Keeping Discus with Wolffish

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ScienceofFish said:
Just curious, how much do discus cost where you are? My discus are about 10-30 bucks where i live.
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They probably start at $20 at shops. A friend of mine breeds discus so I am somewhat biased towards them :p

I see lots of people keeping them in standard 55 or 75 gallon tanks, helps with the waste. viking252200 viking252200 had one for a while I think. Maybe he can chip in :)
 
Yep
white specter crayfish said:
Terrible idea, when I worked at a pet store we had a wolf fish and the person who worked the fish section told all the workers do not put your hand in the wolf fish tank, use a longer brush or a long net, but sure enough one of them stuck her hand in the tank because she dropped the tongs used to feed the fish into the tank and the wolf fish bit her, there was blood trailing down the aisle. Wolf fish are usually housed alone for that reason, plus wolf fish get about the same size as a discus would so they'd view them as food. A wolf fish (assuming you mean the rainbow or red hi fin wolf fish) get to be 10 inches or so, I'd recommend a 70 or 90 gallon because of the bioload they produce, though a 40 breeder could work as they aren't overly active fish
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Yep i've seen the videos. Do you produce a lot of bioload? How much do they eat?
 
Yep
white specter crayfish said:
Terrible idea, when I worked at a pet store we had a wolf fish and the person who worked the fish section told all the workers do not put your hand in the wolf fish tank, use a longer brush or a long net, but sure enough one of them stuck her hand in the tank because she dropped the tongs used to feed the fish into the tank and the wolf fish bit her, there was blood trailing down the aisle. Wolf fish are usually housed alone for that reason, plus wolf fish get about the same size as a discus would so they'd view them as food. A wolf fish (assuming you mean the rainbow or red hi fin wolf fish) get to be 10 inches or so, I'd recommend a 70 or 90 gallon because of the bioload they produce, though a 40 breeder could work as they aren't overly active fish
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Yep i've seen the videos. Do you produce a lot of bioload? How much do they eat?
 
white specter crayfish said:
Terrible idea, when I worked at a pet store we had a wolf fish and the person who worked the fish section told all the workers do not put your hand in the wolf fish tank, use a longer brush or a long net, but sure enough one of them stuck her hand in the tank because she dropped the tongs used to feed the fish into the tank and the wolf fish bit her, there was blood trailing down the aisle. Wolf fish are usually housed alone for that reason, plus wolf fish get about the same size as a discus would so they'd view them as food. A wolf fish (assuming you mean the rainbow or red hi fin wolf fish) get to be 10 inches or so, I'd recommend a 70 or 90 gallon because of the bioload they produce, though a 40 breeder could work as they aren't overly active fish
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Lol you’re giving a bad rep off of short term experience... I’ve never kept a wolf alone. I’ve had two specimens I could pick up out of the water with my hand and no fuss from them, though I’ll say this isn’t common and took work with each, i definitely had my hand in with any wolf during water changes and never has one charg at me. Unless it’s an aimara, an Oscar is more likely to bite you. Wolves don’t view fish the same size as food, they view them as a potential threat, just as any territorial fish does, they aren’t gulper cats lol. Ery’s can be lazy but they can also be active. Depends on the fish and even the set up. I had one that never moved unless to eat in a 30B. Once in a 120 it would hover around the top most of the day.

In this case I wouldn’t advise keeping discus with an ery as everyone stated because territorial disputes are pretty unavoidable with wolves. Once it’s settled most will completely ignore tankmates. The worry is healing from the wolf’s bite. Discus are sensitive and will not defend themselves.
 
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moe214 said:
Lol you’re giving a bad rep off of short term experience... I’ve never kept a wolf alone. I’ve had two specimens I could pick up out of the water with my hand and no fuss from them, though I’ll say this isn’t common and took work with each, i definitely had my hand in with any wolf during water changes and never has one charg at me. Unless it’s an aimara, an Oscar is more likely to bite you. Wolves don’t view fish the same size as food, they view them as a potential threat, just as any territorial fish does, they aren’t gulper cats lol. Ery’s can be lazy but they can also be active. Depends on the fish and even the set up. I had one that never moved unless to eat in a 30B. Once in a 120 it would hover around the top most of the day.

In this case I wouldn’t advise keeping discus with an ery as everyone stated because territorial disputes are pretty unavoidable with wolves. Once it’s settled most will completely ignore tankmates. The worry is healing from the wolf’s bite. Discus are sensitive and will not defend themselves.
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So in essence, its not their aggression per se but more that they are territorial and therefore are dangerous to discus as discus dont know how to defend themselves. Question though, is that also why they attack siphon tubes and other things when inserted into the water?
 
ScienceofFish said:
So in essence, its not their aggression per se but more that they are territorial and therefore are dangerous to discus as discus dont know how to defend themselves. Question though, is that also why they attack siphon tubes and other things when inserted into the water?
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Territorial is a type of aggression. It’s more so that wolves do a lot of damage without much effort. Discus being a thin fish can easily get a cubic taken off of it. And will likely not heal from it. Where as you put a Mala with a Oscar, the Oscar will try to defend itself by flaring and charging, the wolf will grab its face, and the Oscar will leave the wolf alone and the wolf learning the Oscar isnt a threat is will usually leave it alone ime.

It isn’t why wolves attack equipment usually. I’ve never had one do so. In the videos you see those fish are usually pestered by it by the owner which to most here is considered cruel to an extent. However I don’t believe it impossible, for Hoplias species at least. They aren’t skittish at all. They don’t move for anything. So if you have an exceptionally territorial one, sticking a foreign object of a similar size near it, it almost makes sense it takes a bite.

This would be supported from my experience in the sense all my wolves never liked another fish laying directly in front of them. Otherwise majority of mine ignored tankmates.
 
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moe214 said:
Territorial is a type of aggression. It’s more so that wolves do a lot of damage without much effort. Discus being a thin fish can easily get a cubic taken off of it. And will likely not heal from it. Where as you put a Mala with a Oscar, the Oscar will try to defend itself by flaring and charging, the wolf will grab its face, and the Oscar will leave the wolf alone and the wolf learning the Oscar isnt a threat is will usually leave it alone ime.

It isn’t why wolves attack equipment usually. I’ve never had one do so. In the videos you see those fish are usually pestered by it by the owner which to most here is considered cruel to an extent. However I don’t believe it impossible, for Hoplias species at least. They aren’t skittish at all. They don’t move for anything. So if you have an exceptionally territorial one, sticking a foreign object of a similar size near it, it almost makes sense it takes a bite.

This would be supported from my experience in the sense all my wolves never liked another fish laying directly in front of them. Otherwise majority of mine ignored tankmates.
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so basically, what you're saying is, because discus are essentially a very round fish fillet, and wolffish are hit or miss, with VARYING personalities. although their rep is not completely unfounded that they will try to take a stab at whatever is infront of them. but yea i got it now, im not gonna put any wolf with my discus or unless im feeling very lucky and or want to see some fish on fish action.
 
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