Hi there i have a 100 gallon 5 foot aquarium. I currently have two plecos, 2 pearl cichlids, 2 rosy barbs, silver shark and 4 angel fish. Is it advisable to add a couple of discus to this setup? Thanks
Discus compatibility
- Thread starter Cikkuflajs
- Start date
Although I'm no expert when it comes to discus...I'd say no. Like Sub said, if you want a discus tank you stock around the discus. The biggest deterrent would be the angels IMO.
Unfortunately, none of your existing fish are ideal discus tankmates, for a variety of reasons, more so in particular if the Angels, Plecos, and Cichlids are relatively large-sized fish.
Having said that, it certainly can be done successfully, but with caution, and that's best left to an experienced discus-keeper.
Your 100 gal is a great tank for keeping discus, along with suitable tankmates, and should you decide to do so, I would suggest getting no less than 5 or 6 fish, more preferably, to dissipate any potential pecking order/aggression issues. Suggest too that they should be of a reasonable size, at least 3" or larger, and obtained from a good quality source.
Keeping 2, 3, or 4 discus is not a good idea. (except for a proven mated pair).
Also, should you opt to get a half dozen or more discus for your tank, and decide to keep some of your existing fish, you would need to undertake a careful quarantine - and if need be, I'd be happy to explain to you precisely how to do it.
Hope this helps your decision-making.
Having said that, it certainly can be done successfully, but with caution, and that's best left to an experienced discus-keeper.
Your 100 gal is a great tank for keeping discus, along with suitable tankmates, and should you decide to do so, I would suggest getting no less than 5 or 6 fish, more preferably, to dissipate any potential pecking order/aggression issues. Suggest too that they should be of a reasonable size, at least 3" or larger, and obtained from a good quality source.
Keeping 2, 3, or 4 discus is not a good idea. (except for a proven mated pair).
Also, should you opt to get a half dozen or more discus for your tank, and decide to keep some of your existing fish, you would need to undertake a careful quarantine - and if need be, I'd be happy to explain to you precisely how to do it.
Hope this helps your decision-making.
Got to thinking about a couple of things that may be of interest to potential discus-keepers - one thought related to suitable discus tank-mates, and the other regarding a proper quarantine when introducing dither tank-mates to a discus tank, or vice versa.
This is posted to hopefully clear the air a bit for those of you who may have questions or doubts regarding these two subjects.
First, let's touch on the tank-mates for discus question:
It can be rather difficult for newbies to discus to get a good handle on what constitutes suitable discus tank-mates. An experienced discus-keeper can, and usually will, acquire a good sense or instinct, a gut feel if you will, based on his or her experience and research, on what should work, and what may not:
For example, an experienced discus-keeper will usually know, through research in many cases, which fish species will do well at the higher discus temps without undue ill effects, and which will have shortened lives as a result of it.
He or she will know which fish have the capacity to grow to a large enough size to intimidate discus and perhaps out-compete them for food, causing stress for the discus.
Similarly, he or she will also have a good idea, again through research in many cases, as to which species of fish are very active, fast-swimming fish, which again may have the result of startling and stressing the slower-moving discus, to a point where their health is at risk, making them susceptible to illnesses due to the immune system being weakened.
He or she will also be aware of which fish are quite aggressive, or can be nippers - also a no-no as a discus tank-mate.
And lastly, an experienced discus-keeper will know what to look for, by observation, in a discus' traits and behaviors, as to whether or not they are becoming stressed, and subject to deteriorating health issues. He or she will also be cognizant, again by observation, of the activities of those fish that , sometimes out of the blue, because they become older, fat and lazy, come to realize that discus' slime coats can make for an easy, tasty food source.
This is far from a complete listing, but hopefully it will give you some food for thought when considering whether or not a species of fish will make a compatible discus tank-mate.
Now on to the subject of quarantine when introducing dither fish to a discus tank, or vice-versa:
First, I'd like to point out that if the discus, and the dither fish species that you want to keep as discus tank-mates, are both from good sources of healthy stock, and are indeed healthy and thriving, then that constitutes a good indication that their immune systems are generally well-resistant to falling victim to cross-contamination of one kind or another. This should also tell you that the odds of serious harmful, or fatal, cross-contamination taking place are quite low, i.e., if both the discus and the contemplated tank-mates are in fact in good health. The only prominent possible exception here is if you're putting discus together with wild-caught angels in particular, which may carry harmful pathogens that they are readily resistant to, but which discus are particularly susceptible to.
Whether or not you're introducing tank-mates into an established discus tank, or vice versa, i.e. introducing discus to a tank which has other species, the method of quarantine is basically the same, and one in which the risk is kept to an absolute minimum for the expensive discus, which should of course come first, and be the main focus.
On the one hand, if you have a discus tank and want to introduce other species as tank-mates - acquire those (healthy) fish, and place them in a quarantine tank of suitable size, cycled, heated and filtered, and observe them for a period of say, 3 weeks or so. If all is well after that time, then introduce one of your discus (the least desirable one) to the quarantine tank, and observe them together for several weeks - a month would be very good. If all remains well, you're good to go, and the entire group in the QT tank can be introduced into your main discus tank. Remember, the odds are that the cross-contamination risk was small to begin with, and the result of your QT will very likely be ok.
Conversely, if your main tank contains the other species ( the intended tank-mates) and you're acquiring new discus, the same thing applies, in reverse. Quarantine the discus in a separate, suitably-sized, cycled, heated, and filtered, bb tank for a few weeks for observation, and if everything seems ok, then add one of the discus (again, the least desirable one) to the main tank with the dithers, and observe for several weeks. If everything is ok at that point, you may add the rest of the quarantined discus to the main tank.
In either case, if a cross-contamination does takes place, from the dithers to the discus, you will have lost only one discus, and you will know what steps need to be taken in that event (halt the launch process). Conversely, if the cross-contamination is the other way around (very unlikely) then you will have lost some inexpensive fish, and that will be the end of that.
In the very moderate event that the QT does not result in success, then you will have the option to either treat (medicate) if you know what the problem actually is, or abandon your integration efforts for this go-round, by taking whatever steps are necessary to re-home, or divest yourself of one group or the other.
I sincerely hope you have found this informative and helpful.
If I have missed out anything glaring to you, and/or you have questions, let me know, and I'll try to provide a clear, explanatory, corrective commentary.
Regards,
Paul
This is posted to hopefully clear the air a bit for those of you who may have questions or doubts regarding these two subjects.
First, let's touch on the tank-mates for discus question:
It can be rather difficult for newbies to discus to get a good handle on what constitutes suitable discus tank-mates. An experienced discus-keeper can, and usually will, acquire a good sense or instinct, a gut feel if you will, based on his or her experience and research, on what should work, and what may not:
For example, an experienced discus-keeper will usually know, through research in many cases, which fish species will do well at the higher discus temps without undue ill effects, and which will have shortened lives as a result of it.
He or she will know which fish have the capacity to grow to a large enough size to intimidate discus and perhaps out-compete them for food, causing stress for the discus.
Similarly, he or she will also have a good idea, again through research in many cases, as to which species of fish are very active, fast-swimming fish, which again may have the result of startling and stressing the slower-moving discus, to a point where their health is at risk, making them susceptible to illnesses due to the immune system being weakened.
He or she will also be aware of which fish are quite aggressive, or can be nippers - also a no-no as a discus tank-mate.
And lastly, an experienced discus-keeper will know what to look for, by observation, in a discus' traits and behaviors, as to whether or not they are becoming stressed, and subject to deteriorating health issues. He or she will also be cognizant, again by observation, of the activities of those fish that , sometimes out of the blue, because they become older, fat and lazy, come to realize that discus' slime coats can make for an easy, tasty food source.
This is far from a complete listing, but hopefully it will give you some food for thought when considering whether or not a species of fish will make a compatible discus tank-mate.
Now on to the subject of quarantine when introducing dither fish to a discus tank, or vice-versa:
First, I'd like to point out that if the discus, and the dither fish species that you want to keep as discus tank-mates, are both from good sources of healthy stock, and are indeed healthy and thriving, then that constitutes a good indication that their immune systems are generally well-resistant to falling victim to cross-contamination of one kind or another. This should also tell you that the odds of serious harmful, or fatal, cross-contamination taking place are quite low, i.e., if both the discus and the contemplated tank-mates are in fact in good health. The only prominent possible exception here is if you're putting discus together with wild-caught angels in particular, which may carry harmful pathogens that they are readily resistant to, but which discus are particularly susceptible to.
Whether or not you're introducing tank-mates into an established discus tank, or vice versa, i.e. introducing discus to a tank which has other species, the method of quarantine is basically the same, and one in which the risk is kept to an absolute minimum for the expensive discus, which should of course come first, and be the main focus.
On the one hand, if you have a discus tank and want to introduce other species as tank-mates - acquire those (healthy) fish, and place them in a quarantine tank of suitable size, cycled, heated and filtered, and observe them for a period of say, 3 weeks or so. If all is well after that time, then introduce one of your discus (the least desirable one) to the quarantine tank, and observe them together for several weeks - a month would be very good. If all remains well, you're good to go, and the entire group in the QT tank can be introduced into your main discus tank. Remember, the odds are that the cross-contamination risk was small to begin with, and the result of your QT will very likely be ok.
Conversely, if your main tank contains the other species ( the intended tank-mates) and you're acquiring new discus, the same thing applies, in reverse. Quarantine the discus in a separate, suitably-sized, cycled, heated, and filtered, bb tank for a few weeks for observation, and if everything seems ok, then add one of the discus (again, the least desirable one) to the main tank with the dithers, and observe for several weeks. If everything is ok at that point, you may add the rest of the quarantined discus to the main tank.
In either case, if a cross-contamination does takes place, from the dithers to the discus, you will have lost only one discus, and you will know what steps need to be taken in that event (halt the launch process). Conversely, if the cross-contamination is the other way around (very unlikely) then you will have lost some inexpensive fish, and that will be the end of that.
In the very moderate event that the QT does not result in success, then you will have the option to either treat (medicate) if you know what the problem actually is, or abandon your integration efforts for this go-round, by taking whatever steps are necessary to re-home, or divest yourself of one group or the other.
I sincerely hope you have found this informative and helpful.
If I have missed out anything glaring to you, and/or you have questions, let me know, and I'll try to provide a clear, explanatory, corrective commentary.
Regards,
Paul
Now, for those of you wanting to ask the more diffcult question:
What about when adding new discus stock, acquired at a different time, from a completely different source, to a tank with other discus already in it. ??
Ah, now that's a completely different kettle of fish - forgive the pun - LOL.
In that case, ideally, you should have set up a second quarantine tank. When your new discus have been in QT for several weeks, then add one discus from your main tank, and one discus from the QT tank, together into the second QT tank, and observe for several more weeks. Make sure you can readily identify which fish is from your home tank, and which one is one of the new fish.
If no problem develops, then all fish in QT may be placed in the main tank.
If any cross-contamination occurs, and depending on which fish has the problem, you will need to medicate one tank ( i.e. one batch of fish), or the other, as well as the two fish in the second QT tank.
You ok with that ?
What about when adding new discus stock, acquired at a different time, from a completely different source, to a tank with other discus already in it. ??
Ah, now that's a completely different kettle of fish - forgive the pun - LOL.
In that case, ideally, you should have set up a second quarantine tank. When your new discus have been in QT for several weeks, then add one discus from your main tank, and one discus from the QT tank, together into the second QT tank, and observe for several more weeks. Make sure you can readily identify which fish is from your home tank, and which one is one of the new fish.
If no problem develops, then all fish in QT may be placed in the main tank.
If any cross-contamination occurs, and depending on which fish has the problem, you will need to medicate one tank ( i.e. one batch of fish), or the other, as well as the two fish in the second QT tank.
You ok with that ?
Fish sizes
Thanks a lot first of all for your very informative posts! Well the size of the fish inthe tanks is relatively small... Angels around 2 inches each, barbs 1.5 inches, silver shark 3 inches, plecos 2 inches and cichlids around 4 inches! If i get a pair of mature discus (6 inches) could work? Thanks
Thanks a lot first of all for your very informative posts! Well the size of the fish inthe tanks is relatively small... Angels around 2 inches each, barbs 1.5 inches, silver shark 3 inches, plecos 2 inches and cichlids around 4 inches! If i get a pair of mature discus (6 inches) could work? Thanks
Yes, I suppose it could 'work', if that's the right word, but you'd have to be certain you got a proven mated pair of discus (i.e. known to have spawned before, and produced fry).
And the discus would of course very likely continue to breed in your tank, and with the tankmates you have, the eggs &/or spawn would likely get eaten up each time, and the discus may eventually get frustrated and stressed trying to defend their spawn every time they bred.
I'm sure you can imagine, there would be quite a bit of aggressive behavior in your tank, with the angels, cichlids, and shark ( and likely the others as well) being anxious to get at the wrigglers, and the discus parents constantly attempting to keep them away.
Not a particularly good scenario, but may suit someone who didn't want to breed discus and be troubled with raising discus fry.
I wouldn't advocate it at all as a way to start with keeping discus.
Sorry I couldn't be more encouraging to you, but that's my take.
As I said before, your fish are not really good discus tank-mates, and the sizes you are stating are not in fact small fish.
And the discus would of course very likely continue to breed in your tank, and with the tankmates you have, the eggs &/or spawn would likely get eaten up each time, and the discus may eventually get frustrated and stressed trying to defend their spawn every time they bred.
I'm sure you can imagine, there would be quite a bit of aggressive behavior in your tank, with the angels, cichlids, and shark ( and likely the others as well) being anxious to get at the wrigglers, and the discus parents constantly attempting to keep them away.
Not a particularly good scenario, but may suit someone who didn't want to breed discus and be troubled with raising discus fry.
I wouldn't advocate it at all as a way to start with keeping discus.
Sorry I couldn't be more encouraging to you, but that's my take.
As I said before, your fish are not really good discus tank-mates, and the sizes you are stating are not in fact small fish.
Keep in mind that "small" fish eventually become "big" fish...most of what you have listed are not even close to maxing out on size. Mature discus + mature angels just doesn't seem like a good long term mix. Add in Balas too (which are very active)...I would have to agree with Paul, just does not seem like a good tank to be successful with discus.