Arowana With Discus?

[crash]

Hi all,
Has anyone kept Arowana with discus? Please share your experience. I have known people that have kept them together, but I want more people telling me to do so before I go buy a Silver Arowana.

Currently I have 110 gallon tak 60 x 18 x 25 (L x W x H inches).
8 discus.
1 bristol nose pleco + 1 clown pleco

10 cardinals + rummynose
4 amano shrimps.
3 kulih loaches.

Out of these the last above 3 will be eaten, so I might find will find them a different home.

Please let me know if you guys think its a good idea for me to keep arowana with discus.
Thank you
Amol

[Ryan]

I would say no.

Ryan

[chompy]

You cant even have a lone arowana in that tank... it wont be able to turn around. 3' is huge!

[lhforbes12]

I am in 100% agreement with Tyler, that tank is FAR too small for an arowana. I had a silver that got to be 24" in a year, so even short term the tank is too small IMO.

Larry

[crash]

I was talking to the store manager and bigals and also at PJ's aquarium. Both of them seem to think that 18 inch isnt a bad size. if you think 24 inch is only half a goot more which is not a huge deal.
Also the store manager at PJ's said he had onced housed Discus aros and Rays in the same tank without a issue.

I just need more people to tell me if they have kept discus and aros before or not before i go out and buy it.

[Ryan]

Arowana grow really large and they are aggressive fish. Even the young ones that I have seen at the LFS are very active and constantly moving, which would freak a discus out. Everything I've read online about arowana suggests that in order to have tankmates, you'd need a giant tank... and even then, you'd have to keep larger, more robust tankmates with them, such as larger South American cichlids, silver dollars, etc.

Here is a thread about an Arowana attacking someones' discus:

http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246563

There are also recommendations on that forum from experienced Aro owners that suggest mixing discus and Arowana is a bad idea because discus are so easily stressed and also because depending on the individual arowana they can be highly aggressive toward tankmates.

Ryan

[chompy]

Crash a good rule of thumb is to not listen to the people at the fish store... especially at big box stores like bigals and PJ's. They will tell you all kinds of crazy things! The aro MIGHT fit and MIGHT be able to turn around but it's cruel:( .

[crash]

thank you ryan,
It kinda puts a damper on Keeping my discus with Aro. I like my discus way too much to put them through that.
:)
Amol

[lilcrazyshell]

dude i think i might be the only one who might disagree with all the ppl above. I've had discus for some time now and they prefer slower fish and aros are way too fast for them. But that said I have a buddy with a 40g and has a baraccuda and 5 discus in the tank along with plecos and tetras and his discus are fine and have even spawned. So I guess it depends on the way you set your tank and how hungry you keep ur fish. If the aro is hungry and the only source of food is ur discus then it might get really aggressive towards it.

I personally feel that you might have to get rid of some fish especially the tetras if you keep an aro. But if you don't mind spending the money and experiementing then I say go for it. But you will have to watch them closely for a few weeks. its a 50-50 chance that the aro might bother the discus. Try getting a smaller aro so that ur discus are the biggest fish in the tank and see if that helps.

P.S. I saw a guys tank with 15+ neon tetras and a 16"in jardini and it never ate any of his tetras and he said that everyone told him that it would.

[swinters66]

Ive had arowanas before...and all but one died by jumping out of the tank! Dont ask me how they managed it but they did.... the last one I had was eaten by my oscars at the time.

Me personally....I'd agree that its probably not the best tank mate for your discus.

[Roger Huey]

I have a 150 gallon with an arrowana and discus and they almost never interact.The discus were there first and of adult size before the arrowana was introduced.The eat totally different but are in constant motion.The arrowana is a foot or bigger.I have had smaller discus in there but moved them for other reasons but they obviously were too big to be eaten at the time.I have regular free swimmers produced in this set up but obviusly the other discus eat them.No fights or problems with arrowana and discus.Certainly the larger the set up the less chance of problems.And the discus were adult when the arrowana still had yolk sac.Of course I keep him full of shrimp and this calms his "food Drive. I have been keeping fish for about 35 yrs (reef, fresh water, salterwater) and find that most info people suggest is something heard.I studied biology in college and have always studied fish.Of course as he cont to grow the dynamics will change some. just my 2 cents worth.

[Sharn]

considering a silvers normally get to around 3 foot in captivity if housed properly i would say your discus have a good chance of becoming snacks. i saw a two footer 'yawn' once and i was surprised at the size of their mouths, it almost looks like you could fit an arm in there LOL! when the aro is still young it would probably be fine, but once they start to get bigger you would wana seperate them to avoid the risk of it eating your discus

i have seen discus, rays and aros housed together happily, but that was in tanks well in excess of 1500gal.

also keeping active fish that swim below the aros can cause its own problems, im not an expert on aros but i have been told keeping other fish with aros can be a contributing factor to drop eye as they like to keep an eye on the other fish?

i say keep em seperate, but this is a great excuse to get another large tank :p

[architect1]

Hey crash I have heard about arrows being fine with discus I think the guy that said yes was the post i read and he seemed to have no problems. If your discus are full grown put a baby in. But I think you have the bulldog and hes deffiently Ideal for a snack. So If you do get the baby arrow. Feed the arrow what it normally eats and feed it 3 -7 times a day like we feed are discus.

I don't see why 1 arrow in a tank of 8 discus would be a problem. But then again i'm no expert. With me getting a job I will deffiently play with the Idea.

[Hawaiifish]

Ok my 2 cents.....I've had arrows and discus before BUT not in the same tank... If you keep your arrow fed, it shouldn't bother the discus...that is if the discus is big enough not to fit in its mouth. If the arrow can fit the fish in its mouth, then that was an expensive feeder fish.
On the other hand I do agree with everyone though I think the arrow moves too much and would stress the discus. I've had other fish with my arrow (I had a silver and black) before that were smaller than discus but not easily as stressed either plus my arrow was weaned to only eat pellets so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it....bottom line...I probably wouldn't keep the two together although its probably doable there's still a big chance that it wouldn't work.

[Mac]

Some of you have mentioned "rays" with discus. Are these those freshwater "stingrays" I see occasionally in the LFS? Can anyone give me more detail? I currently have healthy discuss in a 90, with 4 big clown loaches and a few little tetras. A ray might be interesting. Can they take the low pH and high heat?

[architect1]

I hear there no good with planted tanks cause they will uproot the plants so a bb tank would be great. But thats the exstend of my knowledge.

[Alan]

No, not even when it's a baby aro with adult discus. When the aro gets big the discus are going to be staying at the corners cowering and afraid.

Yes, your 110 would get smaller as your silver aro grows. I had a 180 and it still looked small.

[pcsb23]

A friend of mine decided to put his aro in a 6ft tank that contained his show discus. The discus are between 6.5" and 7.5" SL, so big. He moved the aro to a new tank a few weeks later, like Alan said above, the discus were cowering. My friend now recognisies this as a mistake, he won't do it ever again and nor should anyone else. I saw how bad the discus looked, happily he moved it soon enough and they now look god.

[Elcid]

Sure you can ;) Just use a divider!

HTH,
Sandeep

[aqua]

Bad idea, bad thought.

[Breadhead]

What are you? Nuckin' Futts?! ;) I'd rather house foxes in my henhouse. :D

[ExpectNONE]

I know this is an old post back in '06 but I just want to make sure the message is clear. DO NOT KEEP Arowana w/ Discus! For the love and mercy for those helpless beatiful Discus.

As you can see from the link below, the sting ray is not small!
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/9665/rdtl2_feb99.html