Love sick Discus

[Dave Cal]

I'm curious if anyone has experienced this. I purchased two 3" Discus and placed them in a quarantine tank for three months, both ate well and grew to a size that allowed them to be placed in a 55 gallon tank with four other adult Discus. One of the new Discus began pairing up with a Discus that was already established in the 55. Lots of tail wagging and shuttering and last week they spawned.

During the pairing and leading up to the spawning the newer fish didn't eat much food, it was completely obsessed with pairing up. The fish looks great, very strong defending that side of the tank and the spawn site. Some of the eggs hatched but because of the other fish the fry didn't survive which is okay because raising the fry is not my goal at this time.

I had hoped that once the fry were gone the newer Discus would go back to eating like it used to, but it hasn't. It eats some but is still completely focused on it's mate, follows it everywhere, fans out trying to get attention and spends a lot of time at the site of the previous spawn. It eats some but is not gorging itself like it used to. There is no sign of bloating or constipation.

I can hope that it's survival instinct kicks in and it goes back to having the appetite it used to, I could move it to another tank to split them up or I could put them in a tank of their own (not sure this would accomplish my goal). This is a young fish and in an important growth stage and needs to get more nourishment. It's very healthy as are all of the rest of the fish in the tank, there are no other fish that are not eating.

Has anyone ever dealt with this? Thanks for any feedback.

[Kyla]

i had a young female that paired up very strongly with a fully grown male. i bought them both off a friend. she laid eggs weekly and often the fry got to the attachment stage and lasted a couple days in the main tank before they disappeared. her growth was def affected by all the breeding activity.... i eventually moved the male to a different tank to stop the breeding and aggression.

my friend and i had each bought yellow pigeons from the supplier and i had gotten a male from the same batch, pretty likely her brother. the were in separate tanks for a couple months but after i brought her home she received the same feedings and water changes but my male pigeon's growth way exceeded hers, he ended up nice and round and thick headed. another friend also bought from the same batch and ended up with a nice large round discus.

the little female is healthy and friendly and eats well but will never get back the growing time she missed out on, will never become round etc. she has a ton of personality tho, and is often the first to greet me.

here is the little lady with her boyfriend before i pulled the male from the tank.

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)

[Dave Cal]

Thanks for replying Kyla. What you've experienced is my biggest concern, not enough food at a young age. I'll give it a little more time but I think that I will have to do something soon. By the way, nice fish.