New discus behavior questions

[Innivus]

First off, thanks for the great site. I've been browsing over your words of wisdon before I finally took the plunge ad started discus keeping over the past 2 months, keeping in mind I'm more interested in a community tank than a discus show/breeding setup. I have a few questions, hopefully you can help me out.

I started off with 1 discus, a 4-5" red turq. Had him for about 2 months in a 30 gal, just to see what the fish required and if I could keep him happy; and to my delight, he was pretty easy.

So I picked up three more this past tuesday; a 7" pigeon blood and two 4-5" red marls (I think I've correctly ID'd them...but I can worry about that later). The one thing I want to note is all three were previously in a 20g tank together at my LFS . I put them all in a 55 gallon which already had some rainbows, otos and cardinals. I've split the tank so the random fish don't bother the discus (for now, just to keep the stress down and allow the discus time to eat).

So a few things I've noticed; the big guy isn't touching much food right now. I've treid some bloodworms, beefheart/garlic/spinach homemade mix, and I just tossed some ghost shrimp in there. He ignores all of it and he's also just chilling in his own space. Anything I need to worry bout as of yet?

Also, my three 4-5" guys are going at it...specifically there's a lot of lip-biting and some general "wrassling." Should I take action (such as un-divide the tank) or am I worrying too much? If anything I'm a bit happy because they've been a bit slow to take to the tank so I'm glad to see some life in 'em.

Thoughts? Appreciate it all ahead of time.

Vince

[Apistomaster]

All new discus take some time getting used to the new environment and foods, but I think the adjustment period is longer for many older and larger Discus. Fish are definitely creatures of habit and the old one has more to overcome.

Just to be safe and make sure it is at least eating try some live blackworms. Most discus will respond well to them and if they don't maybe something more worrisome is causing it not to come out and eating well. Normally a large discus wastes no time taking what it feels is it's rightful place at the top of the food chain.
BTW, Ghost Shrimp and Discus may be safely kept together. Discus never bother them in all my experience. Having raised both animals I've had plenty of chances to keep them together and only the baby shrimp are on the menu. My cherry shrimp did not work out with my discus but my show tank has very few potted plants so they had few hiding places but even they can work in a well planted tank.

If the blackworm idea didn't help try to get back to the forum so precious time is not lost in case it is a more serious problem. There are as many "tricks" to try as there are discus keepers.

All those mock battles you are witnessing are normal and in part are the sorting out of the social ranking but because of their size it can also be part of the pair formation process. Let them have their fun and sit back and enjoy the show as it is very much part of what makes Discus such fascinating creatures.