Keeping different size Discus

[torch]

Its is ok to keep different size Discus together and would it hurt the growth of young discus? Would the runt of the pack (smallest one) be deprive of food? Just feed to different of tank so that the 2.5 can getting feeding?


I got 6 and their size range from 5, 4.5, 4, 3.5 , 3 and 2.5. I seen videos of tanks with different sizes so I thought it would be ok. Then I see how the 2.5 (runt) is now hiding during feeding.

Long time anyone have success keeping different sizes in their tank? Basically using single tank for both grow out and display?

[Susie]

I always have a separate grow out tank. I feed my little ones three to five times a day and change the water at least daily. You wouldn't want to do that with a display tank.

[kris2341]

Ahem, I have no personal experience mixing discus sizes, but you seem to be in dire need of information so I will do my best to work out an explanation through the observations I have made on the mixed size discus tanks... Here we go!

Mixing fish of different sizes generally is something that is a hit or miss. Sometimes the big fish will ignore fish of smaller sizes, sometimes they will torment them, this is generally what is said all around here so it is not something people recommend. Most people who mix them only do it once they confirmed success with their specific fishes and have a back up tank on hand if things go bad.

Stocking density also seems to play a role in the mixing of sizes. In the tanks I have seen here on SD, there are ample numbers of larger discus and ample numbers of smaller discus kept together with good success, because I have no first hand experience with the mixing of sizes yet, I can only speculate but I believe having numbers well over 10 discus total and over 6 discus in each size group in a tank allows for a nicely established pecking order that leads to minimal stress.

To be honest, I don't really know why you are asking these questions about whether or not mixing sizes is a good idea in your case when you have already tried it and your experience shows problems. You have results right in your tank that you can draw your conclusions from. You are asking if the runt of the pack will be deprived of food yet you already reported that the runt is just hiding during feeding time, this means that he is being deprived of food due to bullying. Naturally the lack of nourishment will also lead to bad growth of the fish.

You can take the runt out and try to get him more food in a separate tank, but this will just lead to a new fish getting heavily bullied if this pecking order problem cannot be corrected. You are going to need to get more fish and/or separate them according to size group for them to flourish.

In the end, you should have just stuck to all one size discus and gotten as many as you could since with discus, more is better. This would have made your situation much easier to handle. Just another learning experience in the end, but you do have a problem that has no easy solution, at least no easy solution that does not involve spending more money. I hope you can act quickly enough to salvage your situation.

Depending on your tank size, you can probably introduce more fish as long as you are doing your daily water changes but you may need to move some of them as they outgrow the tank. Can you describe your setup again in more detail so we can see what can be done?

[DISCUS STU]

Is this a bare bottom tank or one with alot of hiding places? Bare bottom tanks and fewer hiding places are sometimes better in these situations. The fish tend to be more shy and hide more when they have more hiding places.

A separate grow out tank for this small one may also work. You may have to try a few things. The group dynamics of Discus can vary from group to group depending on the characteristics of the individual fish. It usually works out better in bare bottom tanks with few hiding places and much larger groups. I normally don't have a problem throwing a juvenile into a large tank with fully grown Discus. They don't see the juvenile as a threat and become accustomed to it's presence as it grows.

[torch]

Right now they are in a 30 gallon plastic rubbermaid holding container, this may be why they are even more aggressive. Expecting my 90g to arrive in few weeks. I hope with 90g it'll have more space for them. I will add the Juvenile back to the group with bigger tank. The 90g will be barebottom with no deco.

Didn't realized they were that aggressive to each other. This was my first discus batch ( 6 discus) and I was trying to save some money by buying a few smaller ones. Now I know better. Go with similar sizes and at least 4 inch or bigger.

[kris2341]

you don't really need to have 4 inches or bigger unless you don't want to bother with the grow out, but you do need similar sizes.

I hope you are keeping the water clean in that rubbermaid, Though I think you should not have ordered the fish until the tank came in, just shows bad planning altogether.

Anyways, good luck and let us know of any updates!

[torch]

About 70% Water change every 3 days. Filtration with cycled Hydro IV sponge, Prefiler-MAX sponge and Bio-MAX media in Aquaclear 70 HOB. I wanted to get Discus before winter hits here in NYC. Lucky I did as 50% of US is hit with low temperatures. The 90g acrylic tank from Seaclear was build to order. I found out last minute that anything above 20g Seaclear has to build after ordering. It take 3 to 4 weeks. So I figure 3 to 4 weeks of temporary holding tank with 30g won't be so bad.

Anyway my setup eventually will be a Seaclear 90 gallon acrylic tank 48x18x24 barebotom no deco using the above filtration. I plan to buy more discus later so it'll be more than 6. Will stick to similar size next time. I will tried feeding the food to difference area of the tank on 90g so that the runt of the pack will get more food.

[kris2341]

70% every 3 days for juvies that are being fed multiple time daily simply isnt enough, you need to increase that to daily considering the rubbermaid as a tank is simply too small to sustain them, it does not matter how much filtration you have, dirty water is dirty water.

Of course if you don't mind stunted discus and risking the smaller one's health then you can stick to that, but IMO do more water changes so your fish can be as healthy as possible until the tank arrives. then with 90 gallons, you can stand to slack off with only 6 fish.

[siuling337]

Thanks for sharing~!