Will my current fish be ok with discus

[DerekD1982]

hi all, im thinking of adding 4 discus to my community tank but i want to make sure they will mix. here is a list of what i have

2x angel fish
4x killifish (golden panchax)
4x dwarf gouramis
6x rainbow fish (mix of types)
2x sword tail
2x royal whiptails
2x bristlenose (might get rid of these)

i have a 260 litre tank, any advice would be great

thanks

[Luca Brasi]

Originally Posted by DerekD1982

hi all, im thinking of adding 4 discus to my community tank but i want to make sure they will mix. here is a list of what i have

2x angel fish
4x killifish (golden panchax)
4x dwarf gouramis
6x rainbow fish (mix of types)
2x sword tail
2x royal whiptails
2x bristlenose (might get rid of these)

i have a 260 litre tank, any advice would be great

thanks

Are they wild caught south american fish or man made strains? If so, are they from the far east? The two types require different water chemistry. Your tank to be honest is not a great mix of fish as they require different water conditions, but you may be able to get around that.

[TUBBS]

rainbows and swords would prefer harder water than the discus angels cats and gourami and killi, but normally adapt down nicely

angels and discus can sometimes cause problems, mainly when one lot is significantly larger

[Paul B]

As pretty as they are they get to a good size and could end up bullying your other fish,

This to add to the water chemistry thing would put me off buying them.

The two types of Discus simply speaking (Hard and soft water tolerant) need to be distinguished as the soft water variety will probably not do well with the Community fish.

[Luca Brasi]

Originally Posted by Paul B

The two types of Discus simply speaking (Hard and soft water tolerant) need to be distinguished

This should be easy enough. One looks like a round shaped "discus". The others more "square shaped".

[DerekD1982]

thanks for the info people. looks like im going to have to a little more research into the different water types then.

which should i go for? the wild or man made strains?

[TUBBS]

Originally Posted by Paul B

The two types of Discus simply speaking (Hard and soft water tolerant) need to be distinguished as the soft water variety will probably not do well with the Community fish.

if your going to keep discus then it should be done right, in soft water, you wouldn't want to put hard water "tolerant" discus in anything harder than a pH of 7.2, else theres no point going to the higher discus keeping stage

[Bearnandos]

Discus are stunning fish that do require specific water conditions in order to keep them from slowly deteriorating which many do due to lack of knowledge.
The temps they require is 84-86 degrees with medium hardness and a PH 6.5-6.6.
There are only a few fish I would advise you house with Discus especially if you want them to breed oneday....Neon Tetra, Rummy nose tetra and corys are safe bets and look stunning as a shoal set next to a pair of discus.
Never keep sucker type fish like bristle nose cats with discus as they can rasp on your discus....the only one that would be safe would be the zebra plec.
Of course you can keep other fish with them....just ensure they are the 'docile' type that can live in the required water perms....but with such stunning fish...do you want to take the risk???

[jakies13]

Neon tetra's often become snacks for discus but others have kept them successfully but be aware as they discus age and grow the neon's numbers may start to dwindle, ideally the tank needs to be bigger than yours but it's do-able.

Basically your stocking isn't ideal and the answer to your question is no, they wont suit the current stock, the other fish wont tolerate the temps that discus will need, the bristlenose will be fine in the tank, infact most reputable discus keepers/breeders will advise to keep these because they aren't a major threat to latching and usually are quite a good clean up crew.

Stay away from zebra plecs as mentioned, zebs wont compete well for food and are very timid with larger food aggressive fish, discus will always out compete and the likelihood of the plecs been undernourished is extremely high.

Discus aren't that hard to keep, tank bred fish from your local area will be better suited to your own conditions without having to worry about ph etc etc unless the breeders is constantly messing with his, they need good water quality and once this is met they are a pleasure to keep.

[Luca Brasi]

Originally Posted by Bearnandos

Discus are stunning fish that do require specific water conditions in order to keep them from slowly deteriorating which many do due to lack of knowledge.
The temps they require is 84-86 degrees with medium hardness and a PH 6.5-6.6.
There are only a few fish I would advise you house with Discus especially if you want them to breed oneday....Neon Tetra, Rummy nose tetra and corys are safe bets and look stunning as a shoal set next to a pair of discus.
Never keep sucker type fish like bristle nose cats with discus as they can rasp on your discus....the only one that would be safe would be the zebra plec.
Of course you can keep other fish with them....just ensure they are the 'docile' type that can live in the required water perms....but with such stunning fish...do you want to take the risk???

The temperature they require depends on what type of discus they are. Many will be fine between 78 and 86. Though there are some benefits using high temperatures. However many species of Corydoras will not tolerate these higher temps well at all.

I can think of 4 species of catfish sold as zebra plec in the indutry. I can think of many more species of catfish that would be ok with them though.