cardinal tetras in angel/discus tank

[bamzam]

I have a 75 gal tank with 5 discus and 3 angels, all 3-4" and I want to add a school of cardinal tetras. I spoke to a few lfs and looked online and they all said as long as the fish are well fed and the angels are not adults, the tetras should be ok. Tonight, after overfeeding and making sure my fish were full, I added 20 wild cardinal tetras. The angels immediately chased them all over the tank. One unlucky tetra was caught and an angel had as much of him he could fit in his mouth a couple times before the tetra died. I removed the dead tetra before he could be eaten because I read that once they get a taste of fish, they'll always eat them. My question is, is it too late? Will the remaining tetras get hunted down one by one? Or is there a chance they'll get used to the tetras living in there? If it's too late, I may try to remove the tetras while they're still alive and return them to the lfs. Also, is there a different way I should have added them to prevent any from getting killed?

[bamzam]

I have a tank with 5 discus and 3 angels, all 3-4" and I want to add a school of cardinal tetras. I spoke to a few lfs and looked online and they all said as long as the fish are well fed and the angels are not adults, the tetras should be ok. Tonight, after overfeeding and making sure my fish were full, I added 20 wild cardinal tetras. The angels immediately chased them all over the tank. One unlucky tetra was caught and an angel had as much of him he could fit in his mouth a couple times before the tetra died. I removed the dead tetra before he could be eaten because I read that once they get a taste of fish, they'll always eat them. My question is, is it too late? Will the remaining tetras get hunted down one by one? Or is there a chance they'll get used to the tetras living in there? If it's too late, I may try to remove the tetras while they're still alive and return them to the lfs. Also, is there a different way I should have added them to prevent any from getting killed?

By the time I finished writing that...a 2nd one has gone down

[morpheus]

i would remove the cardinals and return them. the employee that told you they would be fine is just flat out wrong in my opinion. it is unfortunate because people do rely on the staff and obviously listen. i have witnessed employees at places like petsmart and petco telling people such absurd things that i have to jump in because it just endangers the fish.

your angels will get bigger, and whatever they can fit into their mouth they will try. it is just animal instinct. you will just have yourself some more expensive feeder fish ultimately. the slender bodied tetras like cardinals, neons, pencils, etc. will get eaten eventually.

some people have mixed results with angels and tetras, but i think it you stick more to the larger bodied tetras you would be much better off. some examples are buenos aires, diamond, lemon, black skirts, red blue columbians, congos, bleeding hearts....these are just a handful of varieties that get some bulk to them and into the 2-3 inch range (sometimes larger).

also note some of the larger tetras can be fin nippers. those nice long fins on an angel can be targets.

[ptran]

Agreed that they will eat what fit in their mouth. Get bigger tetra.

[troy tucker]

Angels are hunter killers. that is what they do. Most cardinals are faster swimmers then angels but they need some cover to get away. Like morph said some have luck. Some don't. I have had luck with angels and tetras but my tank is much larger and has lots of cover but as a rule, never anything they can fit in their mouth

[LordBarron7692]

Yeah It could have possibly worked if you had the tetras first and then added very young angels and grew them out that way but at any rate sorry for your loss

[ptran]

Angels are hunter killers. that is what they do. Most cardinals are faster swimmers then angels but they need some cover to get away. Like morph said some have luck. Some don't. I have had luck with angels and tetras but my tank is much larger and has lots of cover but as a rule, never anything they can fit in their mouth

Maybe I'll recruit some angels for my Moba tank. You think it would work?

[ptran]

Yeah It could have possibly worked if you had the tetras first and then added very young angels and grew them out that way but at any rate sorry for your loss

Agreed that if you grow them out together, it would work. As long as they are about the same size.

[MURRAY]

This is also one reason Angels do not belong together With Discus. Angels get aggressive as they get bigger.

[troy tucker]

Maybe I'll recruit some angels for my Moba tank. You think it would work?

Maybe.

[bamzam]

This is also one reason Angels do not belong together With Discus. Angels get aggressive as they get bigger.

I read that a lot before starting my tank, about how angels are too aggressive at feeding time and the discus won't get to eat, etc. For my tank it turned out the opposite. At feeding time, the discus mob the food and the angels are left waiting at the side for chances to pick at it.

As for the cardinals, I lost 5 in the first 24 hours, but haven't lost another one since. They no longer get harassed or chased or anything. I was told that this is common that when the Cardinals are brand new in the tank they appear as food, but once they live in the tank a bit and smell similar to the other fish, they get used to them as tankmates.

[ptran]

That's good news. They figure out fish are friends not foooooood. LOL

[blaciarmd]

I currently keep discus, angels geos and cory cats with tetras and Ive done it for years with out issue. I raised tetras along side of oscars and several memebers of the forum have seen my setups. These were in larger tanks and the fish were reasied together and well fed. I know it may not seem logical, and i am not in denial that an angel fish or a discus would eat a tetra, but just presenting another possiblity. I even have tiny candy cane gobbies in there too. Space and keeping all the fish well fed may be the key. My zebra danios bred like crazy in a 125 containing a large oscar. Swarms of fry untouched that grew to full sized adults. Cant explain it