One discus Biting and chasing others!

[Reesj]

I recently got a 50 gallon setup and got 9 neons and 4 corycats. Recently(about a week) I bought 2 powder blue discus about 6.5cm and then after two days 4 more discus about 6cm. Two of them red melon and two blue turquoise with stripes. Both blue turquoise are quite well coloured but other four are still not well coloured mostly white.
The problem :-
One of the blue turquoise keep chasing and biting other 5 discus. He will chase very aggressively all around the tank. He is not the biggest; like 3rd or 4th in size but definitely quite well coloured. When he is in some of the others also tend to pick on the relatively small once. I separated the blue turquoise one for over a day and all 5 others get along very well. Other blue turquoise tend to bite but nothing serious. I put the separated one back again and sure enough next morning he is terrorising the rest again. Now rest of the fish hiding in corner at plants and he even go there and bite them.

What can I do ? Should I try to return him to the buyer?
When I went and picked the discus reds were in a school. One of the blue once were in a mix with different sizes of fish and other one he just picked from some corner and put in to make the pair. ??

[Andy27012]

Can you tell more about your tank? Is it bare bottom or do you have substrate? What is your maintence routine? It is normal for their to be a dominant discus that rules the herd but without knowing the above it is impossible to tell if it is the discus being harassed or their new environment stressing them out.


I recently got a 50 gallon setup and got 9 neons and 4 corycats. Recently(about a week) I bought 2 powder blue discus about 6.5cm and then after two days 4 more discus about 6cm. Two of them red melon and two blue turquoise with stripes. Both blue turquoise are quite well coloured but other four are still not well coloured mostly white.
The problem :-
One of the blue turquoise keep chasing and biting other 5 discus. He will chase very aggressively all around the tank. He is not the biggest; like 3rd or 4th in size but definitely quite well coloured. When he is in some of the others also tend to pick on the relatively small once. I separated the blue turquoise one for over a day and all 5 others get along very well. Other blue turquoise tend to bite but nothing serious. I put the separated one back again and sure enough next morning he is terrorising the rest again. Now rest of the fish hiding in corner at plants and he even go there and bite them.

What can I do ? Should I try to return him to the buyer?
When I went and picked the discus reds were in a school. One of the blue once were in a mix with different sizes of fish and other one he just picked from some corner and put in to make the pair. ??

[Surfnturf]

How long have they been in there? From what I've read they tend to settle down a bit after a few weeks. That's kind of how it went with my two. You may keep the lights off for a few days to reduce aggression.

[John_Nicholson]

LOL....I suggest you spend some time reading the beginners section. I have news for the world....animals fight....it is completely natural. Once they get their pecking order established it should slow down some.

-john

[Reesj]

Can you tell more about your tank? Is it bare bottom or do you have substrate? What is your maintence routine? It is normal for their to be a dominant discus that rules the herd but without knowing the above it is impossible to tell if it is the discus being harassed or their new environment stressing them out.

It is a planted tank 50 gallon as mentioned with 3, 1.5, 1.5. Got planted soil bottom with sand on top (sea sand normal mix) with some white quartz type substrate at some parts. I will remove this white part soon, as not that great for corycats and will replace with sand top completely. I changed the water once since I go the Discus during this week. Water is very clean as I'm feeding them bloodworm dried and froze.n Corycats clean bottom with a good in build filter. Well picture is worth a thousand words!
http://i.imgur.com/nyg4Efh.jpg
This is the little trouble maker!
http://i.imgur.com/9DHs1JB.jpg

They have been in the tank like 5-6 days now. Also the problem is he is not letting any of the other fish even move off the corner they in now! All 5 in one corner and when ever they stray off from there he will go bite and chase them off. sometimes will even go there and bite. The old trick of keeping him off and reintroducing also did not work as mentioned!

[Reesj]

Wow the moderators here sucks ***! With stupid system of posting pictures ::mad: I posted the reply 24 hours ago and as it has pictures still not posted after review!


Can you tell more about your tank? Is it bare bottom or do you have substrate? What is your maintence routine? It is normal for their to be a dominant discus that rules the herd but without knowing the above it is impossible to tell if it is the discus being harassed or their new environment stressing them out.
The tank is 50 gallon 3,1.5,1.5 feet size planted tank mate. Plant substrate bottom and top sand top (sea and river combined) with white quartz type which I removed today as its not that good for cory cats. I cleaned it just before I put them in and again today so basically once a week water change 70%. I feed them frozen and dried bloodworm so the water is in good condition! They had no problem transition from Beefheart to worms!
Problem is its not just being dominate but he keep biting and chasing all rest. Yesterday he did not let any of the other 5 to come off the corner of the tank. When ever they step out he will bite and chase them off! Today he did not even let the others eat! I put him off for 1 day and reintroduce and still the same story next day! When only other 5 there not much aggression just some small squabbles!
I'm afraid maybe the breeder even knew about it! He put one of the two blue torques from a side tank which I think maybe him to make the pair. That is because one one was there in a tank with different types of fish of all sizes. The reds were ofcourse in a tank of own with the spawned batch!

[Keith Perkins]

Mate, I'd suggest you lay of the moderators a bit. They're actually a great bunch of folks and will usually sort out most stuff in short order, including trolls and undesirables.

You can ask the supplier about replacing the fish, but I sure wouldn't accuse him of selling you the beast on purpose. As John said aggression by one or more fish in a group is completely natural and your bound to have some of it if your fish are healthy. As he also said after a little time of sorting out the pecking order it will most likely improve some, though it appears the alpha has definitely been identified. The dynamics change with ever addition and deletion of a fish in the group. Your beast may have very well been just another slightly aggressive fish in the last group of fish it was in, just depends on the make up of the group.

The vast majority of folks around here feed beefheart, some of us exclusively or nearly so. Not sure why you went away from it, other than probably trying to keep your water cleaner. 70% WC for fish that size is not enough and you're going to eventually end up with sub-optimal fish at best or at worst sick or dead ones. I'd be looking for WCs of like half every other day or better for the best results. Good luck with them...and the moderators.

[Second Hand Pat]

Wow the moderators here sucks ***! With stupid system of posting pictures ::mad: I posted the reply 24 hours ago and as it has pictures still not posted after review! ...


You need to remember that both the admins and moderators here serve as volunteers so watch your manners going forward.

[Reesj]

You need to remember that both the admins and moderators here serve as volunteers so watch your manners going forward.
Sorry if I hurt your feeling but I think the rule about pictures is quite stupid.
Can you delete one of the two repeated posts with pictures! Also holy cow batman the pictures load in full size :D

[Second Hand Pat]

Sorry if I hurt your feeling but I think the rule about pictures is quite stupid.
Can you delete one of the two repeated posts with pictures! Also holy cow batman the pictures load in full size :D

First, you did not hurt my feelings and will be happy to to delete one of your posts. If you had read the guidelines for new members you would have seen there is a very valid reasons for new member posts going into a moderated state when emails, links etc are posted. It is to protect against spammers.

[ericNH]

Good thing for you I am not a moderator here.

[Driftwood Mike]

All of the moderators and members here do a great job of trying to help everyone with their questions and offering great advice with a huge amount of experience to back it up. I really can't believe what I'm seeing tonight. Between this thread and the person with 300 fish in a 66 gallon tank, rude and defensive reactions to answers given and the forum itself are totally uncalled for.

[Reesj]

Wow Amazing amount of helpful replies! :D

[John_Nicholson]

Wow Amazing amount of helpful replies! :D

Well you did get a couple of responses telling you waht was going on. You probably would have gotten a lot more help but when you come into a place acting like the world owes you something you tend to be lableled as a jerk and ignored. I doubt your sarcasm here is really going to help your image any. Based on your post here I can pretty much tell you how this is going to end......poorly. Your tank is really too small, your are trying to raise the discus in a planted tank, you seem to not have any common sense, and I am pretty sure that any good advice that you receive you will kick to the curb. If you don't kill your fish in the next few months you might be licky enough to end up with some stunted fish in the end.

-john

-john

[William Palumbo]

Amen John! Well (truthfully) said...Bill

[Reesj]

Well you did get a couple of responses telling you waht was going on. You probably would have gotten a lot more help but when you come into a place acting like the world owes you something you tend to be lableled as a jerk and ignored. I doubt your sarcasm here is really going to help your image any. Based on your post here I can pretty much tell you how this is going to end......poorly. Your tank is really too small, your are trying to raise the discus in a planted tank, you seem to not have any common sense, and I am pretty sure that any good advice that you receive you will kick to the curb. If you don't kill your fish in the next few months you might be licky enough to end up with some stunted fish in the end.

-john

-john

After reading the threads in the forum only jerk I found is actually you! You should seriously check posts you have made before talking! Also go check the posts I have made ! I actually replied and see them. While you retort to insulting people I have actually tried to provide information as much as I can!

Anyway for the rest I returned the fish and got a new one today. They seems to be doing fine and no squabbling now!

[Second Hand Pat]

Lets knock off the personal attacks. Please note this is the last time I will post in this thread.