Agressive Fish- Possible Idea

[iceskater]

Hi,
I have had recent problems with real aggressive discus in 2 separate tanks. This concerned me because it started suddenly and after being together for several months with no fighting at all. Tuesday, I decided to split them up. I put 2 of the meaner ones in a tank with some larger discus. Of course those 2 are getting hell now. I took the poor larger one who was always hiding due to being picked on and put it with the smaller discus who were being picked on. You would think at least one tank would now be peaceful. Well of course "NOT' The larger one is now doing the picking. You would think after being terrorized that it would leave the others alone.

Well now to my idea, while I was cleaning the tank tonight, I noticed they were hanging out together. I wonder if it was because I had taken out the hiding places. I have decorative tree stump plants in each tank. I am thinking of maybe leaving the tank totally empty over the weekend and see how they do.
What does others think of this?

The fighting has gotton so bad, that oftern I just turn off the light to get it to stop. It has almost ruined my love of these fish. I am as stressed as I am sure they are. They eat, no health problems at all. Just do not like each other that much...

I have read of others with the same problem and I know they are chidlids. but I am sure others have the same feeling I do, the fighting sure takes the pleasure away....

Come on Cary and others, lets make a tranquilizer...

Thanks for listening.

Karen

[korbi_doc]

:bounce2: :bounce2: Karen, I've had the same problem. One particular fish, a redss that I think is male, largest in my 125g tank is a real dominator & has all the others hanging in the corner at the other end of the tank, as if this tank isn't big enough. He is gorgeous, raised the babies that I have, then went back, picked out another female & started all over again. He need a solo tank I think. My other tanks also have aggressive fish. 4 new rts in QT, now have joined in & 3 are picking on the smallest 1 to the point that he hangs in the corner & is pale. This one I'm worried 'bout, so he will be moved soon.
I feel that there is no way to avoid this aggression completely. & yes THEY ARE CICHLIDS!! But this can be stressful, especially to the underdogs, so I guess we can only just keep moving'em around & changing environments. I don't let it dampen my pleasure, just attribute to the species behavior. lol, Dottie ;D

[Debbie]

Hi Karen, Try rearranging the decorations in the tank. This may help break up territories. Another thing that I have found that helped with aggression is to separate the tank with some sort of divider. Either the ones sold at the Lfs or eggcrate used for lighting. I try to isolate the aggressor so that the aggressor's territory is different. Many times once the fish is reintroduced it is like s/he is the new fish.

[Mykiss]

Sorry Karen, the only thing I can think of was what Debbie said. Do a major water change and rearrange everything in the tank so that hopefully everyone is disorientated and so no bullyng may occur. Other than that, I don't know.
PT

[jules]

I have a tank of juvies. The red ss is the bully, picks on the other bigger juvies - especially the pretty pigeon who is scared and doesn't come out much, but I do see him eating, especially the plants. I don't know do they show male/female agression at this young an age?

[iceskater]

Hi
I have tried the changing decorations around. It works for um about 4 hours... :D

Perhaps the next step would be a divider.... I think I will still try my experiment over the weekend when I can monitor things.

Thanks,
Karen

[Carol_Roberts]

Whenever you move fish to a different tank it takes a few days for them to sort out the pecking order. One problem for you is tank size - 29 gallon as I recall, so you can only have a few discus in each tank. Try a bare tank and let us know if it helps.

[Mak]

Karen,

It is my THEORY that the agression in your fish is caused by selective breeding. Todays tank raised fish are selected for their appearance, not temperament.

If you can, find a tank in a pet store or public aquarium that contains fish that have been removed from the wild and study them. Then you will see how REAL fish act. There will be one dominant fish in the group, and one that will be picked on. You should not see a relentles bully or a fish hiding in the corner.

I know what you are going through, I have been there. I tried every thing short of puting electrodes in the tank. You remove the bully, another one takes over and watching a weak fish suffer is heart breaking.

The six fish I have now are getting along. I found them in a shop and watched them for a month. I stood away from the tank and looked at them for hours. They behave in my tank the same way they did in the store. The same shop had a tank full of nice looking PB's that were acting like a bunch of jerks.

Good luck,

Mak

[iceskater]

Hi,
I am starting to wonder about something. Carol knows, I spend more time observing my fish then the normal person, one the weekends they get hours and hours of my attention. Last night I was real busy with another project and did not spend time in thee room they are in, I would peak at them and they were calm, I wonder sometimes, if this pecking is a result of me being around. Like they are screaming we will continue to fight till you feed us.

When I come home from work or they have not been fed for several hours they are real content to hover in front of the tank till the food arrives..

I have decided not to worry about things now. The pecking seems to be more even since I moved the fish. None of them are dark or hiding for hours on end, like they were before I moved them.

Karen

[Debbie]

Karen, at this point leave them alone and just keep an eye on them to make sure noone shows signs of stress. As long as noone gets hurt let them sort out their pecking order.

[lwdiscus]

I have a question that is relevant to this thread. We are in the process of setting up a 125-gallon tank for another colony of discus. Our current discus tank in populated with fish that were already a "pack" when we got them.(Pardon the dog-talk--I breed dogs in real life.) The pecking order was well established and has been pretty stable until we lost a fish recently and the new king is not wearing his crown with as much grace as did his predecessor. (Things are okay, he just rams one other fish at feeding time, but doesn't bite.) I've figured that these fish, all acquired at roughly the same time when they were young, worked it all out before they got big enough to do any real damage to each other.
My thinking has been that when this new tank is up, running and cycled, we'd stock it with 2.5" or 3.5" discus and let them sort out their pecking order while they are growing up. Is there anything wrong with that theory?
Also, I was thinking about getting 15 fish, figuring we might lose a few and end up with 12...is that the optimum number for that tank, assuming a school of tetras, 6 cory cats and maybe 4 fancy plecos?
Lisa

[Debbie]

15 would be a good amount to start out with. If you are going to have other fish in the tank you may want to thin out the discus alittle more when they are adults. See how it goes. If you do frequent large water changes then you could have that many fish in the tank but remember that discus like clean water and the other fish also produce waste.