My little fighters

[Dudley Eirich]

I have 10 juvenile discus that I am growing out and the two smallest (about 3 1/2 inches TL) are the most aggressive of all the discus in the tank. In fact the smallest one of the two bullies the four biggest ones that are all about 6 inches (TL). I have to feed at both ends of the tank because he chases all but two others away from the food if I only feed at one end.

This is a picture of the two small ones having it out this afternoon. Plus they fought again for a good 5 minutes this evening.

[Eddie]

I love little ones fighting, gets them ready for the future, like bucks.

[Dudley Eirich]

It is interesting that the smallest seem to have the most aggressive tendencies. They expend a lot of energy defending food, territory and making themselves a nuisance. That's probably why they are the smallest of all the siblings. Of the 10 in the tank, one group of four are siblings and another group of six are siblings.

[yim11]

LOL it is fun to see them find the pecking order. Always a good idea to spread the food out as much as possible so they all get a chance at it. I think a lot of us forget they are still cichlids sometimes!

They look good, best of luck with them!
-jim

[trit0n2003]

I am seeing some pecking order taking place with my 6 young ones myself, I am new to discus but i assume it is going to work somewhat like my angelfish when they made a pecking order. Always going to be a dominant one lol

[ZX10R]

Is the one on the left a Red/White? If so I have a tank with 9 discus in it and one being a red/white. He is the second smallest fish in the tank and he is just mean to the other fish. They all get along great but that red/white he is such a bully he is always chasing the other 8 discus.

[Dudley Eirich]

The one on the left is a Red/White. It's been an aggressive fish since I got him at about 1 inch, but the other one is the one that chases away fish that are much bigger.

[BODYDUB]

I love little ones fighting, gets them ready for the future, like bucks.

Lol................

[Dudley Eirich]

Update on my little fighters...they are still at each other just like in the picture. The one on the right (Rocky) is the second smallest discus in the tank and bullies all the others except two other fish. There are four fish in the tank that are at least twice his size but he still chases them away at feeding time. One of the fish that he doesn't bully is a larger sibling, who is really the dominant fish, but is not as aggressive about it. The other one who doesn't take a lot of guff is the red/white on the left. He puts up with a little bit of harassment and then he begins to fight back and fireworks begin. Rocky is so aggressive at feeding time that he has pretty much staked out one end of the tank as his own (may or may not be a male...too young to tell). I feed some of the food at his end and some at the other end, so the rest of the fish can eat without being attacked. Rocky won't eat tetra bits, but, when I feed them, he just runs around chasing the other fish who are trying to eat. All that wasted energy (plus being a picky eater) is probably why he is so small.