Help! Discus fighting

[seanl]

hi im new here,
ive had 2 turquoise discus in my setup for about 3-4 weeks. they were doing fine but recently i added 2 more discus a blue diamond and yellow diamond. and its been about a week and the biggest fish a 3in turquoise has taken over harassing all the other fish heres the fish sizes
turquoise 1-3 in
turquoise 2-2.8in
blue diamond-2.5in
yellow diamond-2.3in
its just an estimation i didnt take them out and measure
over the course of the week the 2 new fish are settled and eating well but still getting harassed by turquoise 1. the fish im worried about is the blue diamond it only comes out to eat. and its hiding behind the heater, and i dont want it getting burned by the heater. any ideas?

[Don Trinko]

You didn't say what size tank of if they are actualy being damaged by the one fish. If they are not being damaged this is normal behavier and will eventual result in a pecking order. One fish will be last in the pecking order and it may hide at times.
You can seperate the bully by putting in a seperator. You can buy one at most of the lfs but you can make one from flourecent light plastic that you can find at most of the home improvment stores. Don T.

[judy]

But if your tank is big enough (55 gallon and up), get another two discus. The more fish in the tank, tjhe less the buy at the bottom of the pekcing oder gets pecked on...
you can buy heater guards-- cages that fit over heaters so fish don't touch the glass by the heating elements and burn themselves.

[seanl]

my tank is 46G bow i think they have already established their pecking order. and no one has gotten hurt yet but i really feel sorry for the blue diamond its always cowering in the corner behind the filter intake and the heater. is there space in the tank for more discuses?

[judy]

yes. If you keep on top of the water and ensure its clean, you can fit two more in there. The pecking order may change and that would be good for the blue diamond, but at the very least, the ones picking on the blue diamond will now have two more to deal with, so the aggression will be spread out.
To keep your water clean, make sure you have about three times the biofiltration you need for a tank that size (canister or HOB filters or both) and change at least a third of your water frequently-- at least twice or three times a week.