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I've heard that it's unadvisable to keep Discus with Angels. Is this true?

Cheers, Ben

Yes.

There are two reasons that people discourage mixing the related species. The first reason is the plague. Domestic angels were decimated by a disease that many people considered a viral plague. Since then, it appears that angels have built a resistance to the disease. However, discus are extremely susceptible to the disease that apparently can be air borne. There is circumstantial evidence that angels may carry the disease.

The second reason is that angels are much more active and aggressive than discus.
Oftentimes, angelfish will outcompete discus for food and dominate their round cousins. Discus generally should have peaceful, smaller tankmates IMHO.

__________
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I think Bob's right. The angels will probably stress the discus and are much more aggressive in their habits. Too be honest, the discus and angels are both big fish and many people keep all the other fish small not ony for harmony sake, but because you will appreciate the beauty of the discus more. Althought I don't recommend it, in order to put both in you would probably need a VERY large tank.

My Scapes

I agree with Bob on both answers. The first is the main reason & the second, is something that you can see when keeping & breeding Angels. With Discus i would recommend a big school of Rummynose Tetra's.


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I keep angelfish with my Discus with no problems.
Most of the time they school together.
Personally, I think it is just fine to keep these fish together. Discus are not the wussy namby pamby fish everyone makes them out to be.
They are cichlids after all, and tough like a cichlid is for sure.
If you know that the angels are healthy, I wouldnt worry about them passing on anything to your discus.
That angelfish plague was also in the 70's. It has been a darn long time, and knowing many people who keep angels and discus together, I have never ever heard of this problem at all, nor have I heard of Angels bullying Discus.
Mine sure dont. In fact I would even say the Discus are often the bullys! Sure can even get that rainbow shark on the run, and he bullies everyone!


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Like so many other things it depends on the individual fish. For agression, it is suggested to buy baby angels and adult discus. That way, the angels will grow up with the discus being the top dogs. The plague can be contained by q-tining and even dosing with some general meds. before you put the angels in.

Can I just ask, does anyone here have any actual documentation of any discus contracting this "plague" any time after 1985?
A scientist friend of mine who is currently taking a tropical fish biology/ecology class told me the so called "Discus Plague" was caused by an airborne virus that seems to have run extint during the early 1980s.
There has been apparently no occurrences of it since 1985, and no signs of the virus present in captive specimens or wild caught specimens of angels or discus since.


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Hi,

The discus plague seems to be still happening. A few fish that are imported especially from asia into Australia are still showing signs that it is still around.

Quarintine if done right is the only way to control this. I have a friend that has imported and is very aware of the problem and hits them with meds the moment he gets them into tanks. He also slowly increased the temp of the water as the plague starts to show when the discus are kept in temps above 28 degrees and takes about 7 days to show.

Quarintine here is only done for about 2 weeks and the water temps are quite low. I have personally had it happen here after buying fish that have not been quarantied properly and it nearly wiped out all my fish as it is airbourne and can affect any other tanks with in the house.

Trace

I and my mum both got the Discus plauge and let me tell you its not a fun thing to have

I wonder them, if it is just that Discus and Angelfish populations in North America no longer have the plague?

I also wonder as well, if people are confusing this for something else, such as spironucleus bacteria or the like?

Also, I have heard that the so called Angelfish plague was brought in my wild caught specimens. Captive bred specimens seem not to have this particular virus/disease.
I keep angels and discus together with no problems, and know a great many people who also do this, and none have ever had any problems.
My mother kept discus and angels together during the time of the "Plague", and never had any troubles, despite the fact her Altums were wild caught and the discus were tank bred. Her angels and discus lived happily together for 10 years before she had to sell them!



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Steve Vernon, a regionally well known breeder in Kalamazoo who had collected in South America, had his stocks decimated in 2003 as the result of the "plague". He had brought imported oriental fish into his fish room and was acclimating them in a quarantine tank.

The plague spread quickly through his fish room and he had mortality of greater than 60%. The only treatment that seemed successful was Watley's method of dropping acidity to 4.5 or lower.

I'm not sure if the pathogen is air borne as it is easy to cross contaminate tanks in a fish room. Yes, the disease still appears.

Congratulations to you and your mother on successfully keeping scalare and discus together.

Last edited by Bob Wesolowski at 17-Jan-2006 01:14

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Well, for whatever it's worth, I have discus with angels in my tanks right now and have had zero problems.

i can see this topic being debated for ever, just like the not mixing from different lakes, regions or cross breeding or any other topic. so for your answer, yes, it is possible to keep angels with discuss but not all people recommend it, the choice and chance are up to you, though i do recommend you look into the prober care of discuss before you make such a costly investment.


chris