discus being bullied

[majik]

one of my discus is being bullied at feeding times and now has taken to hide at feeding times it looks ok and comes out at other times but is weary of the bully the only other tank i can transfer to is hospital tank any advise would be greatly apreciated thank u

[Don Trinko]

spread the food out when you feed them. The bullie will try to chase the others but one will eat while it chases the other, etc. Don T.

[majik]

hmm i have been doing this but the bullied one just hides when food shows up and the bully dosnt pick on anyone else only this one ,i hav been wagging my finger at him and telling him hes naughty but hes just not listening:mad:lol

[hironobu]

My suggestion will be to really "feed" the fish. #1 in the tank will act more aggressive when its hungry, they are schooling fish and will form a natural hierarchy, such is unavoidable. But part of it is the owners fault because sometimes we regulate the fishs' diet, especially how much they eat. So perhaps you need to feed them more food, especially if they are young (under one year old, or under 4") Once #1 is happy the others can be happy as well. Besides discus do most of their growing early on so better feed them well while they need the nutrients. You dont want small, stunted grown-ups.

If the situation doesnt improve consider moving #1 out of the tank so the others can grow out, vise versa. You didnt mention if #1 is any bigger than the rest. The other method would be to take #1 out and reintroduce it back to the tank after a short time, it "might" feel like a new comer and act nicer. Still if there is a large size difference please consider growing out the smaller fish first. Good luck. :)

[majik]

i have very mixed sizes my wee ones are 50mm and my biggest is 160mm the bully in question is 90mm and so is the one being bullied i feed heavily in the mornings and little bits and pieces during the day the little ones are pigs and always eating my biggest is a slower eater naturally and dosnt forrage on the bottom as the little ones do i do 50% water changes daily and vaccume daily the biggest is very placid and dosnt pick on anyone (often putting herself between bully and bullied,the bully also dosnt pick on anyone of the little ones

[hironobu]

lol thats cute, yea happens to me too, in my 90G tank the biggest is actually the 3rd in commend. Well again its natural for them to have infighting. After all they got nothing to do for the whole day except to eat and swim around. Chasing and pecking, believe it or not, is healthy for them and is a form of exercise. Since they got no natural enemies in captivity and no strong flow current to battle with. Yea my discus of the same size fight alot actually, and it is the smaller ones that eat the most, and grow the most too. In my experience they are chiclids and so they will "play" and fight for senority. Keep observing and see what happens. Nature has a funny way of working things out. The way I figure, and I take the same approach with children, they'll eat when their hungry. Except when they're sick, but if you put enough food on the table they'll eat.

p.s. try feed abit more at night, since it'll usually be another 8~10 hours before they eat again. Also amen to the big breakfast! :D

[majik]

haha thanks for that its good to have reassurance yes they really do all have a personalty all of their own i just love them thank u again