What I DON'T like about Discus.

Gorgeous fish. Lots of color. Easy to keep.

But they just fight all the time!

It seems they are always pairing up and then choosing real estate and drawing lines. And it never stops.

I don't like that. Seems I am always moving them around and worrying about one or another for that very reason.

Right now I have 7 large discus in 112 gallons. 2 pairs and the 3rd is happening now. Of course there is the oddball that keeps getting ran off. I will probably plop and drop it in the shop tank where I keep all the misfits.

I know they are cichlids and I figured this was coming but man. I just don't have the heart sometimes to sit and watch them bicker like they do.

Angels don't fight like this. I just don't get it. I may go back to guppies.

Note: I am not into breeding fish. I already have 5 aquariums. I really don't want more. I don't want to raise fry. Is this what they are always like? Are you constantly moving them around and breaking up the fights?

Got to say I read this a lot but I don’t deal with it. My guys rarely fight. If a pair breeds they go to their corner and protect it. Once they start the rest just don’t want to be bothered and leave them be. Funny after my cc problem I moved most of the plants out of my first tank. When the fish all got better they did start fighting. Lasted a good week or so. But its over now. One of the pairs changed but that’s it. Got to say I’m happy I don’t have to deal with that. My tanks are 5’ long and that may be the reason. Lots of room to get away from the breeders.
Attachment 131298 on the right she’s watching eggs Attachment 131299 on the left the blue is watching eggs and on th3 right the red is cleaning a spot. In both tanks the rest are just hanging.

You have some beautiful tanks Bro. I really like the way you set them up.

Some of my problem may be the shape of my tanks. They are more square than yours. 36" long- 30" deep and 24" tall.
Maybe not having that extra foot in length makes a difference in their attitudes.

Very natural thing. They're cichlids. Had a male peacock and hap tank prior to this, and many other cichlid tanks over the years prior to getting back into discus. Same behavior as the others, just less aggressive and damaging in nature. Some will be luckier than others, but it's totally natural. Slight overcrowding is solid solution but very tough with the water quality discus need. Larger tank helps, but the same issues can arise.

All of that said, it's extremely annoying lol. My adults have finally settled down after 8 or so months, but 2 of them are kings of the tank at full color, while the others that they dominate are slightly less so. That I don't mind much, it's the side issues like injury and stress from time to time that surface when one fish is bullied too much. That part subsided a LOT once the pecking order was settled (months later), but it's still annoying to see the two bully the others from the time to time and keep them in check when all are such beautiful fish. And when they pair up, good luck, everything goes out the window lol--but again, it's rare that they actually hurt each other, it's mainly stress you have to look out for.

edit* one thing to add, it wasn't as bad at all with the groups of fish that I raised together from juvies to adults yrs before I came back to the hobby. I had to go adults this go round, which can drastically exaggerate the potential issue.

I had this when I was first starting out and had only 6 discus in a 6x2x2. Now that I have a lot more and a bigger tank, no worries. Can you add more to the tank instead of removing?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BrendanJ23

I had this when I was first starting out and had only 6 discus in a 6x2x2. Now that I have a lot more and a bigger tank, no worries. Can you add more to the tank instead of removing?

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I had 2 more in the tank and took them out due to this same issue.
They are now in the misfit tank in my shop.
It is the same size tank.
They have all been together now for at least 6-8 months.
It is the pairing up that is causing the strife.
They all got together great until that started.

Honestly, I really don't like the overcrowding option.

Is their any way you can spay and neuter discus??? LOL Just kidding.

Vinni, I would have to agree with you. I also think it's the foot print of your tank. 3 feet is not much to give all those horny young adult discus room court and establish a home.:o

More at this point might be a good idea. The over crowding might discourage breeding.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vinni Smith

...Is their any way you can spay and neuter discus???...

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Drop the temp to 77F and they'll stop spawning.

Actually, I guess discus are just like people - fighting all the time

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Willie

Drop the temp to 77F and they'll stop spawning.

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I'm on it!!!

Gonna start dropping it right now.

I have been keeping that tank at 82. I will try 80 for a couple of days, then down from there.

Thanks Willie! I appreciate it bro.

Hi Vinni,

I find this bothersome too. To me it is the dark side of discus. Other than the cichlid aggression thing, I also think that sometimes there is a schooling dynamic which is dysfunctional at lower numbers or smaller footprints. I am theorizing that this is a product of living with pirhanas in the wild and seems to be worse with browns/blues/reds than with greens and Heckels. With my blues the dominant fish seems to be a signal fish which the other fish key on. While my Heckels who live in a less competitive environment are more easy going.

Other than a bigger footprint and a bigger group, I have found structure to be helpful. If all fish have a safe place without being pushed into a corner, this seems to help. Of course, structure complicates cleaning. I am planning a mangrove root design where the structure does not touch bottom but is slightly suspended above the bottom to ease siphoning and avoid debris-catching slack water.

Good luck with lowering the temp.


Hope it works out,
Andy :)

It's because of the many water changes you guys do. The females gives off hormones that makes the fish fight and pair off when excessive water is changed because of the parameter shift to a more alkaline environment. After I built a very large recirculating system that requires bi weekly water changes apposed to daily or every second day my aggression problems stopped and all gets along just fine with no aggression.