Disturbing Pecking Order

[GhostFish]

I have a discus that is extremely timid, hiding by himself in the corner, and he is at the bottom of the pecking order. He doesn't get picked on at all or harrassed. He's just intimidated. If I were to remove him from the tank, will there be a reshuffle of pecking order? What I'm concerned with is that if the weakest discus is taken out of the tank, another will have to replace him. Will the discus replacing the weakest develop the same symptoms, ie. hiding in the corner, not eating, etc?

Thanks.

[Eddie]

The pecking order is a definite thing although the order can often change unless your fish are significantly different sizes. My group now has 2 smaller fish that were initially chased around all day. Then they started chasing the biggest ones. I added 2 more larger fish and now the order has changed. So depending on your fish and their health, your pecking order may change. Removing the lowest will surely make another one the lowest to fill those pecking order shoes.

Eddie

[CraigG]

Some times redoing the tank moving decorations around can change the pecking order.

I redid mine and while highest on the pecking order is still the highest. The lowest one isn't the lowest one anymore.

[GhostFish]

My dilemma is that the lowest discus in the pecking order is a cull, while my other discus are keepers. I don't want a good discus replacing the cull. My reason is that the cull is stuck in the corner and not eating because of stress, etc, and I don't want a good discus replacing him and develop these symptoms. Should I just keep the cull in the tank, hoping that it'll eat survive and continue to be sacrificial lamb of being at the bottom of the pecking order?

[Eddie]

I am not a breeder and I don't really have the opportunity to cull any of my fish. Instead my wife has a community tank and at the moment, thats where the stunted fish go. I wouldn't be too worried about a nice fish turning out to be a cull. If you see it is a nice healthy fish and holding his own. He will still hold his own. All my fish get chased but they don't break down and become a stunted fish. They all struggle equally to get food.:)