Discus And Angels

[jellybeanqueen]

Hiya people!

I have a jewel trigon corner tank which i have always used as a community fish tank. I also have a smaller tank which i have moved all of my smaller community fish into because i want to start keeping discus fish in the trigon. i have a large angel fish named Bertie who i moved into my brothers smaller fish tank because he was being a bit mean to my male betta Sushi lol the only thing is he's looking a bit unhappy in my brothers tank and i think he misses the trigon but i really want to keep discus fish so does anyone know if you can keep them together?

cheers abirose

 

[timmystood]

Nope! Discus and Angels can't be kept together. Well I say they can't. I guess they could with extreme caution and it really isn't something I would recommened.

 

[demonmagus]

Nope! Discus and Angels can't be kept together. Well I say they can't. I guess they could with extreme caution and it really isn't something I would recommened.

sarcasm?

I'm sure angels and discus mix extremely well

 

[timmystood]

No! It wasn't sarcasm at all!

Look, i'll show you my resources
1
2

Both say that they won't mix too well unless caution is taken.

 

[nmonks]

In terms of water chemistry and temperature, angels and discus could be be mixed, but in practise it is an exceedingly bad idea.

Angels (at least cheap ones) are often carriers of all sorts of bacterial infections that provde fatal to discus. Ditto fish like rams, which would also have the right water requirements, but also suffer from things like Hexamita. The other problem is temperament: angels are far more aggressive than discus.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[timmystood]

Told ya so!

LOL

 

[demonmagus]

lol, looks like I was tricked

 

[jellybeanqueen]

Thanks for the info guys

Can anyone recomend any good tankmates for a discus? or am i gonna have to just make it a species tank? I guess Bertie's just gonna have to put up with it lol

Cheers abirose

 

[demonmagus]

uuurm. Cories and larger tetras, stuff like that. Obviously there is more but I dunno

 

[nmonks]

With discus, it's best to think of characins and bottom dwellers.

At the top of the tank, silver hatchets and rummy nose tetras can look superb with discus, especially when kept in large numbers. Hatchets look outstanding in dark, thickly planted tanks, and being very active and silvery, they add some action to the (sometimes dull) discus aquarium. Avoid nippy tetras (like serpaes or black widows). Neons and cardinals can work, but they're a gamble: firstly, it is concievable a discus might eat one, and second, neons especially can be disease carriers. Neon tetra disease has been seen in angelfish, so I wouldn't risk discus. Personally, I'd go with something a bit bigger, perhaps bleeding heart tetras, emperor tetras, or lemon tetras.

At the bottom, you want warm-water Corydoras. So, avoid things like C. paleatus, which are subtropical, and go for C. panda or C. julii. Pick a funky species of Corydoras so that you have some nice coloured fish at the bottom to complement the discus. Small, non-aggressive catfish of other types are an option too, driftwood catfish and banjo catfish being two possibilities. Big plecs will terrorise discus, and Otocinclus will attack them (eat the mucous) but small whiptails and twig catfish, as well as Acistrus, are fine.

Some people have kept clown loaches with discus, though these obviously aren't from South America! Likewise, the more peaceful gouramis, like lace gouramis, can work well, too.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have kept discus with SAE, Clown loach, cardinal tetras, bristlenose pleco, sterbai cory and currently I have them with zebra plecos. I do not suggest clowns or SAE as they outcompete for food but did not harm the discus nor suffer from higher temps.

 

[Fadi]

Hey guys, just wanted to say that i keep 1 angel with my 4 tangerine discus and they seem fine. My angelfish doesn't bother them or anything.

 

[annka5]

More than one discus is a good starting point.... they do feel more comfy in groups. Otherwise, types of cory which can stand the higher temps, cardinal or rummy nose tetra are all good. There's loads of debate re: angels: parasites, too aggressive/ fast eaters, etc; yet some people have no problems keeping them together. I've never tried angels with my discus, and personaly reckon that unless you HAVE to do it then you shouldn't take the risk.

 

[jellybeanqueen]

thanks guys im gettin a baby discus 2morrow hopefully yay!!!

abirose

 

[TwoTankAmin]

It is very important to keep discus in quantities of more than one, this is especially true for younger ones.