So what do you know about Roseline Sharks?

[KingFisher]

Really? I've seen a LARGE amount of Discus tanks with these guys in them. I was just worried about my smaller ones.

When you choose to keep discus, they take priority over any other fish you have in the tank. You must choose tankmates very carefully. As this will be your first experience with keeping them, I suggest you err on the side of caution, at least until you get a good handle on their care. There are more reasons for not adding roselines into the mix than there are for adding them. The tanks you see where both are kept may either be owned by people with much more experience or they may be the result of inexperience and poor choices. You cannot tell by looking at a picture or a short video. The internet is full of pictures and videos of inappropriately stocked tanks. I suggest talking to several experienced discus keepers about it, but I am fairly certain what they would say.

[Goes to 11!]

+ 1 to KF - Pics mean nothing. There are lots of stupid pics online. Discus are not 'mixed community' fish IMO'

For a year or so I have had a dozen or so of them in my 90 growing out to be companions to other barbs in an all barb tank, I wouldn't put them with smaller tetras but they don't bother Corys, plecos or angelfish. They are active and sizeable fish.

The most immediate issue I see is that they would likely NOT be comfortable at the temps required for discus. I keep them at 76F and am planning on keeping them at 74F after I move them.

[MandyK]

I'm not only talking about pictures. My LFS has had it's Discus display tank up for a LOOOOOOOOOONNNNG time, lol. And they have it stocked with Discus, Roselines, clown loaches, and a large plec.

I was concerned about the temp difference myself. There's like a 6 degree difference.

[MandyK]

I'm beginning to become seriously discouraged about the whole Discus rearing thing.

Maybe I just want too much to be able to really deal with them correctly.

That being said, IF I switch to Angels would that stocking work? I'm aware that angels may end up eating my neons. So that would be 5 angels, 4-6 roseline, and my current stock .

[KingFisher]

If you go that route, I would go with 8 angels in that size tank. It will spread their aggression out when pairs form. They will definitely eat the shrimp, and as you already mentioned, maybe the neons. The only other issue I see is that you will have to keep an eye on the serpae tetras with them, I had to move my serpaes because they liked to nip at the angels' fins.

[MandyK]

Thanks for you reply on that one KingFisher.

I'm surprised at the number 8! I'm not against that in any way, but I just got done explaining to my husband why I thought 5 would be good. -- I said that they would pair off, start laying eggs, and they defend the eggs. I said that having a possible 2 pairs would mean that the pairs had plenty of room to get away from one another so that they wouldn't fight when they spawned.

Would this not be true?

[Lady10Godiva]

I have serpaes in with my pair of female angels in my 125. The tetras dont bother the angels, but there are 20 of them so they keep to themselves. Angels can be very mean when they spawn. My pair of girls arent too bad, they just takes turns laying and eating eggs. I had a pair in another tank and the male was really a bully. Unfortunately that female died. So that male lives by himself, well with no other angels.

You can always wait and see what you want to keep. Like when your schools go down you can decide if you want to keep going with them or not. If you decide to not get discus there are all sorts of bigger schooling fish you could get.

[KingFisher]

Angels are funny that way. They do fine alone or as a mated pair, then there seems to be a lot of problems with multiple angels until you start getting into larger numbers like 8 or more. I kept 11 in a 90g for 2 years. The key is to get them all while they are very small so they grow up together as a school. In nature there are schools in the hundreds. When a pair forms, the larger number helps prevent them from constantly picking on a single fish until they kill it and move on to the next one.

[MandyK]

Ahh, I see your point! Thank you for elaborating on that. :)

My main concern with whatever fish I get are to make sure I can provide for them adequately. Thank you all for getting back with me on this. Even though they may not have been the answers I was hoping for, I know that you wouldn't lead me astray.

I have lots of thinking to do now.

[WhistlingBadger]

Hi, Mandy. I have had four roselines in my 55g community tank for a year or so. They are all 3-4". They are in with rainbows, golden and siamese algae eaters (the latter of which they oddly resemble), ottos, snails, and a red tail shark. We call them dennison barbs--isn't it fun keeping fish that are obscure enough that no one has decided exactly what to call them?

They are active fish, but not frantically so--nothing like, oh, giant danios. In my experience, the dennys are not the least bit belligerent (nothing like tiger barbs), destructive to decor or plants (nothing like tinfoil barbs!), or predatory. They have a personality a lot like rainbowfish--they move all over the tank, feeding in all zones; they stick together, and pretty much ignore everybody else. I have never even observed them chasing each other. So, I would watch them with the angels and the tetras at first in case any latent fin-nipping or predatory traits emerge, but I suspect they would do fine with everybody in your sig line.

Mine are rather stout, robust looking fish, more subtly colored than I hoped for (though their tails are striking from clear across the room), overall nice little guys. I am thinking about either getting more (four isn't much of a school) or trading them in for a school of tiger barbs. Decisions, decisions...

Hope that helps. FWIW, I have considered taking the plunge and getting discuss, too, but I keep hearing about how delicate and fussy they are, and frankly I don't want to work that hard. :)

Tom