New Discus --> not being accepted by others?

[Mart]

Hi again!

My girl friend and me found a juvenile Blue Diamond Discus in our local fish store.
As I live in Quebec - Montreal, the most common discus we can see here are Red Turquoise discus, Tangerine Blood Pigeon and SOME other. Not as much as you ;)

SO, when we saw this one, we couldn't resist: we bought it.

We already own 5 discus that are about 5-6 inch long with / without tail. They have been together since last winter or so. ( I know they don't grow fast, but my tank isn't bare...)

This week-end, when we added that cute little juvenile (2-3 inch long) Blue Diamond, they kept "nipping" at it. Now he stands alone trough my artificial plants.

This morning, when I fed my fishes, he seemed in good shape because he tried to come and take a bite and his color were almost back from stress. But the others made sure he couldn't "exit from his hidding place" once again.

My question is: Is this normal? Will he ever be able to eat and be part of the group... or will he be kept apart and die? :(

Thank you.

~Mart~

[brewmaster15]

Hi Mart,
That new guy is small compared to them and may be at the bottom of pecking order . If its not really strong and aggressive it may become stunted as time progresses. What you can try is a divider for a few weeks, so that it gets more used to the new home.

I noticed that you did not mention quarantine. If you didn't quarantine this fish, the stress may cause it to break down and become ill. That dark color could be the beginning of this.

Always QT new fish.

Hth,
al

[Mart]

Thank you for your reply Brew.

I didn't quarantine this fish, because I don't have yet a QT. Since we moved to our new home this summer, I didn't set up a new QT. And the only empty tanks left to do it would be 2 x 5 Gal.
Do you think this would be ok?

Thank

~Mart~

[brewmaster15]

Hi,
At this point, I would not pull the fish out. best bet is to hope That theres no problems..I would partition off part of the tank though so that the small fish has a chance to settle in.

Good luck!

-al

[Mart]

Ok thank you!

I'll look for a divider asap and take care of it.

~Mart~

[Carol_Roberts]

By the way, this is standard discus behavior. That's why we always recommend you get 6 - 8 juveniles and grow them out together in a 55 gallon. Even if this was an adult discus it would have a hard time fitting in with your established group of discus. With adults try to add at least two.

29 gallon is a nice size for a quarantine (and breeding) tank. The new fish could have been exposed to a disease that your current fish have no immunity to. Quarantine is very, very important. Not only does it allow the new fish to get used to your water and food before having to stake out a territory in a tank full of established fish, but it gives any diseases a chance to surface before introduction to all your fish . . .