Discus in 60g?

Your Honor

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Hey, I have a 60g fish tank with 6 peacock cichlids, 1 blue acara, 1 convict cichlid 2 pictus catfish and 1 red tail shark. I was wondering if I could add a few discus? Potentially 3 since they're schooling fish. Thanks in advance.
 
Welcome to the forum!

Discus fish are extremely delicate. They require high temps (84 F), ultra clean water (0Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, 0 Nitrates), LOW pH (5.5-6.5) and are very peaceful/graceful.

The fish that you are keeping are not compatible with Discus at all - the Discus would be stressed and killed within a matter of hours. Discus come from the Amazon River - Peacock Cichlids (pH 8-9) are from Africa --> and Convict Cichlids also come from South America (pH7 ish) and are in my opinion, ounce for ounce some of the most aggressive freshwater fish on the planet.

I would, personally, consider changing your current stocking --> but if everyone gets along OK I would not recommend adding anything else. If your fish have created a surprising heirarchy, adding one new fish could send them over the edge.
 
I mean discus can go in a 60 gallon but parameters do not match with all the fish. If you do get discus they might die in a few hours. Keep them with fish that like hot temps.
 
Welcome to the forum!

Discus fish are extremely delicate. They require high temps (84 F), ultra clean water (0Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, 0 Nitrates), LOW pH (5.5-6.5) and are very peaceful/graceful.

The fish that you are keeping are not compatible with Discus at all - the Discus would be stressed and killed within a matter of hours. Discus come from the Amazon River - Peacock Cichlids (pH 8-9) are from Africa --> and Convict Cichlids also come from South America (pH7 ish) and are in my opinion, ounce for ounce some of the most aggressive freshwater fish on the planet.

I would, personally, consider changing your current stocking --> but if everyone gets along OK I would not recommend adding anything else. If your fish have created a surprising heirarchy, adding one new fish could send them over the edge.
I see, as of right now, all the fish get along just fine, the cichlids will occasionally chase each other for a few seconds during feeding and the red tail shark chases the pictus catfish when they get in his territory but none of the fish seem to be harmed or stressed.
 
I have no idea as to your knowledge level, so I will offer some comments that I hope will be of value in understanding fish behaviour. Chances are, the fish are not getting along. The inherent behaviours and requirements of a particular species of fish are part of that fish's makeup, programmed into their DNA. When we put them into an environment that does not provide for these, it causes stress, and as the stress builds, it begins to harm the fish's health. Fish don't have many options to deal with this; they either accept it (which almost always means an early death) or they fight back somehow. Physical interaction is one way of rebelling, but fish can also release chemical signals that are just as stressful to the other fish, making things worse and worse.

Ironically, the very small space here for the fish may be why they appear to be managing; the physical space affects their behaviours considerably, and to the detriment of the fish. It is like a dog kept locked in a small room, never let out; the dog becomes more and more frustrated, and can react by becoming very aggressive, or the opposite, literally wasting away.

The only way we can ever assume that fish in an aquarium are really getting along and are healthy is by providing each of them what it expects, in terms of the physical environment, water, numbers, other fish, etc.
 
I have no idea as to your knowledge level, so I will offer some comments that I hope will be of value in understanding fish behaviour. Chances are, the fish are not getting along. The inherent behaviours and requirements of a particular species of fish are part of that fish's makeup, programmed into their DNA. When we put them into an environment that does not provide for these, it causes stress, and as the stress builds, it begins to harm the fish's health. Fish don't have many options to deal with this; they either accept it (which almost always means an early death) or they fight back somehow. Physical interaction is one way of rebelling, but fish can also release chemical signals that are just as stressful to the other fish, making things worse and worse.

Ironically, the very small space here for the fish may be why they appear to be managing; the physical space affects their behaviours considerably, and to the detriment of the fish. It is like a dog kept locked in a small room, never let out; the dog becomes more and more frustrated, and can react by becoming very aggressive, or the opposite, literally wasting away.

The only way we can ever assume that fish in an aquarium are really getting along and are healthy is by providing each of them what it expects, in terms of the physical environment, water, numbers, other fish, etc.
The peacock cichlids, at first, were picking on the 2 others cichlids (blue acara and convict) but then, they started to chase back and now the peacocks have been put in their place. You see, in the upper part of the tank (the top) and the mid part of the tank is where the cichlids normally swim at, in the right side of the tank is where normally the peacoks like to chill at and the left side where the convict and blue acara stay at. I am aware of the aggressiveness of these cichlids and I am also aware that fish can get stressed, but as of right now, they get along just fine. I even found out something interesting that I never thought could happen; a few weeks ago the peacocks were chasing the convict cichlid during feeding time and, supringly, the blue acara stepped up and chased off the 2 peacocks away. I thought that was just because they went in the acara's territory but then I started to see the same thing happen over and over until I realised that the blue acara and the convict started to share the same area of the tank and also that they weren't being chased by the peacocks as often, only during feeding time, as I have mentioned.
 
Hey, I have a 60g fish tank with 6 peacock cichlids, 1 blue acara, 1 convict cichlid 2 pictus catfish and 1 red tail shark. I was wondering if I could add a few discus? Potentially 3 since they're schooling fish. Thanks in advance.
No.

Discus come from soft acid water.
Blue acaras come from soft acid water.
Convict cichlids come form soft water.
Peacock cichlids come from hard water with a high pH.

You should check the pH, GH and KH of your tap water and keep fish that live in that type of water.

Discus should not be kept with convicts or peacocks.
 

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