We moved our older Discus in with the new kids - love is in the air??!!?

[teslafan]

We went back and forth about whether to keep Mr. Blue (our 4.5 year old Discus) in the 20 gallon tank alone for the remainder of his life, or add him into the 75 gallon with the six new Discus. Finally, after watching Mr. Blue seem to get depressed again, we moved him a few days ago.

When we first put him in the tank, he was a bit stressed, but WOW, the stress didn't last too long. Within 15 minutes or so he was looking amazing (see below pic) and began interacting with everyone, and they seemed excited to be swimming around with him. We both said it's the first time we have seen him act like a fish in months. He made a nice transition and was welcomed by the gang.

Now, here is the interesting part, he has a stalker:eek: or potential love interest! ;)

Jesse, our new Fiamma Rosa, has a crush on Mr. Blue. She cozied up to him immediately and has not left his side since his arrival. He appears to be interested in her and stays very close to her side as well. He bumps others away from her and she does the same when others come near him. They literally spend the entire day next to each other...rubbing fins, gently bumping up against each other and seemingly very interested!

She started shivering the second day Mr. Blue entered the tank :eek: not once in a while, but all the time. She stops shivering to eat, to chase others away but for the most part she is glued to him, shivering and it's like the love connection in that tank!:confused:

How is that possible with her being so young? We are assuming Mr. Blue is a male and Jesse is a female, but at this point, who knows! LOL

I'm including a few pics of the gang and a pic of Mr. Blue and Jesse, on day 1 and 2. I have hundreds of pics/videos of all of them already...I need an intervention, badly!

[William1]

I really, really, like your story but..

Oh, contraire!
For a fish's love
Is not in the air

For water is where
Discus love is shared
And nature's rites are bared

[Pokediscus]

I believe in discus love. :heart1:

[Ryan925]

The new guys looks nice. What size are they? Mr blue looks huge compared to them

[teslafan]

I really, really, like your story but..

Oh, contraire!
For a fish's love
Is not in the air

For water is where
Discus love is shared
And nature's rites are bared

Ah yes...the water!! :grin::fish::fish:

[teslafan]

I believe in discus love. :heart1:

I'm convinced of it now!!

[teslafan]

The new guys looks nice. What size are they? Mr blue looks huge compared to them

Mr. Blue does look enormous!

The new ones range in size from 3.5 - 4 inches.

[William1]

Pardon my French. My first line should have been Au contraire!
That was bugging me so I googled it. I feel better now.
Back to the love story. I like it!

[teslafan]

Pardon my French. My first line should have been Au contraire!
That was bugging me so I googled it. I feel better now.
Back to the love story. I like it!

I do as well...Mr. Blue has gone from a lone Discus to a guy in love with a gal who clearly adores him! LOL
I'm fascinated by their behavior. It's really interesting to watch!!:fish:

[Pices]

I've been following your story and felt bad for Mr Blue. Now a happy ending! Now you have to keep Mr Blue's fans updated on this new "May/December" romance! So happy he's still got it! Lol

[Clawhammer]

Jessie and Mr Blue are not letting societal dating norms around age and strain get in the way of their love... Its like a lifetime movie of the week in your tank.

[Phillydubs]

I am surprised and happy about this result as well!!!

I spoke to you when you were going through your decision and thougt you were going to leave him solo. Although I still believe that may have been the best choice it seems that you went with your gut and it worked so kudos to you!!

Care to tell us why you made the move and if you did anything special before during or after to prep

[teslafan]

I've been following your story and felt bad for Mr Blue. Now a happy ending! Now you have to keep Mr Blue's fans updated on this new "May/December" romance! So happy he's still got it! Lol

Awww!! I'm so enjoying this experience!! I had no clue how all of them would interact, but so far his arrival has prompted a romance and less bullying by Juniper towards the others...so that is a huge bonus!

[teslafan]

Jessie and Mr Blue are not letting societal dating norms around age and strain get in the way of their love... Its like a lifetime movie of the week in your tank.

Totally LMN all the way!!:p:heart2:

Being 4.5 years old, we're still wondering if Mr. Blue is past his prime, but I guess time will tell. :grin:

[teslafan]

I am surprised and happy about this result as well!!!

I spoke to you when you were going through your decision and thougt you were going to leave him solo. Although I still believe that may have been the best choice it seems that you went with your gut and it worked so kudos to you!!

Care to tell us why you made the move and if you did anything special before during or after to prep

Hey Phil,

Yes, I do remember!

We went back and forth with whether to move him or not and had decided to leave him solo in his tank. Then he stopped eating again and basically spent all his time floating next to the leaves on the Amazon plant...he looked so sad and seemed depressed again. So, on a whim we said the hell with it, let's move him.

We were both (and still are) nervous as hell that we were making the wrong decision and it was one of those moments where we just did it and figured if it was a wrong choice then at least we gave him a chance to be a fish again.

To see him interact, bump other fish around and then start hanging out with Jesse was so cool and we both felt positive about the move. We are aware that at anytime there could be a negative outcome, and that is the sucky part, but keeping him in that lonely tank was so sad.

As for the move, we did a water change and added him in right after that. John added one of Mr. Blue's sponges in the tank as well and that was about it. We are keeping an eye on all of them. All normal poops, appetites and appearances so far. The Nitrites are at 0.25 - :huh: normally they are 0. So we have upped the water changes to see if we can correct that.

Hopefully Mr. Blue will have a happy ending, along with his new brothers and sisters!!

[Kyla]

i have a big mr blue story as well! i met a lady who had a lone discus in her tank for years. i tried to convince her to get some more friends for her fish and she did go in on an order with us, but only ended up getting one more young discus. shortly afterwards she downsized and sold me both discus and i added them to my tank where the two hit it off and became a pair, with quite a strong bond. they laid eggs like clockwork and mr blue was an excellent father! he was SO protective of his fry no other discus were allowed out of the corner of the 180gallon tank and he was king of the tank for a while. i eventually had to split him up from his gf, but i gave him to a new tank where he hasnt laid eggs again and he is much less aggressive now. i am happy to report he is doing very well and he seems so much happier living in among other discus. i still miss him, esp watching how gentle he was with his mate, always dancing and displaying. im so glad it worked out for ur mr blue too!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm182/kylasfish/Mobile%20Uploads/0959A9C8-BB62-4CDA-84AB-A984A8106C7F_zpssiofyluq.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/kylasfish/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0959A9C8-BB62-4CDA-84AB-A984A8106C7F_zpssiofyluq.jpg.html)

[Kyla]

+1 for discus love <3

[teslafan]

i have a big mr blue story as well! i met a lady who had a lone discus in her tank for years. i tried to convince her to get some more friends for her fish and she did go in on an order with us, but only ended up getting one more young discus. shortly afterwards she downsized and sold me both discus and i added them to my tank where the two hit it off and became a pair, with quite a strong bond. they laid eggs like clockwork and mr blue was an excellent father! he was SO protective of his fry no other discus were allowed out of the corner of the 180gallon tank and he was king of the tank for a while. i eventually had to split him up from his gf, but i gave him to a new tank where he hasnt laid eggs again and he is much less aggressive now. i am happy to report he is doing very well and he seems so much happier living in among other discus. i still miss him, esp watching how gentle he was with his mate, always dancing and displaying. im so glad it worked out for ur mr blue too!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm182/kylasfish/Mobile%20Uploads/0959A9C8-BB62-4CDA-84AB-A984A8106C7F_zpssiofyluq.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/kylasfish/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0959A9C8-BB62-4CDA-84AB-A984A8106C7F_zpssiofyluq.jpg.html)

Awwww, that is so sweet! Our Mr. Blue is protective, but does not dance around or shimmy/shake much - it seems that the Jesse is doing all of that, along with what looks like kissing all the glass jars that their plants are in. By the way, we got the idea to plant the plants in the small glasses from your photos!! Thanks!! :)

Your Mr. Blue and his mate made a beautiful couple and their colors really complimented each other well!!

I noticed Jesse's creamy white face is starting to turn dark - it will be interesting to see how they change over the upcoming months/years!!!

Thanks much for sharing your story!!