Aggressive discus

[g8torjohn]

I have 4 discus fish in a 30 gallon tank. 2 red-striated and 2 blue pandas. The largest red -- about 3.5 inches-- has begun to constantly pick on the smaller red --about 3 inches. The smaller red is beginnign to show signs of stress, fading colors, prominent vertical stripes and is hiding (or trying to) all the time. How can I correct the aggressive behavior?

[Carol_Roberts]

This happens frequently with only 4 juveniles in a tank. You can try a divider or puting the aggressor in a different tank tank for a while.

[FrankLuvsDiscus]

;D I think you should get 2 or 3 more discus around the same size of the one getting bullied. Atleast this may spread out the bullying so just one doesn't take the brunt of it and should lessen stress focus. IMO i'd take the stressed one out of that tank and place it in another if you have one and maybe add some salt to it to calm him. I lost a BD cause of this kinda thing , I took him out of the tank and place it in with my angels but he died 3 days later. It sucks but serious bullying from 1 to another 1 really can do them in . If you have a bigger #1 discus that likes to harass its best to have atleast 5 other discus besides him so his bullying gets spread out and it keeps him to busy to harass just one. Totally what happened in my tank, i lost two cause of it until i figured out a good tank decor setup and got 5 other discus besides the 1 big guy . Now he'll still chase but never the same one for more than 5 seconds until he's back to eating or something else.


You may also (if you have any) wanna change you decor in your tank to split up any territory claiming. This works really well with other aggressive Cichlids and it seems to play in with Discus aswell.

Good luck !
Im a new Discus keeper (4 months only) but i've read alot and i watch their behavior all the time!

Franko

[Carol_Roberts]

Be sure to quarantine any new fish for 4-6 weeks before adding them to your existing discus

[henryD]

I think your best bet is to save your money for a bigger tank. I noticed you said you had 4 discus on a 30 gallon tank. Sizes 3.5-3. If you were to buy 2-3 more discus of 3". That would make 7 good size discus in a 30 gallon tank. That would be too crowded. Maybe your smaller discus is being picked on because they are starting to outgrow their environment.

If buying another tank is out of the question then I would take carol's advice and put in a divider.

[g8torjohn]

I guess the discuss consortium is sending me (successful) subliinal messages. We bought a 60 gallon tank and are getting ready to add a few more discuss to the family. Thanks for all the good advice!

[FrankLuvsDiscus]

:o Just wanna mention to make sure your 60g is cycled before you place discus in there and make sure to use an already seeded filter from you 30g.

Tank changes is were i stress with my fish...

Good Luck!

Franko

[Carol_Roberts]

Good advice Franko.

It's always a good idea to check ammonia levels for the first few days after adding more fish to a new tank.

Get an extra sponge filter cycling in this tank so you'll have a cycled filter for your next tank ;)

[FrankLuvsDiscus]

:) Thanks Carol ,,,,, oh i just recieved my first order of CBW's today from Dan! Awesome im super excited! You know they came perfectly packaged and cold cause of the ice bag included. I got two holding trays aswell...... Uh I don't wanna insult Dan or you or anyone else that feeds their fish CBW's but they look just like Tubifex just a different coloration.

anyhow im happy with em and can't wait to feed my discus them!

Yahoo!
Have a good one!
Franko