be ideal. Discus are also very irritable fish and need to be kept away from high traffic areas where people frequently walk past.
Loud noises and flashing lights can also be stressful for discus so in order to keep them happy and stress-free, ensure that the tank is kept in a quiet area and that the water is warm and frequently changed.
Now that you have got all the basics down for caring for just the discus (I told you it’s not easy work), you then need to move on to adding a pleco or two to test out. Pleco can be territorial and can also be prone to eating the slime on a discus’ coat as mentioned earlier so they will also have some requirements.
The tank will need to be planted with plants that can handle warmer temperatures (for the discus) and for a place for the pleco to take shade and eat algae. The tank will also need to be big enough for the pleco to have their own territory but the discus requirements should already cater for this nicely.
Finally, you need to get a small pleco like a bristlenose or zebra that can easily be fed enough and that will also not be prone to sucking on the discus. Proper feeding is the most important aspect as a hungry pleco will inevitably come across the mucus on the discus and that will lead to an irreversible situation so proper feeding is essential.
Summary
Discus are wonderful fish to keep. Their bright colors and mesmerizing grace moving around the tank is great to see but they are not the easiest fish to care for and can be quite fussy when it comes to tank mates.
A pleco can be kept with discus and they are definitely a suitable option, provided you meet some basic requirements.
A small breed of pleco (like a bristlenose), a large tank with plenty of room, sufficient feeding for the pleco, and keeping a watchful eye will all be needed to ensure they can live together happily and peacefully.
