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watergate
11-11-2002, 02:32 PM
:-[
HI. I'm a newbie in discus rearing but i love discus alot. Can somebody please help me with some of my problems.
i've a 3 feet fully planted tank with lots of cardinal tetras, cherry barbs,rummynose, 2 loaches and a couple of other small fishes.
Recently i wanted to keep a couple of discus in the tank. My questions are:
-Will the discus eat up my smaller fishes?(I wish to buy discus about 3inches to start off first)
-Will the discus distroy the plants?
-Will my small fishes attack the discus?
i appreciate ur help......thanks
I have saw previous record and there seems to be a mix of report saying discus will eat tetras and some saying will not. Kinda confuse already.

DarkDiscus
11-11-2002, 02:44 PM
Watergate,

Welcome to the site!

To answer your questions - yes, discus will eat smaller fish. Not all discus and not all the time, but if they can catch the fish, they will take the opportunity. They are not really skilled at it and your losses would likely be minimal.

Discus will not destroy plants.

No, the small fish will not attack discus.

If this is something you are really interested in doing, my suggestion is to read the plants section of this forum and learn as much as possible about discus prior to making the purchase.

Let us know how it goes!

John

daninthesand
11-11-2002, 05:14 PM
Hi Watergate! :wave:

Welcome to the site, and the world of discus keeping.

My only experience with the specific question regarding discus eating smaller fish was when I had a tank with adult discus (~5 inches) and introduced a bunch of cardinal tetras. This was a bare bottom tank with no plants or rocks or anything for the smaller fish to hide. For about 5 days everything was great. Everybody seemed happy. The discus pretty much ignored the cardinals.

Then one night I decided to turn off the tank light. Until then the lights were on 24/7. The next morning...no more cardinals, but a couple of full looking discus, with smiles on their faces ;) :) :D ;D

Do discus hunt at night? I have no idea but I hope this helps you decide . . .

Daniel

Ryan
11-11-2002, 06:21 PM
Lemon tetras, rummynose tetras, etc. are fairly large compared to some of the cardinals and neons that you see on the market. I have had 4" discus eat an entire school of neon tetras over a period of time. I think one of the reasons that people suggest cardinals is that they are a little larger than neons and would stand a better chance in the discus tank. If you raise young discus with the fish, the discus may not bother them. It's a different story when you buy adult discus and mix them with cardinals, or vice versa.

Some barb species are fin-nippers and a nuisance. What are the "other small fish" you mentioned? Make sure you look at every species in your tank, not just the ones that make up a majority. All it takes is one fish to make everything go terribly wrong. Are you cardinals pretty large? If so, they have less of a chance of becoming a discus snack.

Ryan

watergate
11-12-2002, 12:35 PM
;)
Thanks guys.
So now i have another new questions
What if i bought juveniles discus which is about 2 inches and put them into my tank, will the discus attack them.
My relative (also a fish enthusiast) told me that by putting the young discus into the tank and let them grow with the tetras and the other smaller fishes (rummynose, rasboras, cherry barbs, loaches, prawns). This method will prove useful and the discus will not hurt the small fishes.

Ryan
11-12-2002, 12:40 PM
This has worked for me before in regards to angelfish, but you never know. The thing about discus and other cichlids is that they're all different. They each develop a personality with their own little quirks. They're not as predictable as something like guppies or tetras.

Anyone wanna comment on the cherry barbs? I've never had them, but the name "barb" makes me cringe as most can be pests if they want to be...

Ryan

brewmaster15
11-12-2002, 12:45 PM
I used to have cherry barbs in with my discus in a planted 75Gal, I started with 12, and they lasted about a year. The discus occasionally went after them. They did well at the higher tank tank temps which was why I tried them. I wouldn't use them again though.

hth,
al

Ivan
11-12-2002, 01:03 PM
Hi all, if you keep the Discus well fed then IMO they shouldn't eat your other fish. I have lost Cardials to Discus tho'. Only a few. I figured they weren't getting enough grub so more feeds and more water changes led to happy growing Discus and a smaller school of cardinals.
Ivan