Ever introduce new discus without any aggression?

[AndrewB]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum and to discus. Finally held my breath, reached deep in my pocket book and have tried my luck with discus. I've been reading up everywhere, primarily this forum to get as much info as possible.

I have 4 discus in a 55 gal tank. All about 3-3.5 inches. They have been in there for a week now and one of them has taken over the alpha male role. It's not unbearable aggression, but he does pick on others primarily during feeding. I understand this is normal behavior while establishing a pecking order. I'm a little concerned for the smallest because he is picked on the most, but his fins are not damaged and he eats as aggressively as the others.

I really wish they would swim together gracefully in a school, but that definitely does not happen. The big one is up front begging for food and the other three are scattered around. Can I expect things to ever settle down without removing one so they school together? About how long? Also I'm curious if this is something every hobbyist deals with initially or do some discus just behave better together?

Thanks! :)

[LizStreithorst]

Four isn't the best number. I know that they're expensive, but if you could get a few more from the same supplier it would spread the aggression around and it wouldn't be just the one little guy getting picked on. A 55 can handle 6 fully grown adults if you keep up with WC. You could fit 8 or 10 small fish in that tank.

Eventually they do become friends.

[Jennie]

I've tried that. the next in line the pack only seemed to take over the role of the original alpha. Now I just let them settle their own differences and they do fine. None of the spats are severe and generally only happen at feeding time



Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum and to discus. Finally held my breath, reached deep in my pocket book and have tried my luck with discus. I've been reading up everywhere, primarily this forum to get as much info as possible.

I have 4 discus in a 55 gal tank. All about 3-3.5 inches. They have been in there for a week now and one of them has taken over the alpha male role. It's not unbearable aggression, but he does pick on others primarily during feeding. I understand this is normal behavior while establishing a pecking order. I'm a little concerned for the smallest because he is picked on the most, but his fins are not damaged and he eats as aggressively as the others.

I really wish they would swim together gracefully in a school, but that definitely does not happen. The big one is up front begging for food and the other three are scattered around. Can I expect things to ever settle down without removing one so they school together? About how long? Also I'm curious if this is something every hobbyist deals with initially or do some discus just behave better together?

Thanks! :)

[David Rose]

Aggression during feeding is normal regardless of how many you have, but to get them to school together and spread out the aggression...it would be better to add a couple more discus.

Pecking orders are always changing... by adding/removing fish, changing your placment of tank decorations, age, maturity, pairing and so on. You can always shake things up to force change as well. LOL...I've acutally given aggressive discus a time out in a bucket or moved them to different tank for a short period and returned them to smooth things out a bit. Don't laugh..it works!

That said, without signs of damage and everyone is getting their fair share of food, IMO, not too much to be concerned with for the moment.

All the best,
David

[AndrewB]

Thanks for the quick advice everyone. I have heard the magic number 6 many times and plan on getting some more soon. I'm just new to this and a little paranoid I'm going to do something wrong and harm them.

I'll keep an eye on them of course and maybe use the bucket treatment is necessary. :o

[David Rose]

We've all been there Andrew....LOL! Welcome to SD and if you need us..we're just a post away :)

[Keith Perkins]

Thanks for the quick advice everyone. I have heard the magic number 6 many times and plan on getting some more soon. I'm just new to this and a little paranoid I'm going to do something wrong and harm them.

I'll keep an eye on them of course and maybe use the bucket treatment is necessary. :o


You'll make a lot better discus keeper being a little paranoid than oblivious, so good for you, and your fishes. ;) Like you said, 6 is preferred number to have together and I'd do that when you can. So what types of discus did you get, and where are the pictures? :D Welcome to Simply.

[Jhhnn]

I think young discus generally express more aggression than adults, and that adding discus to an existing community will obviously shake things up, result in more heirachical squabbling for a while...

Something that I've done to attempt to reduce aggression and maintain more even growth is to purchase young discus in groups- same variety, same size, likely siblings who've spent their whole lives together as members of a much larger school. They seem to have most of it sorted out before they ever arrive at my place, relatively speaking...

I'm kinda old school in the sense that I think it makes for a more attractive group, in general, and I also think it helps in determining the relative health of each member. It's easier to make comparisons.

Something to tuck away for future reference, because if you're successful, you'll probably want more...

[AndrewB]

I think young discus generally express more aggression than adults, and that adding discus to an existing community will obviously shake things up, result in more heirachical squabbling for a while...

Something that I've done to attempt to reduce aggression and maintain more even growth is to purchase young discus in groups- same variety, same size, likely siblings who've spent their whole lives together as members of a much larger school. They seem to have most of it sorted out before they ever arrive at my place, relatively speaking...

I'm kinda old school in the sense that I think it makes for a more attractive group, in general, and I also think it helps in determining the relative health of each member. It's easier to make comparisons.

Something to tuck away for future reference, because if you're successful, you'll probably want more...


I think I can already vouch for that. I bought 2 blue turquoise from one LFS and 2 pigeon bloods from another. (BTW, CozyKeith, I would post some pics but I can't compare to some of the absolutely beautiful fish I've seen on these boards) Anyway, in my tank the two turquoise primarily swim together and the two pigeons exclusively swim together. There is also very few minor squabbles between the fish of the same stock. They have been raised together in the same tank for probably all their lives and it definitely made a difference when I placed them together in my community tank.

But who knows, maybe after some months together the color of their scales won't matter. ;) I hope so.

[DerekFF]

LOL...I've acutally given aggressive discus a time out in a bucket or moved them to different tank for a short period and returned them to smooth things out a bit. Don't laugh..it works!

All the best,
David

David I totally do this to. It works with pretty much all fish ive tried it on except Jack Dempseys and Pacu, they are pretty bone headed. My fish always have a few choice words with eachother at feeding time. And Discus are in the cichlidae family, so like most cichlids, they can have an attitude with eachother