what fish can 1 combine with my angelfish?

Question
Hi and thanks for taking time to answer my questions.
I just set up a fresh water tank and was guilty of not doing my homework, I bought too many incompatible fish and they were eating each other. I own a 55 gallon tank which contains
2- molly's
3- angelfish
2- pearl gourami's

I am intersted in the Discus fish but for beginers I don't even know if the fish I have left are compatible with each other? Do You think that I can add this fish and/or do i need to remove any?

Answer
Hi Johanna,

The fish you have are not incompatible behavior wise, however mollies (like all livebearers) like water that is hard and alkaline. They do best in brackish water, as a matter of fact, but if the water is hard (pH over 7) and has a high alkalinity reserve (alkalinity measures "high" on a test kit, not "low", and at least "moderate") then they will be happy enough if the water quality is good. Make sure nitrates (with an A) are low, they shouldn't be over 20 ppm. Angelfish are sensitive to nitrates too, they tend to sulk and lose their appetite if nitrates creep too high. And naturally, ammonia and nitrites must be 0 ppm - this is always so, in an established, healthy aquarium.

Discus really are quiet fish and they don't do well in community setups. You could keep angelfish with discus, it has been done before, but since when they get full grown they grow to the size of dinner plates (!) I would not try to keep angelfish and discus in a 55 gallon. Maybe a 75 gallon, but likely there will be too much bio-load with 3 angelfish and another few discus. If your intention were to start all over, you could start with five discus...out of the five, you should be able to find a breeding pair as they mature. A breeding pair in a 55 gallon tank is really a perfect size, and breeding them is one of the most interesting aspects of keeping discus. Of course, buying five discus at once is a real investment, even with recouping some of the money later by trading in or selling the others. However forcing a pair by just getting two of them and assuming they will get along, doesn't usually work with discus (or angelfish either).

So, to answer your question, you can't really put discus in with the fish you have now. Since the three angelfish will eventually fill out a 55 gallon tank, you won't really have room for discus, even if you removed the gouramis and mollies, who would not work in a discus setup...for one thing, discus need their water really warm! Angelfish can tolerate the warmth, but not mollies or gouramis. 82-84 degree water will exhaust them eventually, and will wash out their colors.

If you like the bright colors of discus, look for other fish such as rosy barbs. When they mature, they can be very colorful...the reds and greens gets much deeper as they get older. If you like the shape fo the discus, silver dollars have a similar body type (pacus do too, but stay away from these giant tankbusters!)

There really are no fish that resemble discus very much, but I am afraid that putting discus in your tank the way it is right now, would not be wise. You would need to start over. Besides the incompatibility and the space that discus take up, they are demanding fish, water quality wise. A weekly 50% water change is a must to keep them happy. Soft and acidic water is what they prefer, but tank bred (instead of wild caught) discus adapt to harder water with more ease...however, pristine water is a must for discus. There is just no way around that!

Some fish I would recommend personally for you with this community setup would be Columbian tetras (very colorful) and diamond tetras (very pretty) along with maybe some of the more peaceful dwarf cichlids like Bolivian rams, which are hardier than blue rams.

I hope that helps, take care!
Nicole