introucing new Discus to main tank.

[troutmaster]

I have introduced 2 new discus after quarentine period of 4 weeks. When fish were in tank by them selves they where eating and acting normal. Now that they are in main tank with five other fish they don't eat and hang to one side of the tank. If they venture away from thier side they are chased back by other Discus. What should I do to get every one living happilly together. Fish are all about the same size. (4.5 inches in size). They have been in there for about 4 days and have hardly eat a thing. Should I put a divider in for awhile or wait a little bit longer? Anyone else have a solution or suggestions? Thanks.

[II j L c II]

This is typical behavior, as they are still settling into their new environment. Also, the discus chase each other around because they are establishing a pecking order. I have this same problem with the newly introduced white butterfly and red leopard snakeskin in my main tank. Once they get comfortable you'll see them eat.

Jon

[troutmaster]

Any idea how long it might take for them to settle in. The guy at the pet store I deal with always says to move take decorations around, but I did not really want to play around with my tank.

[pcsb23]

The lfs guy gave some good advice. It makes them all think and re-evaluate boundaries and will buy the new fish some time. Fish of 4.5 " should be strong enough to lcope with the first few weeks in a new tank. It can take 4 or 5 weeks some times to settle.

Give them some time and with good water and food they'lll come round.

Paul.

[troutmaster]

Thanks for the advice. I will keep and I on them and maybe try mixing up the decore for awhile. They will eat frozen blood worms, but I like to avoid the suff for obvious reasons. I guess once in a while probably is not a bad thing.I finally got my first five fish to the point of great health , they took atleast 2 months to loose their shyness.

[Green Country Discus]

Trout, Paul and Jon both give great advise. Mix up your tank as far as decorations go and don't worry about the blood worms?? They are quality food! Let everyone have a few days to settle in once you shake it up. Don't worry , be happy!!

[tdr1919]

Trout,
Frozen (Hikari) bloodworms are a great staple along with frozen beefheart.
You can feed them this 2 x a day and give them beefheart and frozen brine shrinp. If you keep them full, there'll be less fighting.

- Tom

[Suzanne]

Did they settle down? How long did it take?

I just put 6 new discus (after 4 wks qt) into my main tank
with 5 original discus inhabitants. The original 5 have the new 6
living behind a piece of driftwood!

[White Worm]

I heard some good advice in the past that the best time to introduce new discus is in the morning before the others wake up or at night after they have gone to sleep. There will be less aggression because they are all a little groggy from a good nights rest. They will just wake up and have new roomates. This will not stop all aggression but I think it reduces it.

[Suzanne]

I put them in right after lights out - there's not a lot of fighting - but the
new guys are being kept in their place - a few are venturing out occasionally but are getting chased back behind the driftwood - it's only been 1 day.

[aisarang]

A good tip that has worked for me is that you can temporarily remove all the fish in the tank, and then place them back in altogether. This forces them to reestablish their pecking order altogether, giving more reprieve for the new fish.