What are they doing??

[CAGE-RATTLER]

I did a big water change last night (70%) and my 2 discus (in my community tank) have been acting very strange ever since. (water parameters are fine)

My 2 discus is a large red marlboro (5") & a gold marlboro (3") and larger one was always the boss and the most aggressive at eating and also from time to time pecked at the smaller one who would just run from him. But they always hung together.

Now since this water change its like they have changed roles and the smaller one is now the dominant one. At 1st he just didnt run away from the larger one and stood his ground and they were going head to head against each other. At 1st i thought they may be prepairing to spawn or something cause they looked like they were kissing ...... lol. And ive also noticed the larger one doing some twitching or shimmering which made me think it was a spawning ritual. But then it looked more like they were trying to bite each others lips off!! Instead of the smaller one running away ........... he would turn and stand his ground and then attack the larger one face to face.

After the big WC all the fish seemed to have more spunk as well!

Now this morning ....... the smaller one is chasing the big one all around the tank and the big one isnt fighting back.

I had thought the big one was a bit ill cause he has had a bloating problem 2 weeks in a row that was taken care of by epson salts but im starting to think its more serious than that. I noticed last night him twitching a bit and also saw him scrape up againt the driftwood a couple times.

Maybe the small one realizes the larger one is weaker and ill now and thats the reason for him being more aggressive??

What are your thoughts on this???

And should i start any treatments for them or just wait for more signs of illness??

[CAGE-RATTLER]

One other thing that i thought was funny is.............

I have a large angel in the tank also and he is definately the boss of the tank............ and he would keep the others at bay. He would lunge at the big discus and then in return the big discus would lung at the small discus as to say.................. he went after me so now im going after you......lol.

But now the big discus is running from the small one and seems to run to the big angel which stops the small from pursuing cause he is afraid of the angel ....... lol.

And the angel isnt bothering the large discus anymore....lol;

Its hilarious to watch!

[JimmyB]

If it is any consolation, my fish do the same thing. I don't think it is anything strange. I see one of the biggest discus getting chased and nipped, and he does nothing but swim away. He just doesn't feel like fighting back. I was worried that it might slow his coloring down. There has never been any damage to any of my fish, it is all harmless, just a show of who thinks they are the boss that day. (or who is "it"?) But after being away from the tank for a few days, I watched them carefully to see if anything had gone wrong or if anyone was sick, and to my surprise they have reversed roles and he was nipping back. The next day, it was the opposite again. I guess when you are in a cube of water and you see the same fish everyday, those things happen. I try to re-arrange the tank a little during water changes. If you have a fish scraping itself, that might be an issue. I'm not sure, but epsom salt might be the the ticket there.

[candyl70]

Epsoms salt is only if the fish is bloated. Cage, are they flashing alot? I read that once every few hours is normal, but two or three times in an hour is not.

My fish change their pecking orders alot too. It is strange to watch, and they do the exact same thing you talked about. If the middle fish gets picked on by the top guy, he then turns around and chases the little one. Weird huh?

Don't worry too much. Just keep up with your w/c's and check to see how often they are flashing.

hth,
Candy

[RyanH]

As Candy said, occasional flashing is normal. Excessive Flashing is often a sign of parasites. I'd watch them closely.

It can be pretty interesting to watch Discus work out their pecking order. The body language they use can be quite elaborate. Usually it won't result in anything serious but occasionally you'll get a fish that is really getting pounded pretty bad. This is rare though as long as their is a nice-sized group in the tank so the aggression is spread around.

[CAGE-RATTLER]

Thanx guys ............ much appreciated.

The big guy was chased around all day but this evening he is standing his ground now and once again had some head to head battles.

I guess they're FREAKY FRIDAY experience is coming to an end now ..... lol.

They really dont do much flashing at all (im assumming you mean darting) and i only noticed the one scrape against the driftwood that couple of times yesterday.

I guess i just get a bit paranoid when they act differently but i guess its better to catch a problem in its earliest stages than wait till its too late.

I'll just keep an eye on them for any other changes.

Thanx again.