Considering ditching my Discus.

The Turtle Whisperer Posts : 1930

I've got guppies. They've been quarantined for a while now at my friend's place so in the next day or two I'll be adding them and see what happens.

Interestingly enough I was reading an article about those Chinese sucker fish I have, and that someone was keeping them in with Discus successfully.

Banned Posts : 910 Age : 30

Mostlycichlids wrote:

Silver Dollar dude wrote:: I had kept discus 2 years ago when I was 13. They would hide like yous until I add dither fish like tetras and silverdollars. Then they were busy chasing and schooling lol... I then add a silver arowana, angels and sevs... lived together for a year.. discus died, then sevs and then finally the angels.

Silver aro is a terrible tank mate for Discus first off. Second Angels are not good tank mated for Arowana either. Next Fast moving fish are not the best choice for slower moving fish.....Lastly this is likely why all your fish died the stock set you up for disaster. Discus should be kept pretty much in species only tanks IMO slower moving dithers are ok but that is about it....Heavily planted or bare bottom for discus. Also a lot of people say Angels and Severums do well together but I disagree with this too at least in my experience. When the fish get big (full size) there will be problems. In your case there were definately stress related problems and bad stocking decisions and that is why your fish died. Sorry to sabotage the thread but stuff like this aggervates me a little.

yes I could see why it aggervates you. I was only 13 back then and didn't know much about fish like I thought I did.

The Turtle Whisperer Posts : 1930

So, yea.

Added some guppies, the two itty bitty clown loaches and a lone peacock gudgeon today.

We'll see how it goes, and see what happens with the Discus in the next few days. I'm hoping they won't be as hide-tastic as they've been but who knows.

Subject: Re: Considering ditching my Discus. Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:38 pm

Cool!

Subject: Re: Considering ditching my Discus. Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:29 pm

Hopefully the dithers will work for you.

Subject: Re: Considering ditching my Discus. Thu Mar 12, 2009 1:53 am

Hope all works out well for ya Saint.

I have two of the Chinese sucker fish left, and both are very agressive. I got three of them real small, right at an inch each. For the first month or so everything was fine but soon after that they started chasing all of thier tank mates around. The only tank mates they dont harass are the fiddler crabs and the blue lobster. One would constantly pick on my small clawed frog until he had enough and the frog swallowed it. :rip1:

I dont know much about Discus fish but if they are shy I dont think the Chinese sucker fish would work out to well with them or any other shy fish for that matter. Thats just my opinion though.

Again, best of luck with the Discus. Ed

The Turtle Whisperer Posts : 1930

Thanks Ed.

Actually I think there might be a bit of confusion. Are the ones you have look like loaches? Gyrinocheilus aymonieri by any chance? I've seen them called Chinese Sucker fish, or Chinese Algae Eaters too. I've see bigger ones be a bit nippy at times, but I just figured just like when some plecos get bigger they get more aggressive too.

The ones I have (and were talkin about), normally in pet shops are called Chinese Hi-Finned Banded Sharks. Myxocyprinus asiaticus. They act like goldfish that sit on the bottom and are really actually true suckerfish, so I've gotten into the habit of calling them Chinese Suckerfish.

Chinese suckerfish I guess don't sound nearly cool enough so they call them sharks.. Smile

Subject: Re: Considering ditching my Discus. Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:20 am

Yep, Gyrinocheilus aymonieri is what I have. Mean little guys.

The Myxocyprinus asiaticus in my area are called batfish. I dont see them much though. They are a very interesting looking fish.

The Turtle Whisperer Posts : 1930

Batfish eh? Around me there's a saltwater fish they call the batfish. Wonder if that explains the difference in naming.

As far as the dithers go with the discus, anyone have any idea what the average time dithers will "calm" skittish fish? They've been in 24 hours now and the guppies are all Whooooo! but I still haven't seen the discus come out of their plant much.

Subject: Re: Considering ditching my Discus. Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:28 pm

A couple of days usually in my experience!

Subject: Re: Considering ditching my Discus. Thu Mar 12, 2009 9:11 pm

Mostlycichlids wrote:: A couple of days usually in my experience!

I'd expect two or three days. If ya ain't seein' somethin within a week, I'd begin to wonder about how well its workin'. How many guppies did ya add?

WYite

The Turtle Whisperer Posts : 1930

14 guppies, the two small clown loaches and a lone gudgeon.

If they don't stop hiding in that plant in a few more days, I guess I'll try switching up the plants. If that doesn't work, I've got something potentially even nuttier in mind after the discus end up at my Mom's house. Wink

Subject: Re: Considering ditching my Discus. Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:48 pm

Uh oh..Some Cichlidsd are just big wussies. Some Cichlids like huge tanks and even if they are small. My Severum is an example....he only does well in my 125g, anything smaller and he is a big wuss. Hope you figure it out but if not it is not worth the time to have hiding fish IMO. There are too many other fish that wont hide including other Discus. Sounds like you just have a group of wussies.

The Turtle Whisperer Posts : 1930

I think you may be right, on the wussy department. The guppies come up to eat when I feed everyone and I just watched one of the Discus flee in terror. From a guppy. No 4 inch fish should be fleeing from a guppy.

I'm going to give them until next friday, but if this keeps up I know they'll get a good home with my mom. No worries there. It amazes me though that these 4 were the ones originally beating on the other two. I can't imagine how wussy they are. Wink

I'll be making a big post about it later, to get opinions or what, but I was talking with the guy that the flowerhorn came from and with summer and hatchling turtle season coming, was working on a plan to make some extra cash to funnel back into more gear for rescue stuff and would be made much easier with moving those discus out, which isn't helping my opinion of the wuss convention. Wink

Subject: Re: Considering ditching my Discus. Sat Mar 14, 2009 10:22 pm

Well In the beginning of my disucs keeping I only had one it was no bigger than 2" my mated pair of angels took it in as one of there own it was really cute. I decided to get 2 more a few months later. When I got them home from my LFS and put them in there tank they went and hid behind a rock and never came out. After 2 months of being in the tank they would only come out to eat and then would dart back behind the rock when the other fish would come over to say hi. I let this go on for another month before I decided to take down the rock and force them to interact with each other. It took a few weeks for them to get use to the other fish but now the two that were wusses are now the tank bosses

The Turtle Whisperer Posts : 1930

Thanks for all the help guys. I started another thread, but after talking with Wyite some last night, Discus just ain't my thing. They'll be getting a much better home with my mom, who is a fan of the dainty, pretty doesn't bang on the glass and demands food at you sort of fish. Wink

They're just not doin it for me, hiding or not.

Subject: Re: Considering ditching my Discus. Sun Mar 15, 2009 10:54 pm

Hey it happens...too many fish to keep. If they aint your cup o tea no sense in wastin time. That is where I am at on my Angels right now.

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Considering ditching my Discus.

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