If you "turned the heat up to 80" that is potentially part of the stress issue. Discus will tolerate 80 minimally, but do best at 84+
I just wanted to quickly add what I've done as I've been going through the exact same thing right now. Started with 7 larger discus in a 90g tank and the aggression was just brutal to watch. Things have improved greatly, but the two smallest discus are* still being picked on and I'm still working through that now. But for weeks prior, ALL of the discus except for the two largest were extremely stressed and eating was limited. Here's what helped:
-Added 2 more discus. Have 2 more coming. This helped a bit. Puts me at overstocked, but I do large water changes every other day normally and have 3 filters on the tank.
-Turned the heat up to 88
-Added salt
-Increased water changes to daily
-Rearranged the tank MULTIPLE times. Although a pain, this was a huge help.
-taped a blanket around the tank after rearranging and kept lights off for a few days. This difference after was also a bit noticeable.
Things have improved quite a bit.. however, like I said the smallest two are still very stressed and haven't looked great. However, all of the other discus have almost completely chilled out when they were going at the entire month prior. Saw the changes in about a week. But when those two come out of their hiding spots they get chased right back. I am having a hard time deciding whether to pull them or not, as I know this stresses them even further at times + the new discus are still a bit skittish with me and I worry about making this worse by trying to catch them. Hope this helps a bit and good luck. It definitely can be stressful.
Last edited by number1sixerfan; 12-08-2020 at 08:07 PM.
If you "turned the heat up to 80" that is potentially part of the stress issue. Discus will tolerate 80 minimally, but do best at 84+
Similar issue as Wayne's.
In my 55 gal tank I had four 3" they were eating. After I added two 4", one of the smaller ones has stopped eating. It's been almost 2 weeks I've never seen him eat. Yet he is the aggressor... Do you suggest to QT him?