Wish I would have found this forum first!

[steinbc]

I just got into discus with my first 2 fish and have had them for about a month and love the fish. I have had no problems so far but i am learing I have made a lot of newbie mistakes. Mistake 1 - I had some red scat and learned quickly that they would not work with Discus 1) I am assuming the water was too warm for them 2) one of them continually picked at the discus. Mistake 2 - I have 5 mollies in there. How do i know if i need to worry about the TB? Mistake 3 - I have 1 remaining serpae tetra (no problems with him picking at the discus yet). Maybe mistake 3???? - I have a Denisin (?) barb. Love the fish and want more. I see their water temps are just slightly under thet discus but have seen no problems so far.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Welcome to SD.

Many people finds us after they have experienced issues just like yours. The best thing to do is spend some time reviewing the different sections of the forum. Also take advantage of the "search" function if you need something specific.

If you can't find out your information here, it does not exist. Trust me, these people here have put lots of money, blood sweat and yes tears into this hobby and through trial and error, have posted positive and negative results.

So, sit back, grab a beer, coffee or... and enjoy the ride.

[steinbc]

Welcome to SD.

Many people finds us after they have experienced issues just like yours. The best thing to do is spend some time reviewing the different sections of the forum. Also take advantage of the "search" function if you need something specific.

Thanks for the welcome, I probably have a good 10 hours of reading through the forum over the last weekend to learn my amature mistakes, tons of excelent content on here.

My big concern now is with the mollies and the TB. I am in the middle of a debate whether to get rid of them or not.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Thanks for the welcome, I probably have a good 10 hours of reading through the forum over the last weekend to learn my amature mistakes, tons of excelent content on here.

My big concern now is with the mollies and the TB. I am in the middle of a debate whether to get rid of them or not.

In my opinion mollies do not belong with discus, tiger barbs might be too agressive.

[Tazalanche]

In my opinion mollies do not belong with discus, tiger barbs might be too agressive.

+1

I'd never put discus in my daughter's molly tank, or vice versa. Mollies can be fin nippers, but not as bad as tiger barbs.

[steinbc]

So far, only a month, the mollies have not nipped at the discus that i have witnessed but I will continue to monitor. First signs of nipping they are gone. As far as them being a more common carrier of the fish TB, would the discus be showing the signs of being diseased right away or does it slowly set in?

Also, I have a denison's barb, not a tiger barb. And both the barb and the discus' do their own thing with little to no interaction between them. The only issue I have noted with the 2 species together is that the barbs like up to 79 degrees and the discus min temp is around 82 degrees. My tank is right at 80-82 degrees and seems to be working. Again it's only been a month so if I am making catastrophic errors please tell me.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Lose the barbs and mollies and get a nice school of Cardinal Tetras (any tetras would work). If you look through the forum, you will see many people put tatras in with their discus. tetras can handle up to 86 degrees. Makes for a nice tank presentation too.

[steinbc]

Lose the barbs and mollies and get a nice school of Cardinal Tetras (any tetras would work). If you look through the forum, you will see many people put tatras in with their discus. tetras can handle up to 86 degrees. Makes for a nice tank presentation too.

I seen that and the tank does look sharp with that set up. Is the conscensus on here that Rams are still OK too?

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Rams too. I have them with my discus and they do their thing and leave the discus alone.

I have

Discus
Cories
Plecos
Cardinal Tetras
German Rams

Nice display tank.

[steinbc]

What type of plecos? BN? I recently lost my Green Royal pleco and am on the fence if is should get another pleco or not.

[discuspaul]

Most Plecos - except BNP's - may eventually take a liking to discus's slime coats as part of their diet - suggest you not get any more of them. And if you have only one Denison Barb, you should be ok. But if you have a group of them, not only do they not do well at the higher discus temps, but they are very active as a group and may tend to startle discus, and stress them.

Welcome to SD - you have appropriate concerns, and you've done some homework, so now just follow a few simple 'rules' and guidelines, and you'll do just fine.

BTW, keeping just 2, 3, or 4 discus is not a good number, for sociability reasons (pecking order issues), so if your tank is large enough, you should consider getting at least 3 more.
Best of luck to you.

[steinbc]

BTW, keeping just 2, 3, or 4 discus is not a good number, for sociability reasons (pecking order issues), so if your tank is large enough, you should consider getting at least 3 more.
Best of luck to you.

Thanks, I know that they are scooling fish but did not know that only a few could cause an issu. I guess I was inadvertantly going to fix that issue by getting more! These were my first two and I just got the tank set up appropriatly for discus. It is a 46 gallon bow front tank and I will be stocking it with more. I actually have an email into one of the members here who is trying to get rid of some of theirs.

[discuspaul]

Don't know what size your 2 discus are, and what size you're planning to get, but keep in mind that 5 discus is the usually suggested minimum number of discus to keep, and your 46 gal tank will not be large enough to house 5 near adult, or adult, discus, along with any significant number (& size) of tankmates you have with them.

If they're all juvies, say 3" or so, you may be ok for a short while (couple of months or so maybe), but when they get larger, you'll either need to get a larger tank for them, or at the very least, re-home all the tankmates, so you're left only with the discus.
Pecking order issues will often accelerate beyond control (resulting in serious abuse of one or more, health issue development & potential fatalities of the victims) if keeping just 2 to 4 discus.

[steinbc]

Thank you for the input/knowledge. They are juvies, 2 - 2.5" and the will be relocated to a larger tank, probably near winter. I am just starting this discus journey.

[dirtyplants]

Tiger barbs get very nippy, try cherry barbs, pretty and stay smaller, tend to be shy. Certain barbs are fine with discus as long as there are no numbers they tend to get more aggressive when they have schooling numbers. The biggest problem is they breed like mad and are fast to compete for food. I have to hand feed my discus to ensure that the discus get the food and not the barbs. I am always trying to catch them to place in another tank. I enjoy a few but mine just keep breeding.