Tztop
04-29-2020, 03:18 PM
First off, hello everyone, my name's Travis and I'm from Virginia Beach. After being interested in the hobby (mainly due to discus) for a couple years now, I just recently got the opportunity to setup a discus tank and got my first discus about a week ago on the 23rd. So some background info on the tank:
Background info:
I have a standard 55 gal tank and stocked it with 6 3.5"-4" discus from Uncle Sam's Discus. The color strains are: White Ghost, Blue Diamond, Blue Turquoise, Blue Snakeskin, Fire Red, and a Golden Melon. While I wanted to go for 2" fish and watch them grow in a nice planted tank, research from this site recommended doing either 2" fish in a bare bottom tank or a planted tank with only adult fish. So I split the difference and went with a more sparsely planted tank (5 plants: Gold Coin Anubius, Anubias Nangi, Jungle Valisneria, Red Melon Sword, and Amazon Sword) and went for the 3.5" to 4" fish size. I went with pool filtration sand for the substrate and decorated with a couple pieces of spider wood and river rocks (already learned how quickly debris finds those cracks.) So far, I'd say the fish came in healthy and are doing well for the most part.
127531
Now on to the questions:
Questions:
1. At what point does aggression become too much aggression? Within the first couple hours after the discus were added to my tank, the blue diamond was running the tank and harassing the white ghost quite frequently. Now, however, the white ghost seems to be the boss of the tank and will go after the blue diamond pretty much on sight. The white ghost seems to only go after the blue diamond too (occasionally the golden melon as well, but no where near as frequently.) The white ghost has seemed to claim the right side of the tank as their domain and won't let the blue diamond anywhere near it, but doesn't care if the turq, snakeskin, or fire red are on the right side. The white ghost never even goes after those three. The fire red has also joined the white ghost in going after the blue diamond. I'm starting to see marks on the blue diamond and am starting to get worried that the aggression level is getting a little high. At what point should I look at intervening or should I just wait it out and see if they settle down any?
2. How young can discus start pairing off? Like I mentioned in the previous question, the white ghost and fire red seem to be going after the blue diamond together. I've also seen them shaking at each other from time to time. From what I have read, 3.5 to 4 inch fish are still too young for breeding, but could they still pair off this early and establish a territory? Also, and guesses on if the turquoise and snakeskin being the opposite gender of the white ghost and that being why it tolerates them, yet the fire red will tussle with them from time to time?
3. What are some tips for getting the discus more used to me being around them and getting them to eat from the surface of the water when I add food? While I know these are still new discus and need time to settle, I want to do what I can to speed the process up as much as possible. I know that they will eat the food as they will pick it up off the substrate after a few minutes of me being away from the tank, but I've only got two of them eating it while its still in the water column (the blue diamond and golden melon) and they aren't coming anywhere near the surface to eat.
Any tips or tricks is greatly appreciated.
- Travis
Background info:
I have a standard 55 gal tank and stocked it with 6 3.5"-4" discus from Uncle Sam's Discus. The color strains are: White Ghost, Blue Diamond, Blue Turquoise, Blue Snakeskin, Fire Red, and a Golden Melon. While I wanted to go for 2" fish and watch them grow in a nice planted tank, research from this site recommended doing either 2" fish in a bare bottom tank or a planted tank with only adult fish. So I split the difference and went with a more sparsely planted tank (5 plants: Gold Coin Anubius, Anubias Nangi, Jungle Valisneria, Red Melon Sword, and Amazon Sword) and went for the 3.5" to 4" fish size. I went with pool filtration sand for the substrate and decorated with a couple pieces of spider wood and river rocks (already learned how quickly debris finds those cracks.) So far, I'd say the fish came in healthy and are doing well for the most part.
127531
Now on to the questions:
Questions:
1. At what point does aggression become too much aggression? Within the first couple hours after the discus were added to my tank, the blue diamond was running the tank and harassing the white ghost quite frequently. Now, however, the white ghost seems to be the boss of the tank and will go after the blue diamond pretty much on sight. The white ghost seems to only go after the blue diamond too (occasionally the golden melon as well, but no where near as frequently.) The white ghost has seemed to claim the right side of the tank as their domain and won't let the blue diamond anywhere near it, but doesn't care if the turq, snakeskin, or fire red are on the right side. The white ghost never even goes after those three. The fire red has also joined the white ghost in going after the blue diamond. I'm starting to see marks on the blue diamond and am starting to get worried that the aggression level is getting a little high. At what point should I look at intervening or should I just wait it out and see if they settle down any?
2. How young can discus start pairing off? Like I mentioned in the previous question, the white ghost and fire red seem to be going after the blue diamond together. I've also seen them shaking at each other from time to time. From what I have read, 3.5 to 4 inch fish are still too young for breeding, but could they still pair off this early and establish a territory? Also, and guesses on if the turquoise and snakeskin being the opposite gender of the white ghost and that being why it tolerates them, yet the fire red will tussle with them from time to time?
3. What are some tips for getting the discus more used to me being around them and getting them to eat from the surface of the water when I add food? While I know these are still new discus and need time to settle, I want to do what I can to speed the process up as much as possible. I know that they will eat the food as they will pick it up off the substrate after a few minutes of me being away from the tank, but I've only got two of them eating it while its still in the water column (the blue diamond and golden melon) and they aren't coming anywhere near the surface to eat.
Any tips or tricks is greatly appreciated.
- Travis