Need Help Adding Discus + Angels

[Vampiero]

-I am setting up a used 60 gallon i just bought and am commited to doing a Discus + Angelfish community.
-It is already light/medium planted.
-I am cycling it with a bacterial additive and a UGF so that the bacteria really gets into the gravel substrate.
-After I will remove the UGF and place two Hagen Aquaclear 70 Power filters on the back.
-By the end I would like to have: 24 Cardinal Tetras, 5 Discus, 2 Angelfish

I have 2 Questions:
-In what order do I acclimate the Discus and Angelfish, do I add discus first or last, what If i want to get one discus from one place, and another discus from another place, how old of fish should i get??? anything you could add, thx.
-Are there any other fish that would greatly benefit my community (perhaps somekinda scavenger like a loach?)

THX AGAIN!

[pinkertd]

You don't mention if you're starting out with juvenile fish or adults.While discus and angelfish can be housed successfully together, angelfish are very aggresive feeders and if you're starting out with young fish to grow out, I personally wouldn't put the two together. Five adult discus would be the limit of large fish that I would recommend for a 55G. Angels themselves take up a lot of room with their long fins and all of them together, in my opinion would be too much for that tank.

But to answer your questions, the tetras should go in first. Then the discus or angels, and I am only recommending one or the other, not both. If you haven't done any research on raising young discus, please take a bit of time to do that. It is a bit challenging because of the need to feed growing discus quality food frequently throughout the day while they are growing, and they require very clean water so it is a bit of a challenge for some people. Acquiring discus from several different sources has it's own challenges and should not be done without strict quarantine of each different acquisition. Many discus obtained in local fish stores are very unhealthy and most often parasite infested. I don't recommend obtaining discus from any fish store. If you can find a reputable breeder and you want to select a couple of different strains it would be a much, much better plan. You could select the fish you want from that breeder and they could all be added at the same time.

As far as recommending how old of fish you should get....young discus are a lot more work than bigger discus, but bigger discus are more expensive. You have to decide how much you can afford to spend and how much care you can devote to them.

Cories are excellent additions to the community tanks whether you have angels or discus. They have a ton of personality and do a good bit of scavanging all day so that is an advantage to helping clean up uneaten food or small food particles that get trapped in hard to reach places.

Please do some research on keeping only discus vs. keeping young discus and young angels vs. keeping just angels.

[petluvr]

You don't mention if you're starting out with juvenile fish or adults.While discus and angelfish can be housed successfully together, angelfish are very aggresive feeders and if you're starting out with young fish to grow out, I personally wouldn't put the two together. Five adult discus would be the limit of large fish that I would recommend for a 55G. Angels themselves take up a lot of room with their long fins and all of them together, in my opinion would be too much for that tank.

But to answer your questions, the tetras should go in first. Then the discus or angels, and I am only recommending one or the other, not both. If you haven't done any research on raising young discus, please take a bit of time to do that. It is a bit challenging because of the need to feed growing discus quality food frequently throughout the day while they are growing, and they require very clean water so it is a bit of a challenge for some people. Acquiring discus from several different sources has it's own challenges and should not be done without strict quarantine of each different acquisition. Many discus obtained in local fish stores are very unhealthy and most often parasite infested. I don't recommend obtaining discus from any fish store. If you can find a reputable breeder and you want to select a couple of different strains it would be a much, much better plan. You could select the fish you want from that breeder and they could all be added at the same time.

As far as recommending how old of fish you should get....young discus are a lot more work than bigger discus, but bigger discus are more expensive. You have to decide how much you can afford to spend and how much care you can devote to them.

Cories are excellent additions to the community tanks whether you have angels or discus. They have a ton of personality and do a good bit of scavanging all day so that is an advantage to helping clean up uneaten food or small food particles that get trapped in hard to reach places.

Please do some research on keeping only discus vs. keeping young discus and young angels vs. keeping just angels.
:clap::clap::clap:

[Vampiero]

Thx for the suggestions.
Im actually in San Francisco and I have found one store in particular (aside from at least 5 other LFS that I have been to) and he breeds Discus in particular, and other fish too. He himself has a pair of tanks with angels and discus together but I asked him how many Discus I could keep if I have a pair of Angels and he told me 20-25!!
I was really shocked when I heard this. Any ideas? was he just trying to get me to buy as much as possible?

[petluvr]

20-25 discus in a 60?????????? No way, is this LFS in the Haight-Ashbury district by any chance maybe he had just got a new supply of Salvia or something and thought you meant tetras :)

[fishorama]

I'm under the thinking that adult discus need ~10 gals per fish but mine are juviniles yet. In your case 5-6 adults ($$$) would be better than trying to raise younger fish from all I've read.

Rearranging your tank would be a good idea before introducing new fish to the resident angels. But quarantine, 4-6 weeks, is a must to me. Or you could move the established fish to a smaller tank to let the discus have a head start before adding the "old fish" back.

[Vampiero]

so would 24 cardinal tetras,
followed by 2 gold marble angelfish and simultaneously what number of discus would you recommend?