Discus Personality?

[joeyh51]

So I'm still having second thoughts about getting discus. I'd really like something with a lot of personality and I've heard discus can be a bit, well, boring. They look awesome don't get me wrong, I'd just like something interesting as well.
Can anyone who's kept these let me know what they're like as pets, and not just as aquarium eye candy?!

 

[Balloons&killies]

So I'm still having second thoughts about getting discus. I'd really like something with a lot of personality and I've heard discus can be a bit, well, boring. They look awesome don't get me wrong, I'd just like something interesting as well.
Can anyone who's kept these let me know what they're like as pets, and not just as aquarium eye candy?!

Personality wise, well everyfish can be different. my discus was really shy for the first weeek and abit. but now it comes out to the tank and beggs for food. IMO, id say they are overall quite calm fish.

 

[markandhisfish]

to be honest once the novelty wore off thats all they were . eye candy . very sedate in their ways and ultimately quite boring . sure they hand fed but thats not unique to discus , most large/medium cichlids can be taught to and feed . it was sometimes interesting to watch and observe their social structure , but i woulndt go as far as to say they had big personality. what size tank have you got >?

 

[joeyh51]

Yeah that's what I was thinking, I want a fish(s) I can name, I know it sounds stupid, but you can't really name anything that doesn't have a personality!
I've got a 260 litre juwel vision.

 

[Vin Swords]

i found they r normal as other fish.... they #40## boring if u keep them in discus only tank.

see my video in the profile.. pls

 

[markandhisfish]

Yeah that's what I was thinking, I want a fish(s) I can name, I know it sounds stupid, but you can't really name anything that doesn't have a personality!
I've got a 260 litre juwel vision.

how about a rotkeil severum. can work in your size tank as they dont get as big as other sevs , gorgeous colours and bags of fun too.

 

[hillmar77]

My discus are very laid back.... they usually swim around gracefully. But I do see some pecking and chasing all the time between them, usually for a few seconds when one of them crosses into the other's territory. The good thing about Discus is they are very docile fish, I have mine with German blue rams and Cory's and it makes a pretty nice community tank to watch. I've played with the Idea of even adding rummynose or cardinal tetra's with them.(As the color of the shoal of them would be stunning)
I've been into Discus since I saw a friends bare tank with over 20 of them. They truly are gracful and pretty fish's, but they require alot of maintenance and expensive food. Some people say the ultimate challenge in freshwater fish keeping is raising Discus juvaniles or baby's. Our local breeder had a competition for raising Discus baby, She would supply the free babies and you have to keep a journal on the status of them. Let's say out of 6 experienced fishkeepers, only one seemed to be doing pretty good. Maintenance and cost is way up compared to other cichlids, you have to keep the water prestine so 1 water change a week is usually not enough.( I've even heard of people doing daily water changes on discus tanks) Also the food is more expensive, they require high protein food like frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimps, beef heart etc. to get them to grow out properly.( lets say its alot more expensive then cichlid pellets.) But to me it seems worth it, whenever I get off work and they are sitting close to the top of the tank waiting for me to feed them, and showing there spectacular color and shape.

 

[simonas]

they;re the same as most fish but if your dsoing an amazon tank for example the tank becomes interesting
even large fish ifkept on their own can be boring in my opinion.depends on what your after but for me I;m finding the whole set upfor discus interesting

 

[snowflake311]

I love my discus. I love how they look. I love their grace. I love how tame they are. I love how they interact with eachother. I love how they explore the tank. I like how they mix well with other peaceful fish. Not much I don't like about them. Most large cichlids get Boring after a year .

I always thought they were all looks. Once I got some I find they are more then just a pretty face. I have had discus for 8 months my severum are the only others I could not do with out.

 

[2na]

I love discus and have had them for a while. My wife thinks they can be a bit boring so our current tank also include torpedo barbs, bristle nose catfish and cuckoo catfish. My discus always swim up to the front of the tank or near the surface when we are within sight of the tank. We have a mix of discus colours and there is plenty of interaction between the fish. We have three wood pieces in the tank and the fish vigour and agility steps up a gear when its dinner time. The fish are very nimble picking up food around the wood before another beats them. I don't find discus water care too onerous, although it is true it requires a bit more effort. I think discus like/more active in warmer tanks, just make sure other fish in the tank like a warmer tank.

 

[markandhisfish]

yes it is true they can display interesting social behaviour , and yes mine did indeed come to the front of the tank. but this shouldnt be confused with genuine personality. ime all cichlids do this as they assosiate anyone going near the tank with being fed. the rams were the characters of the tank . they each had more personality than the 6 discus between them . if youre set on discus i strongly advise at least putting some rams or similar in the tank too so theres some character at least.

beautiful? yes without question
gracefull/elegant? again yes for sure
fun/interactive/full of personality. sorry but no

so to summarise my advice would be if you want a tank where life is at a slow sedate pace with beautifull moderately interesting fish go with discus , but if you want something that is still beautiful but a whole lot more fun to keep and less demanding the rotkeil severum is more for you . its horses for courses at the end of the day .

 

[Graphic5]

beautiful? yes without question
gracefull/elegant? again yes for sure
fun/interactive/full of personality. sorry but no

so to summarise my advice would be if you want a tank where life is at a slow sedate pace with beautifull moderately interesting fish go with discus , but if you want something that is still beautiful but a whole lot more fun to keep and less demanding the rotkeil severum is more for you . its horses for courses at the end of the day .

Have to agree with this wholeheartedly, years ago i kept 8 discus with 30 neons and 10 rummynose tetra, it was a really great tank, but not as entertaining as my Rotkeil is, all visitors to our house are amazed by her.
You should probably try the Discus though, they are beautiful......

 

[joeyh51]

Thanks for all the input, but I think I have to agree with mark. I'm not really looking for something that is just stunning, sure they might come to the front of the tank or to the top but that is just an association between movement outside the tank and food, doesn't really justify saying they have personality.

I would love to try out discus at some point, but I think at the moment I'm going to go with a different large cichlid, maybe a rotkeil, will be making a trip to the LFS this weekend to check out their stock.

Anyone got any more suggestions for stocking?

 

[snowflake311]

Angel fish are nice too.

 

[markandhisfish]

most small/mid sized cichlids can be mixed with severums easily enough. when i had my rotkeil i had various cichlids with it including , angels as snowflake said , firemouths blue acara . i even had corys in with my sevs and my adult male rotkeil was a touch over 8 inches . there really is a hell of a lot you can put with severums .