I am in the process of setting up my 125 gallon tank, 6x2x1.5. I have 7 clown loaches, 8 serpae tetras, a rubber lip pleco, and 5 will be 6 angel fish. My question is can I add 1 or 2 discus? I think they are gorgeous fish, but don't want to set up a separate tank for them. Thank you.
discus ?
- Thread starter jrpsaros
- Start date
I've read on here that Angel fish would out compete discus for food. Also discus are happiest in groups of six or more. If you get juvenile discus and want them to reach their full size potential, then they will more than likely require their own grow out tank (10 gal. per fish) for the first year, and did I mention water changes?(every 24 to 48 hours)
Read the stickeys!
Read the stickeys!
I would not do it. 6 big Angel Fish are a nice display, with the loaches it's going to be too busy IMO if you put Discus in. Discus should be kept in groups to look and do there best 5 or more is a good number. Don't try to shove too much into a 125 it will not look good and the fish will suffer. If you really want Discus make it a Discus tank, get rid of the loaches and Angles and get some nice Corys about 7 and some BAT's about 12 as dither.
I wouldn't keep the angels in there, they can overtake the discus, and could hurt them.
I keep my discus with my shoal of clowns and personally think its beautiful. I have 5 discus, with roughly 25 clowns (among others that yes, I know don't belong). I got the discus as babies and they are doing great in that set up. One has tripled in size vs the others. They eat everything that's dropped in. I did keep them in their own 20 gallon for about 3 months to quarantine them, treat them for internal nasties that a lot of babies have, pump them full of goodies and get them fat and healthy, but once they hit the water in the new tank, they became (to me) less delicate, and quickly fit in with everyone. Watching the swarm of loaches dance around the discus at feeding time is one of the coolest things to see. The discus don't shy away, love being the center show, even at a young age. You do have to make sure that the discus get enough food though. If you just feed normally, they may not get as much as they need. You could do a "prefeeding" as I do. First goes in the food for (mainly) the cats, and loaches. Then everyone goes crazy for a few minutes. The discus will eat the pellets, shrimp, and pick wholeheartedly at seafood wafers. Then they get their bloodworms and flake. Water changes for this tank are 50% at least once, if not twice a week even with double filtration.
I made a vid a few weeks back, and posted on youtube. Nothing great, but shows my little "community".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcdXhBHUhqE
I keep my discus with my shoal of clowns and personally think its beautiful. I have 5 discus, with roughly 25 clowns (among others that yes, I know don't belong). I got the discus as babies and they are doing great in that set up. One has tripled in size vs the others. They eat everything that's dropped in. I did keep them in their own 20 gallon for about 3 months to quarantine them, treat them for internal nasties that a lot of babies have, pump them full of goodies and get them fat and healthy, but once they hit the water in the new tank, they became (to me) less delicate, and quickly fit in with everyone. Watching the swarm of loaches dance around the discus at feeding time is one of the coolest things to see. The discus don't shy away, love being the center show, even at a young age. You do have to make sure that the discus get enough food though. If you just feed normally, they may not get as much as they need. You could do a "prefeeding" as I do. First goes in the food for (mainly) the cats, and loaches. Then everyone goes crazy for a few minutes. The discus will eat the pellets, shrimp, and pick wholeheartedly at seafood wafers. Then they get their bloodworms and flake. Water changes for this tank are 50% at least once, if not twice a week even with double filtration.
I made a vid a few weeks back, and posted on youtube. Nothing great, but shows my little "community".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcdXhBHUhqE