Can Discus work as community fish?

Question

I have seen discus in tanks in aquarium shops and they appear to be OK and yet I have always been told that they should be kept in species tanks.
My community tank is 4 ft and is fairly settled - angels. kissing gouramis, plecos etc.... and tetras. All up fairly peaceful. Would it be possible to add Discus (1 or 2) to this mix successfully

Answer 1

I keep my Discus in a community tank. I have them with 10 cardinals, 2 glass cats, and 5 oto cats. However, you need to be careful which fish you choose to house with them. Angels, are not usually house with discus. Kissing gouramis and plecos rae not a good choice either. Discus like soft, acid water with a temperature no lower than 82 F. There aren't a whole lot of fish that fit this description and won't bother your discus.

Check out this link for a list of compatible tankmates for Discus. The list starts halfway down the page.

http://www.discusmadness.com/feeding_tips.html#tankmates

Answer 2

They can, but only under certain conditions. One, I would suggest a very large tank, 125 gallons or larger. Discus really need space to be comfortable. Two, few tank mates, for the same reason as the large tank. Also, you would want to pick tank mates with care. Things that are either at the surface most of the time or the bottom most of the time. Cory cats or Rams for example for bottom fish or Killifish and hatchet fish as the top water fish examples

Anything mid water must be very peaceful, large enough not to be Discus food and also small enough not to bother the Discus. personally, I like Congo tetras and similar sized fish for that.

Some people swear by the combo of Discus and angels, others swear it doesn't work, I think it depends on the angels personally, some are just more territorial than others so it might work for you or might not depending on your fish.

I wouldn't put Discus and kissing gourami together though, the kissers will get too large and hostile for the Discus in my opinion.

MM

Answer 3

Discus are generally a very hard fish to keep successfully. It would ultimately be best to keep them in species specific tanks. Even though your fish seem pretty docile, the angels, gouramis, and plecos may go after the discus.

Here is one of the best pages I found on Discus care "http://rockymountaindiscus.com/Discus_Fish_Care.htm"

Answer 4

Yes, they can be kept in a community tank setting, and will work well with your present setup. I used to keep 2 juvinle discus in a community setting in a 50 gallon tank for a couple of year before i decided to separate them since they have grown, paired up and started breeding.