Angels or Discus

[birdyman23]

I set up my 55 gallon aquarium last week and I know I want to do a Community South American Tank. I currently have 9 cardinal tetras, 4 blue rams and 3 Cories and blue dragon gobie which I know is not a SA species but i am kind of stuck with him. I can't decide to go with Angels or Discus or maybe mix the two species. I have read that they should not be kept with each other. Also I would prefer to have a natural looking planted tank with some driftwood. All comments and Ideas welcome.

[Chef]

I set up my 55 gallon aquarium last week and I know I want to do a Community South American Tank. I currently have 9 cardinal tetras, 4 blue rams and 3 Cories and blue dragon gobie which I know is not a SA species but i am kind of stuck with him. I can't decide to go with Angels or Discus or maybe mix the two species. I have read that they should not be kept with each other. Also I would prefer to have a natural looking planted tank with some driftwood. All comments and Ideas welcome.

I just recent heard from a fellow boxer that rams get super aggressive during spawning and will push around adult discus like nothing in a 75g and I currently have rams with my wild scalare from HAW and they get along great. Kind of an idea of what situations you might see.

[birdyman23]

I got 4 2.5 inch cobalts from HAW on Saturday and they are already the boss of the tank chasing around the cardinals but yeah your right those little rams aren't scared of anything.

[clayt101]

When spawning, rams are aggressive, but if the tank is large enough, they will only defend their small area...at least that is what I have experienced. Also, every time that I have kept rams, a pair will form and they will kill the other rams. I would be more worried about the angels and discus eating the cardinals.

[birdyman23]

Yeah I have heard the Discus might eventually eat the cardinals they have already started chasing them some. My discus are the priority if they eat the cardinals it will be a lesson learned. The best way to learn is through experience I will see what happens. I have noticed the Rams are very aggressive with each other I have 4 and it looks like I have 2 males and 2 females guess we will see what happens. Thanks for the heads up.

[wesleydnunder]

Discus won't eat your cardinals. According to Heiko Bleher there is no documented evidence of discus predating fish. I kept discus for two decades and never saw them eat one of their tankmates.

Since you've already bought your juvies, you'll want to feed them several times a day, at the least 4. They will let most of the food hit the bottom and peck at it there. I would keep the tank temp at least 84, 86 for faster growth rate. I'd do no less than 3, 50% partials a week, more even better. Once they start establishing pecking order, watch for the omega fish hiding constantly. He typically becomes more shy and gets less to eat than the others. You may need to spot feed him.

I would NOT add angels to this tank.

Mark

[clayt101]

Discus won't eat your cardinals. According to Heiko Bleher there is no documented evidence of discus predating fish. I kept discus for two decades and never saw them eat one of their tankmates.

I have seen mine eat cardinals. However, I can only remember them doing it when the cardinals were just introduced to the aquarium. I went from 100 cardinals to about 30 in 2 days! I have also seen them eat injured cardinals. Occasionally I see them stalk the healthy cardinals (that have been in the tank for a long time), but I have not seen them actually catch them. However, my numbers of cardinals do go down from time to time.

[wesleydnunder]

I have seen mine eat cardinals. However, I can only remember them doing it when the cardinals were just introduced to the aquarium. I went from 100 cardinals to about 30 in 2 days! I have also seen them eat injured cardinals. Occasionally I see them stalk the healthy cardinals (that have been in the tank for a long time), but I have not seen them actually catch them. However, my numbers of cardinals do go down from time to time.

It would be awesome if you could get a vid of a discus taking a fish. It would provide proof without arguement that they will predate small fish. Mine wouldn't even eat RCS shrimplets.

Mark