Mean group of new discus

[mrika]

I have recently gotten four fat and beautiful Royal Blue discus for my tank. They came from a local breeder, and in his care they were peaceful and friendly.

In my tank, they spend most of their time squabbling about their pecking order. They're not ganging up on one particular fish, but they are scratching themselves up a bit during their deliberations.

The breeder claims that this is caused by too few fish...which may not be the most unbiased advice ever. Will adding more fish to my tank cause them to mellow out?

My tank specs:

100 gallons
pH 6.6
no ammonia, nitrate or nitrite
temp 87F

[JFlo]

In a 100 gallon tank I would do about 10. If you have too few they do fight more. A while back I only had 3 wilds in my 150 and they fought all the time. With 12 in the tank they all love each other.

[Don Trinko]

They may settle down in a few days but your tank will certainly hold more. I have had several groups of 4 that got along fine, I even have 2 (not maited pair) that get along but typicaly 5, 6 or more is better. Discus do have a personality and some are easier to get along with than others. ( like people!)
There will almost always be some chasing around but normaly there is little or no actual damage. Don T.

[Eddie]

More fish will help, just that you will need to QT any new ones for at least 6 weeks.

Eddie