# Discus eating smaller fish



## planted-face (May 18, 2010)

I just got a discus(2.5 inches) last night and put him in my 30 gallon planted tank with 8 cardinal tetras, this morning when i woke up i noticed that two of my cardinals were missing, i found one dead with one eye missing and the other one just disappeared. i thought discus would get along with these fish, could it be anything else or just simply the discus attacking them at night?


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

planted-face said:


> I just got a discus(2.5 inches) last night and put him in my 30 gallon planted tank with 8 cardinal tetras, this morning when i woke up i noticed that two of my cardinals were missing, i found one dead with one eye missing and the other one just disappeared. i thought discus would get along with these fish, could it be anything else or just simply the discus attacking them at night?


Discus are predators in nature - anything living that will fit in the mouth is potential food. Ever notice in a lot of the really beautiful pics of tanks with discus/angels and cardinals/neons, the tetras are usually schooling at the opposite end of the tank? It's not a coincidence.

Are there any bottom dwellers that might be picking them off as they sleep?


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## Holidays (Apr 18, 2010)

those are small mean warrior discus. I haven't seen any discus that are so hungry and not timid in their new environment. I don't think those discus did that, cardinals do nip on each other if they don't have enough space to swim around. The existance of the discuss probably made their space a lot smaller, hence create some discomfort and aggression.


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## Holidays (Apr 18, 2010)

cardinal tetras are schooling fish, but there should be enough space for them to swim around and avoid nipping. I have 4 discus, 5 cardinals and 3 torpedo barbs in an 80 gal, no casualty in 2 months. I know I know I gotta get more cardinals, I am working on it.


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## planted-face (May 18, 2010)

sorry guys i was away for a few days, everything seems ok now, i guess that fish just died naturally, anyways i added another discus and they seem to be pairing up, they swim right beside each other, im amazed that theres no aggression between the two, maybe im lucky that they are pairing up, anyways thanks for the response!


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

planted-face said:


> sorry guys i was away for a few days, everything seems ok now, i guess that fish just died naturally, anyways i added another discus and they seem to be pairing up, they swim right beside each other, im amazed that theres no aggression between the two, maybe im lucky that they are pairing up, anyways thanks for the response!


Two discus in a 30G... You might as well take them out, throw them in a bag and run over them with your car.


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

Joeee said:


> Two discus in a 30G... You might as well take them out, throw them in a bag and run over them with your car.


What he meant was... you should look into getting a much larger tank for them soon.


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## montelovers (Mar 26, 2009)

2 discus in a 30g is fine for breeding though. That's a recommended size if I remember so.. what is the issue with 2 in a 30? I have four 30g tanks myself each holding a pair of discus. They're doing just fine.


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