The Amazing Disappearing, Reappearing Discus!

[FredB]

Ok, I'm completely mystified here. I have two newer blue heckels that will not leave each other alone! They swim together incessantly. I'm thinking/hoping they're a pair. Weel, in the last couple weeks, there's been this weird phenomenon with one staying in one corner of the tank (their favorite corner by the filter intake tube) and the other one is non-existent. It's only a 75-gallon planted tank, but try as I might, I cannot find the other one. It always shows up sometime later...and everything seems fine for a few days. Then it goes away again! I'm going to start keeping track of if it's the same one or not, but it seems so weird! It's the apparent male that's gone right now. Any thoughts? The one that's there right now chases away other fish from that corner...but once they both show up, they roam the tank again. Picking spots maybe?? Could I get that lucky??

Fred

[Joao]

Hi Fred,

What's the size of your fish?
What kind a fish you keep w/ Discus?
For how long you have them?
Maybe if you give a detailed story someone can help you.
It's normal the look for territory when they grow bigger, but you say the other one disappear ? correct me if I'm wrong, but no fish disappear in the tank, you have to see if is not dead in some corner of the tank........
Fred give some more details , and for sure we all be glad to help you.

Joao

[Ryan Smith]

Discus are a shoaling fish. How many discus are in the tank? It may be pairing activity, but it's common for most discus to stay in groups. They seem to feel more secure in numbers. I have 6 heckel crosses in a 55 gallon tank. If 2 or 3 of them start swimming across to the other side of the tank, the rest quickly follow. They do not tend to leave the group unless feeding.

If the tank is heavily planted it is not hard to "lose" a fish. I have been in situations before where I've searched tanks over and never been able to find them. I guess one of the advantages of bare-bottom tanks is that there are few hiding places, and so they're easier to spot :)

Ryan

[Richman]

Yep, sometimes they can be difficult to find in a tank that is heavily planted. If the fish are small and you have a HOB filter, sometimes they can hide behind the overhang of the filter where the water flows in. The only tank where a fish can virtually disappear, even if it is barebottom, is an L shaped tank. Used to have a 100 gallon L shaped tank that went around a corner and the L in the back creates an optical illusion that makes a fish disappear unless you view it from the end of the tank. Sometimes the fish are just smarter than we are. 8)

[FredB]

There are four discus in the tank....the pair that pull this little act are around 6" long, so they're not small fish by any means. There's also a school of 15 rummy-nosed tetras, a couple neons, a black neon, six cories and a pair of rainbows. The tank is planted, but not incredibly heavy. I can see just about everywhere in the tank, that's why it's so confounding that they can pull it off with this degree of success!

Any to the first replier, if you read my inital post carefully, I did say that they always reappear within an hour or so, then roam the tank normally again. In fact, it came back by the time I was done typing that post, after me searching for about 20 minutes beforehand!

Fred

[fcdiscus]

Maybe ya got one of them there Chameleon fish! ;D Frank

[limige]

i had two bass in a lightly planted tank and the small one disappeared after i went hunting.

turns out there was a pocket in the rear of the tank, i had some slat piled up in the rear well apparently there was a good sized pocket underneath!!!

amazing, you'd never see it, the sides and rear of the tank are painted blue so it was hard to find!!

hehe, darn fish.

[slicksta]

I typically keep moderately decorated tanks and it is not uncommon for fish to pull a disappearing act....especially if there new to the tank.
I have done water changes and moved every thing around and still not been able to find them....
It always turns out OK.....as long as they are eating......
....some fish like a little solitude once in a while....I guess

[BlueTurquoise]

Wow 6inch fish dissapearing! I used to keep black skirt tetras that used to totally dissapear (to the point where I thought they were dead. One day they would just turn up for feeding time, but these were 1 inch fish in a planted tank... 6 inches is strange! maybe you have Houdini discus!

Chong ;D

[FredB]

I'm starting to wonder. They're the biggest two in the tank...they pretty well own it. They both eat wonderfully, so I'm not worried that they're dead (though the first time they did this a couple weeks ago made me squirm a bi...said to myself "just wait, it's just hiding"). The pair has been in the tank for almost a month and a half now....crazy...I guess I DO live in Houdini's hometown, so maybe there's something to it! I wish it would stop though, my discus and my local supply guy (Matt!) are pulling disappearing acts on me!

Fred

[BlueTurquoise]

Month and a half is not a long time. Just give them time. They will adjust to the tank and be more "public". I think they may just be exploring the suroundings. Make sure whereever they are hiding, it is clean... if you can't see them, you can't see the poo either...

Chong

[FredB]

Oh, they're perfectly social. They meet me when I get home and come greet me at the glass and everything. It's just one goes away for anywhere from 20 mins to an hour or so every couple weeks or so. The other one just goes on like everything is normal. Weird, but I can deal with it. I'm hoping maybe it's scoping out a good place to lay some eggs...I'm going to keep watching for wrigglers!

Fred