stopping fights?

[maddog1240]

Hey, I'm not new to discus (so please dont lecture me) lol, but I figured this is a pretty basic question.:o

I have recently introduced 4 new discus to my main tank and the "regulars" are starting to fight with them.. not territorial fights, they follow the new guys around nipping, and they dont stop!
I've tried to get them to stop by putting my face close to the tank, they usually stop when I do that.. but now whenever I enter the room they hide, then do it again later.

So, i guess the questions are..
HOW DO I GET THEM TO STOP FIGHTING??
and HOW CAN I MAKE THEM LESS SHY??

Thanks!:balloon:

[rickztahone]

Hey, I'm not new to discus (so please dont lecture me) lol, but I figured this is a pretty basic question.:o

I have recently introduced 4 new discus to my main tank and the "regulars" are starting to fight with them.. not territorial fights, they follow the new guys around nipping, and they dont stop!
I've tried to get them to stop by putting my face close to the tank, they usually stop when I do that.. but now whenever I enter the room they hide, then do it again later.

So, i guess the questions are..
HOW DO I GET THEM TO STOP FIGHTING??
and HOW CAN I MAKE THEM LESS SHY??

Thanks!:balloon:

they will keep doing this until they establish their pecking order. in some severe cases you might have too much aggression and in such case you would have to look at separating them from each other and maybe try re-introducing them down the line

[maddog1240]

I was thinking about that but it doesn't seem like the two attackers are letting up, even when the new fish try to swim away.. I'll wait it out.. and HOPE it doesn't come to that! :(

But any suggestions on the sudden shyness??
or should I just wait that out too.. ? (and I don't think it's because of the new fish)

[Eddie]

Your just gonna have to wait it out. Your new ones are still settling and when they do, they will fight back. Really depends on the size of the fish too. If the new ones are significantly smaller than your older ones, that can be a problem. You would be best to not keep them together. Introducing new fish of smaller size is a tough one to get through. How big is your tank and how many fish total?


Eddie

[maddog1240]

55g planted tank.
6 discus, 1 ram, and about 8 cleaners. (soon to get cardinal tetra and add more rams!) =)

..and yes the new fish are smaller, but i dont think they are "significantly" smaller.
(maybe a half-inch difference)


well i guess all i can do is wait it out, thanks again guys. =)

[tcyiu]

I managed to do the impossible and have gotten four discus to coexist using the following method. This may work for you.

In the beginning, there was a lot of bickering, but there was no one fish being picked on. However, that soon changed.

One fish (#4 in the dominance order) was being hounded by the other 3 and was very stressed. So, I moved the dominant 2 into a quarantine tank (the jail) which was kept with all the same water parameters. BTW, I don't use a net anymore. I use a gallon food container and move the fish with the water. In this way, I do not rub off any of the slime coat and stress the fish unnecessarily.

After several days, they were re-introduced to the main tank (which had the furniture re-arranged ( i.e. driftwood etc))

To make a long story short, it took close to 2 months of constantly shuttling fish to jail to cool off and back, before they established a pecking order we can all live with.

The dominance order did not change, but when #1 and #2 were allied, the tank was a very stressful place, especially for #4. After my fish shuffle, #2 and #4 have allied, with #1 and #4 as independents. When #1 lashes out, the allies fight together. When #3 tries to pick on #4, #2 beats him up. So we now have detente.

It has been relatively peaceful for about a year. Dunno if this would work for you, but it seemed to have worked in my case.

Tim