Angels and Discus mixing?

[Magicide]

I've had my tank a few months now and the plants have grown in enough to provide plenty of cover for even the largest Angels/Discus. The only question is which to get.

Ideally I would like to get a pair of each but I'm worried about aggression both between the pairs and between the species. Is it possible to get away with this? I am running a medium heavy planted 50 gallon with 40 Cardinal Tetras and some Cories.

Barring that is it possible to get either 3-4 Angels or Discus and another colourful smaller fish like a Blue Ram?

[Kevin]

There are people who mix angels and discus, but I would not recommend it for the following reasons.

1) Angels are much more agressive than discus and therefore the discus will not be able to compete as much for food.

2) See 1) this is particularly important in a planted tank because the discus will need to hunt and peck for the food alot more (they are not speedy eaters).

3) Discus are not comfortable as a pair unless you get two adults already paired. These are not often for sale and they often cost $300. If you are raising the disus from 2-3 inches, you will need a minimum of 6 for them to be comfortable and to thrive, anything less and your chances of raising large beautiful fish go downhill. I have raised the adults I have in a bare bottom tank before moving them to a planted tank.

4) The bioload you are suggesting 4 large fish (discus, angels) 40 cardinals and corys ( and i am assuming an algae crew) is very high for a 50. I have 5 adult discus, 5 congo tetras, 7 cories and the cleaning crew in a planted 100 and I feel that I am at the edge of what is stable.

5) Discus are amazing fish, but there are a number of headaches with them. IME angels are much easier (though not as nice). If you are thinking about discus PM me.

By the way, IME again, blue ram do very well with discus and angels in planted tanks. And if you are going to buy angels or discus, you chance your cardinals becoming lunch. I experimented with putting cardinals in with baby discus once. The 8 cardinals were lunch (neon signage) within 1/2 an hour.

Kevin

Edited December 3, 2005 by Discus Diehard

[Magicide]

Two of my friends have had luck with Cardinals and Angels. It was just a matter of making sure the Angels were well fed twice a day so they didn't have any need to go after the smaller fish.

I would like to go for Discus but I am leaning towards Angels due to the relative ease of keeping them. Eventually I will setup a Discus tank but for my first attempt at a large tank I might as well keep things simple.

[wandj]

I've never had Angels/Discus mixed, but referring to my Jack Wattley articles, I say NO, don't do it.

Diehard did an awesome job telling you why, but I also heard Angels often carry parasites that can wipe out Discus.

So then you would have to ensure your Angels are clean.

But because of all the other reasons, don't do it.

[jvision]

One trick in keeping cardinals w. larger fish, is to start off w. cardinals like yo have Magicide. Hopefully, they're pretty comfortable now, so they'll stay schooling when you add your other fish (I'd go w. angels, too). Start off w. 6 small ones, and thin them out as they get bigger. If a pair forms, I'd keep just the pair in the tank.

As long as the tank is heavily planted, you shouldn't have any trouble with the bioload. The main thing when planting a tank is, happy plants = happy fish.