Angelfish harmful to Discus?

[Hasseness]

I’m looking to take the plunge with Discus. I finally got the 135 in the house. My question is...Can I cycle this tank with Angelfish? I know they can carry a disease or something that is harmful to discus. The Angelfish will be removed before the Discus are put in. I will also be using 2 filters off different tanks to help cycle the 135 faster. One of the filters being off my Angelfish tank. What are your opinions on this?

[endo213]

First off,i would cycle a tank that bigg with rainbow dinos,mabe like 20 or so,angles are teritorial,thay can be very big bullys ,discus are goin to be stressed when they get to their new tank,they will be better off with dinos to break them in.then you can remove dinos and get some tetras or somting .angles are not good to cycle a tank.

[Don Trinko]

I'm not sure if Angels are harmfull from the disease point of veiw but they are agressive eaters. Discus are not always agressive eaters and may not get enough to eat in a tank with angels. Don T.

[MarcG]

Wouldn't bother cycling with Angels... let some flakes or pellets rot in the bottom to build up a little ammonia before you stick in the filter. Cycle fishless whenever possible, and don't add all of your Discus at once if it's avoidable.

[Hasseness]

I read somewhere that some Angelfish carry intestinal parasites that can kill Discus. I'm worried about the water after the angelfish are taken out. Can the water give my Discus intestinal parasites, if my Angelfish were carriers?

I would never keep my Angels with the Discus. My Angels are much to big, mean and nasty.

[DiscusDude85]

Angelfish carry hexamit, An intestinal parasite, So do discus. But if kept in low numbers the fish will be fine, Its when a fish becomes weak for any number of reasons, Its at this point the Hex will slowly kill the fish, Signs are white fluffy poo, the discus refusing to eat, dark in color and hiding in the back of the tank. I still have an angel fish with my discus(its the wife's) Never any problems, I do alot of water changes and im constantly maintaining my tank so problems like this dont happen.



Joe

[newlinta]

I've always kept angelfish and discus together(5= yrs or so) and have never(knock on wood) had issues with parasites/sickness or food agression problems between them.

Just my 2 cents.

Tim

[Bainbridge Mike]

If you search around the site--you will find many posts discussing views on keeping angels with discus. My guess is that the split is about 50/50. Read the posts and make your own judgment. Good luck!

Mike

[ShinShin]

Never cycle a tank by allowing food to rot in a tank. Are you kidding me?

Mat

[DiscusDude85]

Never cycle a tank by allowing food to rot in a tank. Are you kidding me?

Mat

LOL

[GrillMaster]

My advice for cycling your 135G tank would be to either get seeded sponge filters from whomever you are buying the discus from.(Quickest way) If you cant do that, do a fish less cycling. No fish in the tank to even be concerned about passin any diseases off to anything else.

You could also get a storage tank. Age the water to allow at least 50% WC each day till the filters catch up. Then you can put the discus right in.

You can also heavily plant the tank. I mean alot of plants. If you do this the tank is already cycled. the plants will take care of any cycling problems.

Bottom line is, you are going to pay for some nice discus...You want whats best for them. I personally would want to put discus into a nice clean environment without any risk of cross contamination.

[Apistomaster]

I have kept wild Peruvian Scalare(Angels) with Discus but as Angel mature, their aggression makes them poor tank mates for Discus. Wild Angels with Mesonauta spp makes an interesting combination and they are usually found together in the wild. Each is more evenly matched in disposition.

A blanket prohibition on Discus with Angels based on diseases carried by Angels is invalid. Discus are just as likely to infect the Angels. Most fish have some diseases or parasites being held in check by their immune system. Aggression from domineering Angels can lead to a harried bunch of discus and stress related lowered immune responses. That opens the door for the ubiquitous parasites to get the upper hand.