Discus and other fish

Question
Hi,

I can imagine you hate being emailed by tons of people all the time but I can't find the answer to the question ive been looking for. Do you think I could put a parrot fish in with my discus? And if not would it be ok if I just put one Discus in a 20-30 gallon tank? Ive owned lots of fish ranging from paradise to spotted puffers but I don't have any experience with Discus.

thanks,

Connor  

Answer
Dear Connor,
No, I don't dislike being emailed by tons of people all the time! I love getting letters and helping people with their problems very much. But honestly I can say I do get overwhelmed sometimes! but that's not important, lets get to your questions now....

Parrot fish with Discus. Well, you should always try to keep tankmates for discus similiar in temperament or be entirely peaceful towards the discus themselves. Parrot fish in my experience are entirely peaceful, with little disputes towards other fish. The real fact is most parrot fish (because of their deformed shape) they cannot fully close their mouth and hence, cannot bite other fish. Parrot fish can easily eat though by sucking food in and they can still chew in a special area in their throat. Parrot fish are slow movers and shouldn't disturb the discus relatively docile nature. The one thing I might think could be a problem is parrot fish can be hogs when it comes to feeding time. But I once heard it's good to keep more boisterous feeding type fish with them to "keep the discus on their toes" I don't know if this is good or bad. But I have found that many fish (especially timid ones) do better if they see other fish swimming and eating comfortably and they can have a tendancy to join in.

I would say try it. But be ready to move the parrot if he might cause problems. There are always exceptions with any fish combination.

One discus should be fine in a 20-30gal aquarium. Try to read everything you can on discus from books, magazines, internet and reliable petstores. Now more and more people are keeping the once "delicate" discus quite easily in their home aquariums.

Discus need warm temperatures in the high 80sF. And must have clean water. They appreciate water changes at the rate of at least three times a week at a large percentage.

If you need anymore help, feel free to write.
Best wishes,
Karen~