Angels and Discus? Yes or No?

[happygirl65]

I am looking for some practical exp here. I have a 90 gal on the way.

It will be fully planted. I want to have a community and I do want to have discus in the 90 (after growing them out to adulthood in a 55 bb)

I currently have 6 angels in a community tank which they are outgrowing and I am thinking of putting some of them in the 90 that will house adult discus as sometime in the future.

What I really want to know is....has anyone kept angels and discus together. I am looking for comments from people who have done it and can report good or bad exp.

I have read a lot which would suggest it is a no no and that angels carry a disease or parasite that is benign in angels but deadly to discus. And yet they have a large tank of angels and discus at the LFS all looking very healthy together. This prompted my quest for more information.

Anyone doing this? And if so, how do you make sure the angels are "clean" before putting the discus in?

My angels were bread at a local LFS and have been in my tank for over a year...but how do I know if they are a carrier?

[White Worm]

I've never seen any proof of some mysterious illness that angels carry that will kill discus. I have done it with Kennys large albino angels. The only problems I experienced were that the angels are much more aggressive during feeding time. If you dont have some aggressive discus, they may not get enough food depending on how many angels you have. The other thing is that angels get very aggressive during adulthood and during possible breeding which doesnt sit well with the discus getting in the middle sometimes. Other than that, they never really bothered each other.

[Eyecandy]

Hi there... I have a 120gallon planted (4x2x2) and have asked the same question over the past few months on several forums. I already had the 8 semi adult discus in there and was wanting to add some koi angels (my husbands fav)..
While I could not find anyone that really could prove the angel/discus disease thing, I just figure that angels were no different than any other type of fish and you would qt whatever you wanted to add to the discus tank and then add a "canary" discus to the qt tank and test that way..
The biggest issue is what has already been suggested. Angels are very aggressive compared to discus when it comes to feeding and even more so if a pair forms. Alot depends if you are talking juvies vs adults.. and it appears you want to try this when they are all adults or semi adults. I have seen my pairing discus dart from one side of the tank to the other to defend their eggs and smack another discus...but no one gets hurt... With adult angels I have seen them try and kill one another during pairing in what was my 72 gallon community with 4 angels..
But there is always the exception... each fish is individual and you may get some very mellow angels and aggressive discus... It can be done... I would think the bigger the tank, the better the possibility of success.I would have the discus in the tank first along with any tetras or other fish before adding any angels and then cross my fingers... and have another tank ready in case...
I decided just to have seperate tanks for discus and angels and am very happy with the results.. The discus are just so more mellow than the angels.. and once I saw how much I enjoyed their tank I just went with the "if it aint broke don't fix it" kind of thinking...It all depends the "feel" you want in your tank..
Whatever you decide to do good luck and let us know how it goes. HTH a little bit. Sue

[Elite Aquaria]

My uncle has some of my old breeder angels with some of my 3" discus in a 90 gallon tank with no issues...

[curleyk2.0]

Recently I added some 1/2 dollar size angels to a tank with Adult Discus. Previously the Discus had slowed in their eating a bit as they matured, when I added the little angels it was like they reminded the discus what chow time was all about! However I would be a little hesitant to have mature angels with Discus they get kind of aggressive when they want to breed. Once one of my angels litterally jumped out of the water to bite my hand because they were guardings eggs. It was pretty funny I have to say, but if they would jump at me (6'3" 270lbs) like that...a little discus wont scare them a bit!

[pcsb23]

Oh boy! This is one of those wonderful myths that pervade the hobby, but does it ever generate some heat!

I used to believe that angels had some mystery disease that was lethal to discus but some how was harmless to the angel. Given that the angels is just about the nearest genetic relation to the discus this is a bit curious!.

There was a lot of angels in the late 70's (I think) that were so genetically weak they succumbed to every thing, rumours of plague and aids etc, but in reality it was poor stock and lack of immunity.

I did once lose a tank full of discus shortly after introducing angels to the tank. Of course I blamed this mythical angel disease. Truth is I didn't QT the angels. My fault 100%.

All fish carry pathogens of one sort or another, many are immune to then too. Put any two fish together where that immunity does not exist and you end up with problems. A proper qt procedure eliminates the vast majority of risks.

All angels can be kept with discus provided sensible husbandry practises are followed. I have scalares in with my discus now, only problem I have is the scalares are growing nice and big in discus conditions and the discus barge them out of the way if they want food.

The only proviso is for the more challenging of the wild species, ie Altums and Heckels. These are fine together, but are less tolerant of water parameters.

[BSW]

I tried it. No mystery disease but, my Angels were to aggressive for my Discus. The Angels thought they RAN the tank ! Had to move em'
8 Discus and 2 Angels, even though they were out numbered, they had ALL the Discus hiding in the bushes. But, they were a pair of Angels, if it hadn't of been a pair, things might of been diffrent.
But I loved the Discus so much I sold all the Angels any way to make more room for Discus No problems now !
B

[specialsuperK]

I would not recommend the angels in with the discus, they (angels)are alot more aggressive then anyone would think, but sometimes they do coexists

[pcsb23]

Only time I've found angels to be aggressive to other fish is when they are breeding and that is only to keep them away from the eggs. They can be brutally aggressive with each other! I've attached a couple of pics, the first shows some of my discus with 3 female angels, the second shows some more discus with my, very much larger, 3 male angels.

[TrevorB]

I had one angel with my first batch of discus. Those discus came in sickly with some bacterial infection. The angel never showed any symptoms of being sick. When I eventually got healthy discus from a reputable breeder he made sure I moved the angelfish to a new tank. Not because they carry some mysterious disease, but because they have a different immune system. They are much more tolerant of pathogens or bacteria than discus and if exposed to such things they can be a carrier and infect your discus even though you won't see any signs.

I haven't tried mixing the two again, but as you can see from the examples above, healthy discus + healthy angels don't seem to be a problem.

hth,
Trevor

[baldpate]

I had the same concerns about a disease carried by angels, but have not had a problem. I was also concerned about aggressive interactions, so I only added three 4" angels (beautiful kois) with my nine 4-6" discus.

It has been about a month and so far so good. I think it may have gone differently if the angels were bigger or outnumbered the discus. Also, no breeding among the angels either.

The angels chase each other quite a bit, but never anything serious and they very rarely chase discus.

[happygirl65]

Well at least I will know that it is ok to put at least some of the angels in the 90 gallon tank that will one day (when they are full grown) be a home to discus. I was afraid of tainting a future discus home with some mystery disease.

Right now my 6 angels are in a 55 and they are getting very crowded as they are about a year old and pairing up. By the time I am ready to put discus in the 90 I will probably move the angels out (or at least the pairs) but it is good to know that it is possible under the right circumstances.

I notice that in the current community tank the angels really only bother each other but then the lemon tetras and cherry barbs know enough to stay away.

[bluedisc]

use caution with angels and discus the angels will eat up food a lot faster then the discus will. Discus are pickier eaters,They look at food longer before eating, make sure they get enough food.

[happygirl65]

Yeah I am thinking that would be the biggest issue. I have been watching them eat all of their food and THEN run off the BN from his algae wafer and devour that too. I swear those angels never get enough food. They seem to want to ALL of the time and will follow me around begging me for food.

It makes me want to make sure I raise the discus up to a larger size than the angels before mixing them.

[knobhill]

I had 12 koi angels in my tank and I added discus. The angels have been dying off, 1-by-1, ever since. I am now down to 4! Water is perfect, lots of space, no signs of disease. Any ideas? Can discus give angels a disease they are immune to?