help i have a bad guy

[Bc chick]

as some may know i just got into discus. well i have a fish buddy who got into the hobby with me awhile ago when we set up community tanks. now we both just got our first batch of juvies. she has aa bad bad blue sapphire that rules her tank. he chases everyone and bunts them all over the place, and for no reason. just goesnup to all the others one by one and bunts them out of the way. during feeding he wont let others eat. he chases they away. he doesnt even care about the food. he just doesnt want anyone else eating it. she constanly has to stick her hand in the tank and shoo him away from the food. any suggestions? will this eventually stress the others? is it because they are still establishing territory? its a 55 g bare bottem one plant in a pot.

[Phillydubs]

Sounds like common aggression to me and very normal...

How many fish are in the tank?

The more fish the less aggression..

Also how is she feeding them? If she is pinning one cube to the glass then she is making it easy for the bully to do his job. She may want to spread the food out so that he cant cover it all. In my wild tank they are aggressive eaters, when I would stick cubes the 2 lower guys would always get pushed away. I started breaking the cubes and letting them soak for a few mins then dumping them in the tank, creates almost what I call a snow globe effect as you can imagine and the food is free floating all over and the fish just go nuts, no way for a bully to keep fish away from food with that method...

The other option is to provide a bit of cover or a place to retreat for the other fish such as a piece of driftwood...

[Filip]

Be chick , i saw both of your videos of new discus, great looking rainbow batch . Congrats and good luck with raising them .
That yelow PB was a real pain in the a... neck, indeed :) .
Just give them some time , he cant go alone chasing 6 other fish all the time , he must get tired of chasing and others of hiding eventually .
Just spread the food to even out the chances of decend feeding amongst others.

Good luck .

[Ryan925]

Sounds like common aggression to me and very normal...

How many fish are in the tank?

The more fish the less aggression..

Also how is she feeding them? If she is pinning one cube to the glass then she is making it easy for the bully to do his job. She may want to spread the food out so that he cant cover it all. In my wild tank they are aggressive eaters, when I would stick cubes the 2 lower guys would always get pushed away. I started breaking the cubes and letting them soak for a few mins then dumping them in the tank, creates almost what I call a snow globe effect as you can imagine and the food is free floating all over and the fish just go nuts, no way for a bully to keep fish away from food with that method...

The other option is to provide a bit of cover or a place to retreat for the other fish such as a piece of driftwood...

I agree. When I feed I stick 3 cubes to the glass and spread them out quite a bit. I have one fish that sometimes likes to block the others.

I have noticed over The months level of aggression in the tank has diminished. See much less darting and slamming. Most often now its nudging or face offs. I even see my runt trying to take runs at the larger fish as of late.

I also think slight changes in scape have also had an effect. Since my last reposition of wood they all group more in the branches of the wood and don't really bother each other much.

I think as the fish grow more with each other and get used to the tank it gets better.

Discus are so beautiful and graceful it's easy to forget they are very aggressive cichlids

[MD.David]

I cut my cubes into 4's and put them in different spots of the tank, my large 120g has a ful stock and it takes 8 small cubes (2 full ones) to feed, some of my discus have there own feeding spot and stay patient as I'm feeding the others. Been like that for a while now.
Doing it this way does lower aggression and helps everyone get food more equally.


I agree. When I feed I stick 3 cubes to the glass and spread them out quite a bit. I have one fish that sometimes likes to block the others.

I have noticed over The months level of aggression in the tank has diminished. See much less darting and slamming. Most often now its nudging or face offs. I even see my runt trying to take runs at the larger fish as of late.

I also think slight changes in scape have also had an effect. Since my last reposition of wood they all group more in the branches of the wood and don't really bother each other much.

I think as the fish grow more with each other and get used to the tank it gets better.

Discus are so beautiful and graceful it's easy to forget they are very aggressive cichlids

[Bc chick]

ok perfect thanks everyone. thats exactly what shes been doing

[Bc chick]

Be chick , i saw both of your videos of new discus, great looking rainbow batch . Congrats and good luck with raising them .
That yelow PB was a real pain in the a... neck, indeed :) .
Just give them some time , he cant go alone chasing 6 other fish all the time , he must get tired of chasing and others of hiding eventually .
Just spread the food to even out the chances of decend feeding amongst others.

Good luck .

thanks filip. i actually started this tread regarding a friends....but yes, i just shot that vid. first time i saw him doing it. just coincidence that i posted thread n vid close together lol. my checker usually isnt bad. definitely always the first of two to start eating but he doesnt bug anyone at feeding time. stinker thst day is all

[Bc chick]

I cut my cubes into 4's and put them in different spots of the tank, my large 120g has a ful stock and it takes 8 small cubes (2 full ones) to feed, some of my discus have there own feeding spot and stay patient as I'm feeding the others. Been like that for a while now.
Doing it this way does lower aggression and helps everyone get food more equally.

they are they are. so beautiful. one just cant imagine whst it is lije to see them for the furst time in oerson

[Bc chick]

I agree. When I feed I stick 3 cubes to the glass and spread them out quite a bit. I have one fish that sometimes likes to block the others.

I have noticed over The months level of aggression in the tank has diminished. See much less darting and slamming. Most often now its nudging or face offs. I even see my runt trying to take runs at the larger fish as of late.

I also think slight changes in scape have also had an effect. Since my last reposition of wood they all group more in the branches of the wood and don't really bother each other much.

I think as the fish grow more with each other and get used to the tank it gets better.

Discus are so beautiful and graceful it's easy to forget they are very aggressive cichlids

yup shes got it floating in her tank. shes greatful to know its normal

[Bc chick]

Sounds like common aggression to me and very normal...

How many fish are in the tank?

The more fish the less aggression..

Also how is she feeding them? If she is pinning one cube to the glass then she is making it easy for the bully to do his job. She may want to spread the food out so that he cant cover it all. In my wild tank they are aggressive eaters, when I would stick cubes the 2 lower guys would always get pushed away. I started breaking the cubes and letting them soak for a few mins then dumping them in the tank, creates almost what I call a snow globe effect as you can imagine and the food is free floating all over and the fish just go nuts, no way for a bully to keep fish away from food with that method...

The other option is to provide a bit of cover or a place to retreat for the other fish such as a piece of driftwood...

ooops floating in tank comment wss for u

[Bc chick]

ok next question. im doing daily wster changes and treating with prime for 100g although clearly its not. daily my ammonia is up to .25 why? what more can i do than the daily wc. waiting for puigen to come in mail.

next. why do we use carbon and why do some not?

last. i have my discus qting in what will be a show tank. i want so bad to put one of my plecos in to help clean up the rock. my pleco is in my well established perfectly normal tank. is this wrong. i know we dont introduce fish until they hsve been quarantined but has my pleco not been qted? please explain. if i have to use a pleco as a hero, i will take the chance on loosing him as long as he wont hurt my discus

[RogueDiscus]

last. i have my discus qting in what will be a show tank. i want so bad to put one of my plecos in to help clean up the rock. my pleco is in my well established perfectly normal tank. is this wrong. i know we dont introduce fish until they hsve been quarantined but has my pleco not been qted? please explain. if i have to use a pleco as a hero, i will take the chance on loosing him as long as he wont hurt my discus

Others may correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is exactly opposite of what you want to do. Introducing any fish from another tank into your QT, runs the risk of bringing in problems. Your "hero" needs to be a fish from QT that you add to the other tank. If that one does OK, then you can think about mixing.

[Bc chick]

Others may correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is exactly opposite of what you want to do. Introducing any fish from another tank into your QT, runs the risk of bringing in problems. Your "hero" needs to be a fish from QT that you add to the other tank. If that one does OK, then you can think about mixing.

changed threads see new one