dividing tanks

[zigster999]

Hi all. Question for you, if I may.
Had a wildly aggressive blue/turquoise (aka cobalt blue, I believe) that dominated the food supplies and took to severely battering the other 3 discus (2 blue diamonds [5"], one rose red [4"]). The other 3 co-existed relatively peacefully amongst themselves, probably because of the common enemy. In the end I gave up and sold the b/t back to the fish shop in exchange for a golden crystal (3").

While the two bds mostly ignored the new addition, the rose red hunted it down at every opportunity and gave it what for. In defence of the gc (which is actually a little undernourished in comparison to the others) I have shifted the rose to my quarantine tank in the hope of breaking its dominance over the newb.

If I leave the little red feller in there for a week or so then reintroduce it to its old home, is this likely to break the aggression cycle?

I have been thinking that it might be better to get a sheet of perspex and section off the tank with the red on one side and the rest on the other. I'd be drilling many holes smaller than the red's size in it, to allow water flow and the algae eaters/corydoras free access to both sides but allow the red on one side and the rest on the other to see each other but not interact.

I have no problems either way but my wife looks at the lonely red and feels so sorry for it... Actually so do I...

Then again maybe the gc should be in the quarantine tank for a while longer to build it up before trying to break the cycle.

My end hope is a tank of not-too-aggressive-and-in-fact-very-peaceful discus just like all the fish shops around here!

I'd be very interested to hear what y'all have to say.
Thanks
The Zigster

[Don Trinko]

Most people use the "egg crate" light grating available at Manards, Home depo, and Lowes. It is $10-12 a sheet but you can make several dividers.
Don T.

[TheZigman]

you could also re-scape the tank, so the fish wont recognize their former stomping grounds... They wont realize they have already lived in that tank, and wont know what possible predators exist, and in most cases, IME, they lose that agression, and start over...

[zigster999]

Well, kept the rose red in qt for a week, rearranged the main tank's aquascape then released it back in. Within 24 hours it was back to hassling the gold crystal. Gave up and bought two more juvies, red checkerboard x blue turquoise cross, for a very reasonable (for discus) price.

The red still chases the gold but it now also targets the juvies. End result is a more 'peaceful' tank. There's still aggro being handed out but it's now being split 3 ways so no-one suffers unduly. The red now rarely hunts someone from one end of the tank to the other, contenting itself with a charge and a nip now.

The gold has put some weight on and no longer looks undernourished. I've even noticed it stand up to the red on a couple of occasions.

Tank is way too small for 6 adult discus so some will have to go before then. Hopefully though, will have a tank full of quiet discus to choose from.

Thanks for the advice people.
The Z :bandana::bandana:

[IAMTHOMAS]

I would recommend buying all the Discus at once because Aggression between Chilids is VERY VERY COMMON. But try switching the Decor around and see what happens