# Discus and mollies?



## Franman

Can molleis be kept with discus? I have a problem selecting algea controling companions with my discus planted tank. I've tried algea eaters, flying foxes and even otos but they all seem to love the slim coating of the discus. I kept the otos because they are the less agresive ones. I also put in shrip, but they just ended up being an expensive sushi plater for them. Am I out of options? Can mollies help? I heard they where sometimes agresive, is this true?


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## it4lian

TheOldSalt suggested a fish called an American Flag Fish which loves algae. Honestly I don't know really anything about it, so I don't know if it would work with your discus, but you could ask TheOldSalt about it.


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## oliesminis

i dont know about mollys compatability with discus but i kept mollys for a while and i find that they only eat algae if they are not fed often enough.

for example my fish went on a 3 day diet to solve a problem and i they ate it then but if they are fed regulary i find they will only occaisonaly eat it as a "treat" to themselves

-olie


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## TheOldSalt

I guess the first thing to ask is if you even have an algae problem?

Flagfish are great, but Discus tanks are really too warm for them. There are some other pupfish which like hot water, but they're very hard to acquire. ( If you have any friends in Miami who are handy with a net, you may be in luck.) Mollies can take the heat, but they aren't exactly ravenous algae eaters.

Your better bet would be a lot of amazonian warmwater plants. They'd make the Discus feel at home, and they'd get rid of any algae. Many online plant dealers have "Discus tank plant" sections to make selection easy.


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## vettech909

mollies and discus:heck no!the water conditions are very different.discus are better off in a species tank.


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## Guest

vettech909 said:


> mollies and discus:heck no!the water conditions are very different.discus are better off in a species tank.


only water difference really is temp. CAN you do it? yes, if you back the discus down to 82 degrees, the mollies would survive. is it the best for them? no. do i reccommend it? no.

Dont add more fish to get rid of algae, fix the problem that is causing it. if it is hair algae, then you may need to be adding a carbon supplement (pressurized Co2, or flourish excel) other types of aglae may mean that you have too much nutrient in the water. test your water for nitrates, and also tell us how much lighting you have on your tank, what kind of plants, what type of algae, size of tank, how many fish. etc.


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## emc7

> only water difference really is temp


Not true
Discus like water soft, mollies need either salt or hard water. Not recommended.


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## Guest

emc7 said:


> Not true
> Discus like water soft, mollies need either salt or hard water. Not recommended.


neither NEED those requirements.... the more you screw with the water, the more likely you are to kill them. I keep discus in the same water conditions as any other fish i keep. keep it simple. only difference is temp. does that mean thats what they are in the wild like? no, but do they thrive in other conditions? yup.

re-evaluate need vs. whats in the wild.


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## vettech909

discus are delicate fish and are recamended to live in a SPECIES tank!!!if you want to put discus with mollies,go ahead kill the fish,ir make them unhappy and unhealthy.


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## Guest

vettech909 said:


> discus are delicate fish and are recamended to live in a SPECIES tank!!!if you want to put discus with mollies,go ahead kill the fish,ir make them unhappy and unhealthy.


...what? WHAT?

Okay, don't give advice like that when you really don't have a clue. It is not necessary to keep discus in species tanks. Not by a long shot. 

And remind me again why keeping other fish with discus would kill them?


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## vettech909

because there delicate!!!every book i have sais discus should be kept in a species tank!!!im pretty pissed off right now so dont bother!!!


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## Guest

vettech909 said:


> because there delicate!!!every book i have sais discus should be kept in a species tank!!!im pretty pissed off right now so dont bother!!!


Don't bother what? Proving that you're wrong?

Yes, discus are delicate but in no way does that mean they can't be kept with other fish. They are delicate to swings in water properties and bad water quality. Nothing to do with being kept with other fish.
Would they be suceptible to bullying? Of course. But again, in no way does that mean they need to be kept alone. 

In fact, most planted show tanks I've seen housing discus have not had discus alone.


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## Guest

have you ever kept discus vettech???? because i have, for many years. they are NOT as delicate as once thought. there are tons of fish that do well with discus. as said before mollies arent a good idea because of the temperature, and also mollies tend to pick on things. by no means do discus have to be alone though....


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## emc7

There is most likely some water where discus and mollies can share a tank. But here I keep angels (and discus if I had any) in tap water, but mollies go in "Malawi buffer"ed water. Many people keep something with discus: cories, tetras, apistos. A species tank is best for breeding, though.


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## Guest

there just really isnt a need to buffer your water for mollies.... nor for discus, unless your water is just so far off from anything workable.


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## emc7

Not typical water, but for my water. Yes I do need to buffer it for mollies. I killed a bunch of black mollies and some guppies before I figured this out. My water is very soft and when the pH drifts below 6, the mollies suffer. I could prob. skip the buffer and up the water changes, but I don't trust myself to be consistant. Since I'm buffering my African tanks anyway, its no big deal. When I lived in Illinois, guppies and mollies thrived, but angel and discus fry were rare sights. I get that discus in the hobby today are more tolerant of water differences than those 20 years ago. But I get annoyed by chain stores calling about 80% of their stock "community fish" and telling people to mix and match and keep the water at 7.0. Altering pH is not something I recommend to beginners. But I do tell people to test their water and pick fish that are well suited to the water they have. What is wrong with keeping the needs of the fish in mind?


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## Guest

but see, you answered your own problem....

the reason your fish were dieing...was ph swings. which can be fixed in several ways...
a) keep up with waterchanges
b)but some crushed coral in your filter

no reason to mess with ph. the crushed coral will add just enough buffer to keep the ph from swinging. boom easy.


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## emc7

Mike you make sense, but you are contradicting yourself. You say you don't need to buffer, don't mess with pH, but then you say add crushed coral to add buffer and affect the pH. I know what you mean, use the crushed coral to up the kH and stabilize the pH. I call that buffering. And my water's pH will go up in the presences of crushed coral and I call that buffering, too. I don't call adding acid or base (pH Up or pH down) buffering. Maybe I got this wrong in chem class, but the purpose of a buffer is to hold pH stable.

There's another thread 'do mollies need salt'. I don't thinks its just pH swings, I still think mollies need ions in their water. Discus and other rainwater fish don't. I wish I could site a source better than my poor memory of long ago ALA talks and publications. I've yet to find a cichlid that can't live with salt or hard water, but breeding is easier if you give them their preferred water.

Sorry about the thread hijack. When I get annoying, tell me to get off the pea**** computer and go change water.


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## Guest

yes, i sort of did contradict. but i mean to add the coral for no other purpose than to keep things stable. you should still be doing waterchanges, then your ph wont really be affected by the coral, its more of a safe guard.


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