Need help with Discus

[OodleyBoodely]

Hi! My sister Melinda decided she likes discus and has purchased 3 ranging in size from 2 1/2" to 3 1/4". The larger fish, a pigeon blood was purchased a week earlier and has become unrelentlessly aggressive towards the other two, especially the next larger fish, a blue diamond. I didn't realize how territorial these fish could be, especially considering the young age and small size. My books don't really discuss compatibility problems other than in pairing up breeders, so, I had assumed that compiling a group of 4 young fish (Mel hopes to add one more in a week or two) would not be a problem.

I am very concerned for the health of the new fish and especially the Blue Diamond as it is becoming tattered and starting to develop a filmy look to the fins. The tank is a well established 40 gal with a UGF and two AquaClear 200 PF on back running carbon and double bio sponges in each. The water is not 'ideal' for discus(yet. it is too hard and runs a ph of 7.2) but, otherwise all parameters are good and the fish were slowly acclimated to it. We are using tapwater treated with discus buffer/softener and Black water extract until we purchase an ro/di unit in the near future and can get the water into the ideal range for discus. Also, the tank has been treated with Complete Remedy.

My main concern for now is in how to stop the aggression before one or both fish are killed. All the fish are eating well, although it is a case of eat and run for the two newer fish. I am considering removing the aggressor to a holding tank for a week and then attempting a re-introduction. This has worked well for me with my anemone fish and in the past with african cichlids.

I would really appreciate any help and advice on how to deal with the behavior of these fish from any experienced discus keepers or perhaps a link to a good discus forum. I know there must be some discus experts lurking around TRT!

Thanks in advance.

[MontanaRocknReefer]

I believe Jeff(Stang69) is you man for discus! Johnny

[Stang69]

Hi
Glad everyone has so much confidence in me.

What they are doin is establishing dominance I have never really had luck adding different sized discus in the same tank. What you may want to do is to set up a sep. tank for the smaller ones and allow them to grow to match the size. Also when you add them or any other fish being cichlids they are going to be territoral so what you do is rearrange everyhting and leave the lights out during aclimation and prolly 10 to 12 hours after the addition. This gove the new folks in the tank time to look around and not get the scales kicked off of them (So to Say). The filmy look to the fins is just a ph shock which is common in discus unless the ph is the same as the tank they were taken out of. Hope this helps. If you have anymore problems give me a yell at home if you need to.

Jeff

[OodleyBoodely]

Thanks Johnny and Jeff, The fish look better today, no more filmy white on the fins, although the pigeonblood is still being quite aggressive to the diamond. (btw, the diamond is almost the same size as the pigeonblood, just not as beefy) The smaller turquois doesn't get beat on as much.

Do you think they will ease up on one another, perhaps with the addition of more structure/hiding places in the tank? What do you think the reality of adding one more discus to tank would be?-possible?/forget it? It was my understanding from reading the various books I have on cichlids and discus articals in mags that we could keep up to 4 discus in this size tank. Is this info totally offbase?

I got a reply to this same question on RC that suggested I return the fish, read alot, and forget them until I was ready to make a real committment to them. Well, I admit (here) that that suggestion just rankled whether it is right or not! Personally, I believe I and sister Mel have made a committment to these fish already, I have read much on these guys already and am still looking for more info.

Ok, I will step down off the soapbox- I've asked enough ?s for the moment.

[Doug1]

gee if everyone followed that advice RC would be a much smaller board eh
Seriously tho the commitment is made so we can try and help , offhanded advice really does't help anyone, and thats the philosophical difference here. Ya wont always hear what you want but we will at least try to be polite and creative
Good luck with the discus

[Allyson]

Discus are my favorite fresh/brackish water fish. I'm envious. I used to have a 40 gal discus/angel tank with tons of live plants....it was a beautiful set up. I had a pair of discus, pair of angels & 2 or 3 bumble bee gobies. When the kids grow up (and I have more time) I'd love to set up another one.

I think you're on the right track & a combination of removing him for awhile as well as rearranging/adding something new (rock, etc) to the tank may work. But if the territorial issues continue consider returning/trading in the agressive guy.

I recommend that you check out the bumble bee gobies if you're looking for tank mates that won't take up too much room. They're really cute & are a nice touch. Here's a link to some info on them http://www.users.bigpond.com/rjeb/bumble.html

Good luck. I'd love to see pics!

[OodleyBoodely]

Doug, that lil episode on RC is why I tend to hang out here, 90% of the time!

Allyson, your tank sounded like a really nice setup. It's nice to hear of someone else who has kept a similar setup. Right now we still have a group of cardinals, a couple female bettas, and 4 corydoras sharing the discus tank, so, we really aren't looking for more tankmates.

I think tonight I will set up my 10g spare as a 'cooler' tank and seperate the pigeonblood for a while. I know the pigeonblood is my sisters favorite, so, returning him may not be an option. Anyway, it will allow the other two time to settle in before the beast returns.