What to do with stunted not colorful discus ?

[Discus3anatic]

I have 3 or 4 discus in my 92g corner tank that are stunted.. I have 12 discus total in this tank... The discus that are stunted or just have never really eatin since day 1.. I just dont like.. I got them from a local breeder who sells on this forum too so he said.. And well it could have been me who got them to be stunted or they just werent quality discus to begin with. 1 of them is okay and actually grew large and stuff his face every time i feed but the others.... One hasnt even gone past 3 inches. He sold them to me as 2 inche babies but in reality when i measured them they were 1 1/2 inches.

I have other discus i raised from small 3 inchers who are now 6 inches and i got these from petco of all places lol. So anyway, i tired of these tiny things in my tank they barely eat, or come out, they are ugly, and always just hang where i dont see them. Two are maybe 4 inches, the other ones are 3 or 3 1/2. They never colored up really either.. 2 of them are bred from a deep red discus i saw the parents but these thig are like pale orange..

Soooooo i dunno what to do. I have 12 discus like i said, these 4 are small, the other discus i have are 5-6+ inches in size so they dwarf them and most of those i raised myself from smaller sizes.. 3 of them i did buy bigger though. Anyway, should i just take the smaller discus out and put them in a smaller tank like say my 55g tank downstairs ? All i have in there are 2 adult angles and 1 gourami and a rainbow shark and the temps are already 82f. Or should i leave them ? Or sell them

[navarro1950]

I would suggest you do as you please. I know they cost a lot, the money spent was yours. Maybe try to sell them but tell the buyer everything . If it just someone that has an aquarium and likes tropical fish you done all the work and they might buy. Give it try.

[Eddie]

In a group of juveniles, it's actually not easy to get perfectly even growth throughout the entire group. Some fall behind and some grow extremely fast. Sometimes, if you react early and separate the slow growing fish to another tank, some will grow out. I'm not talking about one or two fish. I'm talking about moving a decent group of fish that are behind. Most of the time hobbyists only have one group of fish unless they are breeding their own. The slow growing fish will not catch up, its just the way it is. Not all fish are created equal.

My suggestion is to keep the small guys as "hero" fish. If you ever acquire new discus, the heroes would be the test fish after quarantine to ensure your existing fish don't get sick. Just something to think about.

Eddie

[John_Nicholson]

The aggression almost always leads to this. It lets you know who was on the low end of the pecking order. If they are only 3 inches and should be 6 don't sell them, cull them and move on.

-john

[ssevasta]

The aggression almost always leads to this. It lets you know who was on the low end of the pecking order. If they are only 3 inches and should be 6 don't sell them, cull them and move on.

-john

+1