tips on how to handle discuss and other fish in same tank.

Question
Hello sir,
         I am new to this bussines, i have a tank which is about3'in length,2'in depth and18"in width.I have
Various fishes in it like discuss,tetra,hockey,black gost,cat fish, silver shark and many more.I have fishes of various sizes in which i feel dis uss is the smallest.they dont feel happy or i dont know whether they are afraid,sometimes they lie down flat or float as if dead.Altogether they seem to be unhappy. I do water changes in 3 to 5 days wjich is. Almost 80% of tank capacity wjoch i remove while cleaning.
         Please help!

Answer
Hi Robin,
  In general, most people that keep discus do not keep them with other fish. The fact that they are lying down or floating tells me that they are not doing very well. In fact, those are really bad signs unfortunately.  

  The fact that you are doing lots of regular water changes is good.  My suspicion is that with all the other fish in there, the discus are not getting to eat very well, if at all.  Is that possible?

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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