anyone try Black Ruby barbs with discus

[rlghouston]

I brought back a group of great looking black ruby barbs from my trip to Texas. And was wondering if anyone has ever tryied to keep them with discus and if it worked. Sofar, at least a month and a half no problems with either. The speed the barbs can reach while making it a bit difficult to watch them in a 55gal dont seem to bother the discus, even at feeding time. Anyone else try this combo.

[pcsb23]

Not a good choice imo. Discus temps will be too warm, though other water params will suit. It really needs shade too.

[Disgirl]

I have always heard that the barbs are fin nippers, and saw it myself with angelfish.
Barbara :)

[Scribbles]

I wouldn't mix them. Barbs are notorious fin nippers.

Chris

[pcsb23]

These are relatively peaceful barbs, a very nice fish imo and are less likely to fin nip if kept in a decent shoal. But no good in a discus tank :)

[rlghouston]

Well, Ive gotten several responses to the black ruby barb and Discus question, They all pretty much agree. I started my experiment alittle over a month ago. a trio of adult barbs...(1 male, 2 females) in a 55gal with 2 (approx. 2in Clown loaches) running interference so to speak. 2 adult discus, 2 young possible pairs of discus 3.5 - 4.0in and 4 2.5in discus. Water temp 84.5 deg , W/c are approx. 50 percent every 2 - 3 days. So far no problems from the barbs. (tried neons=snack), tried rummy nose- did nt like the look(12), would love to try cardinals, but at 3 to almost 4 bucks each, too expensive a snack for me to feed. I will provide additional information on my expermient after about 3 months of run time.

[Apistomaster]

I am not much into Barbs but I have kept and bred at least a half dozen species including Black Ruby Barbs(They are among my favs) but I can't recommend them as Discus tank mates. They need cooler water most of the time except at breeding time, then I would raise the temperature to 80*F. That shows you why they shouldn't be kept so warm.
They aren't as nippy as Tiger barbs. Because of Tiger barbs' aggression many more peaceful barbs have been indicted as "fin nippers" unjustly.
You are free to experiment but it would be best for both the Barbs and the Discus to have their own specific environments.