My Blue Diamond is a brat

[klannin]

Nearly every other of the five discus in the tank has an injury...he really nails the other fish. When is enough enough? He is an ugly fella I got from petco cause I felt sorry for him... no good deed goes unpunished.

Is there anything I can do to reduce agression? It has gotten more pronounced since I have lessened feeding, since I am treating some of the injured fish with kana plex in the food, encouraging them to eat the treated meal. But any advice to prevent the cause would be appreciated, since the affected fish are getting better.

Thanks!

[John_Nicholson]

There is only 3 things that work long term.
1. You add more fish to help spread the aggression.
2. You let them work it out on their own.
3. you take him out and kill him.......

1. Works most of the time if you have a big enough tank and do the proper maintenance.
2. Usually the best method.
3. Seldom works because the number 2 fish in line will just start doing the same thing....they are animals...they fight. It is completely natural. I know in this PC world people have tried to eliminate fighting but in reality that is an insane notion.

-john

P.S. Also the only thing you should need to heal surface injuries is clean water. More fish have been killed by meds that everything else combined.

[klannin]

Thanks John. I let the first one go a week with daily water changes, even screwed up my bb culture by over doing it. But now every day someone has a new injury it seems. The culprit is pretty small and bright, do they expose discus to hormones like they do blue rams sometimes? If this is a possibility will the aggression wane over time?

[John_Nicholson]

Yea some people do juice the fish. I am 100% against this but as long as people continue to buy them they will continue to do it. Blue diamonds though do tend to get their color younger than most strains. Some fish tend to settle down with time and some do not.

Good luck.

-john

[klannin]

Yes #2 is what we'll go with for now. If I have success with the species a while and I decide to add more I'll consider giving him away if he is still a brat and hasn't turned out.

[DISCUS STU]

The other problem may also be that the fish is juiced/hormoned, my pet peeve with many, many large pet supermarket retailers. The juicing can really make the fish totally crazy and aggressive to the point of being nearly homicidal to the their tank mates. This is very common.

Years ago I bought two quarter size BD's, this is when they were new, that went after everything and killed five cory cats in the same quarantine tank. Actually killed them. That just doesn't happen with juvenile Discus fish that aren't juiced. Though I'm sure someone may have an exception to that. My advice, take it back if you can. If it's juiced it can take a very long time for this to dissipate, if ever, and the after effects are unhealthy fish anyway.

[DISCUS STU]

P.S. can you send a picture of the fish in question? Often when they're juiced, especially bd's, the eyes may show a very cherry red, almost neon, redness while the skin may be almost unnaturally super metallic. Though this may be hard to see in an internet picture.

[klannin]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/23/1dd8ab986d93d2d99d8c32316e9fb8fa.jpg

In the foreground, injured fish behind.

[klannin]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/23/9c63845dd783fcde0b0f303eddc19d6f.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/23/f614a512a3c965305091561ca2213832.jpg

My front fixture went out so hard to get one of him under the light. He only fixates on the other discus. But will swim clear across the tank and nail them.

[blueluv]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/23/9c63845dd783fcde0b0f303eddc19d6f.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/23/f614a512a3c965305091561ca2213832.jpg

My front fixture went out so hard to get one of him under the light. He only fixates on the other discus. But will swim clear across the tank and nail them.
I see a platy in this pic. Aren't they fin nippers? If so , wouldn't this also cause stress to the discus

[klannin]

Yeah, they are mollies but they leave them alone. There really aren't any inter species problems unless it's at night and I don't see it. The only damage to the other fish's fins are from blunt trauma. So I'm inclined to believe the damage is being caused by the obvious offender.

[c_sir]

Yeah, they are mollies but they leave them alone. There really aren't any inter species problems unless it's at night and I don't see it. The only damage to the other fish's fins are from blunt trauma. So I'm inclined to believe the damage is being caused by the obvious offender.

You should watch your angel(s) though, imo it's just a matter if time. I hope otherwise..

[DISCUS STU]

This doesn't look like an overcrowded tank situation. It's hard to tell what would help here. More fish to disperse the aggression? Who knows.

These fish do seem stunted. It's hard to know what the history of the bd was due to the fact that it came through the retail channels where juiced, stunted fish are very common. Juicing is a really reprehensible practice and the people that practice it are unethical (my soapbox). Best to buy from established sellers that specialize in Discus. This forum is a good place to find them. Good luck.

[zergling]

Sorry if I missed it somewhere - what size tank is it?

Is the bullying happening all the time, or during feeding time only?

[klannin]

This doesn't look like an overcrowded tank situation. It's hard to tell what would help here. More fish to disperse the aggression? Who knows.

These fish do seem stunted. It's hard to know what the history of the bd was due to the fact that it came through the retail channels where juiced, stunted fish are very common. Juicing is a really reprehensible practice and the people that practice it are unethical (my soapbox). Best to buy from established sellers that specialize in Discus. This forum is a good place to find them. Good luck.
Yeah i suspect stunting too, although one of them has grown a bit since I bought them. The other three are from a fella with a LFS but he seems to specialize in discus. Those have all grown a lot in the few weeks I've had them. But who knows those might be stunted I don't know.

If it doesn't get better I'll call the little guy expendable, he hasn't gotten any bigger and I think he's ugly.

[ericNH]

My blue discus (possibly a BD mutt?) was also homicidal, for quite a while. He calmed down finally but it took months. I don't know why he calmed down, possibly when I brought the discus count up. Anyway, I just thought it curious that my BD-type discus was also extremely aggressive, and I wanted to let you know that it did eventually calm down. Maybe yours will, too.

My BD mutt, the tank alpha:

83648

[klannin]

The tank is 150 tall. He is actually less aggressive when i am looking at the tank, he is too busy begging.

I changed the layout and got some drift wood, took out most of the rocks. They are all getting better. I think all the sticks disrupt his aggression.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/26/1fe6172a10207afe0414c68203eacfc3.jpg

Yeah funny eric, he looks pretty similar to yours, except for the spots.

[ericNH]

I like your tank. The new driftwood arrangement looks great!

[Second Hand Pat]

My blue discus (possibly a BD mutt?) was also homicidal, for quite a while. He calmed down finally but it took months. I don't know why he calmed down, possibly when I brought the discus count up. Anyway, I just thought it curious that my BD-type discus was also extremely aggressive, and I wanted to let you know that it did eventually calm down. Maybe yours will, too.

My BD mutt, the tank alpha:

83648

Eric, this might be a blue snake or at least the pattern seems fine enough for a snake.

[ericNH]

Thank you Pat! I always wondered - BD, Cobalt, what is this mutt I've got? Never thought of Blue Snakeskin.

He is my favorite. He's also the first discus I ever got. He's been through some rough times, and he's got some attitude. I've named him "Blue."