Schooling fish or not?

[MaGiC]

Many sites and books say that Discus, in the wild, are schooling fish.
Mr. Jim E.Quarles in his book Discus As a Hobby (page 38) says….Discus are not schooling fish in the wild , but they are found most often as pairs or pairs with fry.
Some books say when a pair is settled in their aquarium you should not move it from tank to tank because you might break the connection between them. Some others say that the connection between a Discus pair is very strong and they seem to be monogamic.

So connecting all the above I have some questions.

1) In general , when we say that this fish is a schooling one what do we mean?
Do we mean fishes that have entered their adult phase of life? Do we mean a pair with fry?

2) Can we say that Discus are schooling fishes? Or they are schooling only when they are young and when they become adults they are separated into pairs?

[Luca]

Hey mate

1) Schooling to me means they travel in packs throughout their whole life, i.e they prefer to be in a big group.

2) No, from what I've read they are found in small groups enjoying the sanctuary of branches and fallen trees. (Check here: http://article.dphnet.com/cat-01/wildcaught1.shtml) Perhaps nature designed it this way to stop genetic inbreeding from occuring especially as each subspecie is geographically isolated, apart from the rainy season when some cross over.

[ShinShin]

Size of schools varies from species to species of fish. So does the tightness of the school. Herring and sardines, as well as many other open water fishes, school in closely packed shoals. Other fish, like the freshwater bass school in more loose "packs", relating to a structure of some sort, as well as to age and size. Discus are a schooling fish and may school in a manner similar to the bass, with the size of the school varing from a dozen, perhaps to over a hundred. The size would vary from time to time depending on the season and location. As the rainy season takes over, the large schools will disperse with the pairs finding spawning sites, just as the bass break up in the warming spring water to find nesting sites. Difference being, the male is the sole protector after the spawning takes place. This is just a general statement.

Mat

[RichieE]

It took MAGIC almost a year to get a reply. He hasn't posted since January. I hope he's OK.

[Ryan]

LOL... better late than never :D