My discus dont like me.

[Vicfortier]

Every time I come in the room, pass by the tank, or come in visible range of my discus, they hide. Can I do anything about this? I try approaching slowly and staying low, but dosnt work. Whenever I feed them I have to drop in food and walk to the otherside of the room for them to come out from under the driftwood and eat. I've had them about a month and they are juvies. 3 - 3.5 inches.

[Skip]

are the bottom covered? Gravel or painted.. what about the back? covered or painted.. they may be freaked out already due to reflection from bottom... also, i am from the SCHOOL of if you give them a place to hide when startled.. they will hide! if they don't have anywhere to hide when scared.. then they won't be scared.. :)))

[Vicfortier]

Bare bottom, blue background on bottom and sides. A large piece of malaysian driftwood in center they hide under. That's an interesting school of thought. May try it out on my new juvies.

[moon_knight1971]

I noticed that with my discus, that if I'm in a polo or tshirt they are not scared of me. When I approach them wearing a jacket or hoodie they run! Also noticed they are less scared when I'm wearing lighter colored clothing vs dark colors.

[broncofan27]

My new guys do the same thing. They have been in the tank for a week and just hide behind the drift wood when I come around.

[Vicfortier]

Its alright, eventually they will be to big to hide! Haha! Hopefully won't be to long before they can't fit under my drift wood.

[rev2eight]

simple solution would be to take out the driftwood. They need to see that youre the one who puts the food in there.;)

[Altum Nut]

Let them settle in. Try not feeding for one day....and try putting a piece of beefheart or frozen cube in tank holding it with your fingers as see if they go for it.
I've done this with every Discus I have including my wilds.

...Ralph

[Vicfortier]

Thanks ralph, I will try that. I would preferr not to take their sanctuary away, would much rather starve them. Lol! But seriously, ill try that. Sounds like a good idea.

[atitagain]

Buy a German Shorthair puppy that runs past the tank 1000 times a day and they will become bullet proof. ;)

It's just my wife the pup and I and ours did the same thing at first. They got used to all the movement, i'm sure yours will to soon enough.

[Skip]

GSP ROCK!

[RWD HERO]

When I first got my fish they were exactly like that! Now my fish love me!Eat out of my hand on a regular basis. They still don't like my wife though.

[atitagain]

GSP ROCK!

She's a beast warlock, her nickname is Meyhem and she's 8 months old. Pure terror and I take her everywhere I go. Great nose and retreives to hand.

And she trained my discus to be afraid of nothing! ;)

[Second Hand Pat]

She's a beast warlock, her nickname is Meyhem and she's 8 months old. Pure terror and I take her everywhere I go. Great nose and retreives to hand.

And she trained my discus to be afraid of nothing! ;)

She sounds well named and cheaper than kids for despooking the discus. I'm an old pointer fan.

[Skip]

i wish my Discus would POINT! other times besides when bloated from eating too much :)

[Skip]

i saw this at the LFS, i almost fainted!!!!!!!!!!

http://susansternberg.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/2548-dog-face-puffer.jpg?w=500&h=333

[atitagain]

She sounds well named and cheaper than kids for despooking the discus. I'm an old pointer fan.

She never bangs on the tank and I'm to old to have kids around.

[ericatdallas]

My discus were the same way. It took them a while to warm up to me but still darted away when my daughter "toddled" to the glass to see them or if my dog walked up to sniff. Now nothing bothers them either except if I swing the cabinets to hard or if the handle slips from my hand and the hood bangs down.

I also have to knock them out of the way to move. It's only taken them 3 months to trust me...

IMHO, and I think there is debate about this... I wouldn't give them anywhere to hide. Then they'll never learn to trust you. Also, adding dither fish helped. I keep two corydoras and two plecos in my BB tank and they seemed much more relax. In fact, that's when the turnaround came for when the dog and daughter stopped spooking them. In my other tank, I put 14 cardinal tetras and 9 corydoras which helped too (that one is planted display tank).

[Vicfortier]

I spoke to soon. They ate out of my hand today. Lol! It was awsome!