Any ideas? .. Please comment..

[Timinator]

One of my discuss was a very persistent eater with all the others.. lately he/she seems to have slowed down.. doesn't eat much now.. i began to treat Metro as i thought worms was an issue.. i've had this problem before but this time it is different it would seem.. the fish doesn't look at all dark like any other fish i have seen with worms, also i have seen all of them have normal feces but i am still treating metro to be on the safe side.. a couple of observations on the fish in question, i iam noticing a slight (looks like a pimple) where the genital area is.. he/she (i think it's a male though) is now staring alot at the transparent pipe from the spong filter (but not cleaning it).. he still eats but picks at the floor base, the thing that made me think he had worms was the fact that his belly has a slight dimple and not fat like the others.. his colors are actually very vibrant.. he just doesn't eat heavy like he used to... it bothers me.. Does anybody know what could be happening? Please comment..

Thanx.


Tim C.

[April]

sounds to me like breeding behaviour...and they do slow down their eating. also once their through their major growth spurt...adults only need two meals a day. i wouldnt worry at all. id say its gonna either lay....or waiting for a nice female to join him. could be a female... any other one watching it and staying close to it? im sure it will start chasing others away from its downpipe. id quit metroing it...and wait and watch. see if its chasing others away from the pipe....or if it bows with another fish. they face each other....swim up top bow toward each other and then back down.

[Timinator]

Hi April, thanks for the response.. I can also add that he/she has been chasing the one fish away a whole bunch.. it used to chase it away but not as often as it is doing it now!! I also have a PB in which is just about the same size (a little smaller though) and it never touches the PB (I think this might be the mate but it shows no interests in what the odd discus is doing) I will hold off on the metro.. one last observation i made is that rather than eating when i first put in the food, he/she spends the whole time trying to bunt the other one away.. once the food has been scattered throughout the tank, he/she then goes around and eat (but again, very little as to what i;ve seen before) I hope it's something good!! I'm rather anxious but at the same time, very cautious!! I always welcome the comments/suggestions!

Regards,
Tim C.

[April]

sounds to me like perfectly healthy normal behaviour to me....please tell us when you get eggs. lol.

[Timinator]

Since having read your reply April, I have more closely observed the PB to see if it would do anything... it turns out that I caught the PB staring at the tube occasionally too!! It doesn't stare at it as often as the other one, but i have noticed it take an interests at that pipe too!! Interesting!

Tim C.