Cichlids and Discuss

[nacra_racer]

Hello All,
I am somewhat of an experienced aquarium keeper. I've had marine before and loved the color of my fish (lionfish, clowns and yellow tangs) but that was years ago. About four months ago I got back into the aquarium thing because my landlord won't let me have any pets, other than fish so I went with a 29g as was my marine tank.
I run an UGF with two aquaclear powerheads and a HOB power filter. I also have four live plants(lilies I believe) and everything is wonderful.
My favorite fish is my huge solid black short tailed angel that basically aks like a dog (begs for food, lets me touch her and watches me as I walk through the room and follows me around BUT can't fetch a ball
Anyways, I see where everyone is into the Cichlid thing. Can anyone tell me why?
Also, I want to get into Discus because of thier beauty but I am told they are hard to keep. Can anyone here help me? I want to keep my FW tank until it crashes then I will go back to marine but shure would like to know the hype on Cichlids and how hard the Discus really are to keep.

 

[poikilotherm]

First, I would like to point out that Angels are cichlids (as are Discus), so as you know they have tons of personality (i.e. intelligence). One aspect of this personality is the feeling that they are watching you and reacting to you, beyond simple feeding excitement. Other aspects involve interactions between fish, such as breeding and territorial behavior. Some of these behaviors are fun to watch, and some not so. This leads to many discussions of compatibility.

Also, some of them have the most striking colors in the freshwater world, so people are trying to set up African Rift Lake biotopes (for instance) in order to get some of the vibrant colors in their tank.

I'll leave the Discus discussion to people who have kept them successfully!

That's my take on the hype.

 

[nacra_racer]

GREAT info. I never knew that an angel was a cichlid. I always thought that a cichlid was a large VERY aggresive fish. I know what you mean about getting along with other fish. As I stated my favorite is my big blag angel (Guardian Angel) and my girlfriends favorite is "Angel", a tad smaller multicolor long finned angel. They fight all of the time but the smaller angel holds her ground. Also the black angel killed my brand new yoyo. It looked as if the angel made a mistake thinking it was a worm or something. My bad I guess.
But I appreciate your info. Any idea what other cichlids I could put into the tank? With respect of you not talking about Discus does anyone here know anything about the keeping of the beautiful fish?
And you are right, the personality of the angels is awsome!

 

[TankGirl]

I think you have a stocked (slightly overstocked) tank now - as the angels are going to get large, and the silver dollars are not going to be able to fit in there ultimately - they require a relatively large tank, as will the clown loach - they get very large, but it takes them a while to do it.

If you remove the silver dollars then you have got a fully stocked tank, and there might even be trouble with the dwarf gouramis and the angels (I have a DG and he and my adult angel bicker constantly - they are getting rougher and rougher with each other, and that is in a 55).

I do not mean to be negative and discourage you - you can certainly do what you want, but I also want you to be aware of possible difficulties down the road.

If, say, you do get a larger tank and want to mix angels and other cichlids, you could try kribensis and rams, or really any apistogramma provided you give them space to claim as their own.

BrianNY is one of our resident discus experts, and he has been out of town but he will likely pop in and help you out there.

HTH

 

[nacra_racer]

TankGirl,
I appreciate your post and yes, I understand the I am basically "way" overstocked. Nothing negative taken. I know that i will have to sell/trade for other fish when they become larger. I test my tank every other day and do frequent partial water changes. Maybe this is just temporarily keeping me from the big "crash". But, I do want to go onto more vibrant fish.
I really love the Discus that I have seen. They are beautiful. And if takes me selling/trading out for these then that is what I would like to do. It would be helpful for your friend to tell me more about these fish.

I appreciate it,

 

[TankGirl]

Sounds like you know what's happening, and I share your interest in discus. BrianNY will someday help me set up my own tank, and I am sure he will be happy to help you. He will probably recommend some reading for you, and supply some helpful links to get you started, then take it from there.

He'll see the thread when he gets back-

 

[nacra_racer]

Great TankGirl! Let me know and I really appriciate you help!

 

[BrianNY]

Hi nacra_racer . Glad to see you're interested in my favorite fish. Check my gallery for some pics of mine.

Discus are really quite easy and rewarding to keep. They do have some special requirements and need extremely clean water to maitain their health.

There's a book written by Jim Quarles. "Discus as a Hobby: A Guide for Beginners" That's a good place to start. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions (I'm sure you must, LOL), I'll be happy to try and help you.

 

[sicklidkid]

I believe that if you decide to keep discus you should not keep angels with them or if you do make them small. Discus are easily intimidated and like to not have any other agressive fish to compete with. I would go with some corys and a large school of neons or cardinals. HTH

 

[BrianNY]

All of my discus tanks (except one), are discus only and barebottom. I agree 100% about angels and discus siklidkid (cool nic).

I do have 5 adult discus in a planted 125 gallon. Their tank mates are a school of black neons, 3 clown loaches, 12 assorted dwarf cichlids, some otos and a hand full of dwarf bristlenow plecos (I wonder where they came from?). The discus went in after all other inhabitants and the tank was running for 7 months before the discus.

 

[jratuszn]

BrianNY-

Do you ever have problems keeping otos with discus? I have heard that they will latch onto their sides.

-J

 

[BrianNY]

I personally haven't seen this jr, but I've heard the same tales. BTW, the reason I became interested in the dwarf bristlenose plecos is because they're so good with discus.

 

[sicklidkid]

thanks BrianNY!

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Ottos aren't a good idea as tankmates for discus: they really enjoy munching the slime coat of the discus. I'm not sure if it causes any real physical damage, but it sure does stress the heck out of them.

 

[Guest]

I've tried Oto's three times with Discus, no success. First time a big prawn got them. Needless to say that mean prawn now has it's own tank.

The other two times. The Oto's done great in QT. When they went to the big tank. I lost them within a week. Never figured out what happened either time. Finally gave up on them.

At any rate, Discus are great. If you get a basic understanding of them and can meet thier needs (consistantly). They really are'nt that hard of a fish to care for. However, they are more time consuming than most FW fish.

I've actually grown found of taking care of mine. It's enjoyable for me to do WC's, test water, observe them, make sure thier needs are being meet. Caring for fish and house plants is my relaxation. Something we all need more of.

 

[BrianNY]

Mojo Troll..........My feelings exactly. I couldn't have put it better.

 

[thetmaxx]

I love chiclids!!! My freind and I got really into them, they are colorful, and very active with a lot of personality... Freshwater puffers have personality too, but chiclids are really cool to watch, I like how the angel seems like it has some personality too, maybe when i get more glass i'll get some angels too.