Can you identify my discus?

[Marfie]

Hi everyone! I'm new to discus and only got some small ones a few weeks ago. I'll appreciate it if you were able to identify them. I have a video of them on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pioiHwYtbzE .Thx!!!:)

[Ryan]

Hi,

The three orange fish with the black peppering are a form of pigeon blood. The striated fish with the blue and red appears to be a red turquoise variant.

It looks like you're going to need a bigger tank. Also, what's your temperature? I ask because I see gouramis and mollies and they may not appreciate the temp if it's too warm.

Ryan

[MSD]

Feisty discus, amazing how much peppering plants bring out in PB's. Tank is overcrowded and no swimming room for the fish with all those ornaments. Discus are not a community tank fish as you will soon see.

[Marfie]

I know I'm going to have to move them to a larger tank soon. The water temperature is about 82-86 degrees depending on the outside temperature. It seems as though the gouramis and mollies have become adjusted to the water temperature which I increased slowly over a period of two weeks. Thanks for your input!

Marfie.

[deanne]

The red ones (esp. the one at upper right at the end of the video) look like my red melon. It has a black tail and fin edges, too.

That charging behavior is weird, huh? Two of my discus go head-to-head a lot of the time.

Nice looking tank! I was fond of filling my tank with natural looking stuff and a variety of different fish, too, until I started keeping discus. Now I'm pulling out more and more of my big driftwood and leaving a lot more empty space and bare sand. Also going for the simple look of a crowd of discus and almost nothing else. But I like your tank for its diversity, too.

d

[Marfie]

The red ones (esp. the one at upper right at the end of the video) look like my red melon. It has a black tail and fin edges, too.

That charging behavior is weird, huh? Two of my discus go head-to-head a lot of the time.

Nice looking tank! I was fond of filling my tank with natural looking stuff and a variety of different fish, too, until I started keeping discus. Now I'm pulling out more and more of my big driftwood and leaving a lot more empty space and bare sand. Also going for the simple look of a crowd of discus and almost nothing else. But I like your tank for its diversity, too.

d
Thx for your comments. As far as the charging behavior is concerned I do not know if it is normal for these reportedly "peaceful" fish. When I first got them a few weeks ago the blue turquoise was really bossy (even though he wasn’t the biggest) and that is why I actually added the tree stump so that fish could have some where to hide. I was especially concerned about the small red one as he was being chased by everyone but eventually the yellow and the peppered one began standing up to the blue turquoise and this seemed to keep those three preoccupied. I was also very surprised (pleasantly) to see that the small red one started to become aggressive at feeding time because initially he/she wasn’t feeding because of the more aggressive discus. I've read that fry tend to be more aggressive than adults so I am hoping that this behavior dissipates with time

[Ryan]

Actually, the behavior is probably going to get worse with time, at least up through "puberty." Discus are cichlids and as such are not very peaceful toward each other sometimes. They do fight, chase, and nip. The more discus you have, the more evenly the aggression is usually spread out between the fish.

Discus are peaceful compared to most cichlids but they're not always passive. Each one has its own personality. Sometimes you'll have a really laid-back, easy going fish, sometimes you'll have a hellion. ;)

Ryan

[ncyracer]

IMO its a marb. red. How all mine have looked when they were young.:)

[Marfie]

IMO its a marb. red. How all mine have looked when they were young.:)

Which one exactly?

[mikel]

It would have been better had you gone with a bare bottom set up at the beginning, super-feed these little guys and do tons of good clean water changes and get them to their potential max size. Then get your ornaments into the mix once they are adult...and moved into a bigger tank. Good luck! mike

[Marfie]

It would have been better had you gone with a bare bottom set up at the beginning, super-feed these little guys and do tons of good clean water changes and get them to their potential max size. Then get your ornaments into the mix once they are adult...and moved into a bigger tank. Good luck! mike

I currently looking at getting a 55 gallon setup on Craigslist. Thx!