Discus in a community tank with a Betta

[fishdish]

Hi I have a community tank and would like to get 2 discus to start with to see how they go I also have a betta splendid and was told not to mix Betta's guppy's and discus as the discus get jeolous true or false cheers Joy

[Luke*]

They won't get jealous but the betta may attack them due to their bright colours, mistaking them for other male fighters.

[Discusguru]

Hi, discus are kept in temp of 28-30 deg. If kept in temp lower than 27deg you will have a hard time trying to keep them healthy.

hth,

ron

[HandS]

I have had betta's and discus in my com tank for over a year, no probs at all, i dont ever recall seeing them interact with each other

[dimebag]

i have never known my discus to be jealous, only hungry

[fishdish]

I can give my Betta to a friend if I see any problems my tank temp is around the 27 mark but I would like to be able to keep him if I can thank you for your replys cheers Joy

[sharn]

you may find you have problems with only two discus also. i found in groups less than 5 there was one who constantly made the others lives hell (pushing, ramming, chasing) and they werent as happy as they should have been- with only two you will have a boss and a punching bag i would think

[fishdish]

I can get 4 thinking of 2 reds and 2 blues what do you think

[Faran]

Sharn's on the ball. The more the merrier, but be sure and give 50L per fish or you'll inhibit growth.

As for bettas, I keep my favourite bettas in my discus tanks. I find them to be good tankmates and neither give each other any mind. I've even had bettas have big spawns in the same tank (as well as the discus) and that doesn't happen when you have incompatible fish.

[fishdish]

my tank is a AR 980 I have 2 clown loaches, 2 bristlenose, 2 cat fish 2 red tailed sharks, 3 sword fish, 4 glass fish, 5 neons, 6 plattys, 6 black widow tetras and 1 betta. do I have any room for 4 discus if not what do you suggest I give away and what should I keep my tank is 215 ltrs I have gravel rocks plants which brings it down to about 175 ltrs of water more or less cheers Joy :roll:

[sharn]

IMO to see discus at their absolute happiest you need at least 5 and that means 200-250L just for them alone so IMO (and its just my opinion) your tank is too small to house a group of discus with the gravel/plants etc still in. from personal experience all my discus were unhappy when i had only 4 (except the bully of course because he was getting most of the food)- watching one fish constantly harass your other fish is very stressful not only to the fish but you also.

i would get rid of the clowns (they prefer to be in groups of 3+), keep the BN, unsure what catfish you are referring to, ditch the sharks (they will harass the discus), get rid of neons, platties, swords and glass cats and keep the widows. one of the main problems with mixing fish with discus is the heat- many fish dont like the 28-31C that discus like to be kept at.

for someone learning about keeping discus a planted tank seems easier to maintain and prettier too but it isnt if they are still growing. discus need frequent water changes (growing out babies is extremely hard work so buy the largest you can afford) which will upset the plants. it is also hard to keep the substrate clean which means more gunk polluting the water. in a properly setup tank the plants will be using up some of the fish waste and nitrates but that is often quite hard to acheive.

looking back on when i got into discus i wish i had gone barebottom straight away- its so much easier to keep clean and i dont think ill ever put mine into a planted tank (even tho all are over 9cm).

[fishdish]

Thank you Sharn I think I will stick to my community for a while longer I would not like to put any fish or myself under stress maybe one day I will look at getting a bigger tank and some discus cheers Joy

[sharn]

please dont let me put you off! im just sharing what mistakes i made (which at times made me want to chuck in keeping them) in attempt to help it easier for those getting into discus.

sadly they are one of those fish that almost need the tank and occupants to be designed around them which is why it can be hard incorperating them into existing community tanks.

[dimebag]

im not saying its the way to go but i have a friend who keeps just 1 discus in a 130l planted community with a red tail shark, angels, fire eel, barbs etc and it is doing fine. he bought it when it was about 3-4 cm an since it has grown well. im pretty sure it thinks its another angel :roll: .

i personally wouldnt try this combo but just an example of what can be done. best thing u can do is read up as much as u can in books and on the net before u start buying discus as theyre not cheap and it sucks when they die.