new red marlboro wont stop hiding :(

[greenphantom1994]

hi guys. originally I had 2 5' discus in my tank, 3 days ago I added another 4.5'red Marlboro. all fish were bought from the same tank, so they should all be familiar with eachother. however, the latest addition was being picked on almost straight away after being added to the tank and has now been in the same hiding position for almost 3 days. he attempted to come out a short while ago but got chased straight away and has now gone back hiding. anyone else have these problems?? I consider all fish ive chosen were the healthiest available from that tank. all seem healthy and happy... apart from this constant chasing.

[gundala]

Most of SDers would say you need more than 3-4 discus to spread out the aggression (they r cichlid). What I did in the past was put the new discus (after quarantine is over) in a different tank, put the other discus from the 'show' tank into that tank. Rearrange a few things (ornament, sponge filter, etc.) in the 'show' tank. Then put everyone back into the 'show' tank. Now everyone is like new kid on the block & they'll re-establish pecking order instead of ganging up on newcomer.

[greenphantom1994]

thanks gundala, but that's not an option for me unfortunately.

[John_Nicholson]

With small fish you really need at least 6. Otherwise it is not going to end well.

-john

[greenphantom1994]

thanks john. the 2 fish I have are 5' maybe a little bit bigger. the red Marlboro has been returned for its own safety. I am planning on adding a beautiful 5' golden leopard snakeskin discus to make it a trio. I am trying to keep all fish exactly the same size as it seems any smaller fish is not accepted into my tank.

[Second Hand Pat]

Size is not necessarily the deciding point. It depends on the individual fish. Best chance for success is a larger group but you might try adding two vs one and please QT.