one mean discus

[bigbrad73]

ok I had 3 discus in a planted 55. Well my goal was 6 discus in the tank. 4 weeks ago I got the first 3. well one of the three started bullying one of the others. I figured it was time to get the 3 more. I would have got all 6 together if I had the extra money but didnt. Well I got 3 others but they are a little smaller. Well now the bully is chasing all the new ones plus the previous one. What should I do?

[Billy Vu]

Brad,

From my experience that is normal behavior for the first 1-2 weeks when you're introducing new fish because they are trying to establish the "pecking order." How big are your fish? Another possibilty could be one of them is a female and the males are contending to mate with her. That's what happened in my tank last month. I discovered that I had two females in the tank and the males were fighting to pair up with them. Give it about 1-2 weeks and see what happens.

Cheers,
Billy

[bigbrad73]

4" and 3"

[sthai75]

Billy,

Male on male and female and female fighting? Good way of identifying sexes? I notice there is specific individuals that peck at eachother..

[Billy Vu]

Thai,

I'm not sure, but for me after males fought the next day I saw the female Red Turq laid eggs and 2 weeks after that my 4" marlboro red laid eggs! I know I should separate them and put them in a breeding tank, they are all currently housed in a 125g community tank. However, I don't have time to set up a breeding tank because I work full time and go to school at night. From the symptoms described, I suspect one of them is a female, but the only way to be certain is one them lay eggs. The aggression will go away for a short-time until the female is ready to spawn again and then it starts all over again.

Cheers,
Billy