Discrimination amongst discus?

[oodi]

Hi all,

I have noticed some discriminating behavior with our wilds, and thought I would ask if anyone else with wilds has experienced the same.

We have had wilds and domestics in the same tank. The wilds always seem to discriminate against the domestics, and banish them from the pack. This has continued, even after several weeks or months of cohabitation. The domestics always try to join the group, but alas, are always rejected. Has anyone else seen this?

Judi
:)

[Ryan]

When I grew out some babies from Al I saw this. They were not wilds, but half-wilds--Wild Green x Blue Snakeskin (beautiful fish, by the way). They did very well with one another, but when I mixed them in with some red turquoise discus of about the same size, the red turks were shunned. Considering I mixed them at an early age I didn't think there would be discrimination, but that wasn't the case.

I have heard people talk about how particular strains/colors of discus often flock together and mingle less with other strains/colors, for instance Blue Diamonds hanging out with other Blue Diamonds rather than red or striated tankmates. Do you think maybe they familiarize themselves with siblings/relatives, or are attracted to like patterns and colors?

Ryan

I have observed mixed patterns.

In my 125 wild tank I have 1 domestic female.
She hangs out with a Brown and Blue wild male and they lay eggs once a while.
In the same Tank are also 2 Heckel and the have made part of the left side there territory. I have not seen any pairing behavior though, but that is also a possibility.

Altogether the Domestic is pretty much accepted from all.

Ronald

[kaceyo]

In my admitedly short time with discus, I could swear that like strains tend to stick together, or maybe it's old tankmates. Kaceyo

[April]

i have seen and heard this that if theres a choice..they will usually pair up with their same strain. and..one strain will stick togeather if you have two strains in the tank. they do seem to know their colour.

[Anonapersona]

But, this behavior makes perfect sense for wild fish, they are accustomed to needing to hide from predators and that flashy Las Vegas Showgirl look that most of our domestic discus have just draws attention.

[DarkDiscus]

I raised 3 BD, 3 Red Turqs, 3 RSG and a MR from Cary. Each of the 3 fish groups was to some degree hostile to the others. All 3 groups picked on the MR. This was as they were growing.

Once I was down to 2 turqs, 2 BD and 1 RSG, they seemed to get along much better.

The fish also mellowed as they got older. As far as mixing the fish, my wilds and domestics all seemed to get along fine, though they all seemed to prefer their own for mating.

Just an observation, definitely NOT scientific!

John

[paulmat]

I have had the opposite happen to me , the domestic and wild fish that I grew out together all paired up with a male wild and female domestic.
It might be different if you throw them in together as adults or as juvies.
And they seemed to prefer red fish as opposed to blue or turks.

Paul