Will they get over it eventually?

[applekrate]

So I have read the threads and I know fighting is normal, they are cichlids. I have 5 discus 4.5"+ in a 75 gal--no other fish. Two males decided they hate each other over a female when she started to lay eggs. Long story short NothinG fixes the relentless lip butting, side butting, biting, chasing of, over all, just these two males. My question would be is this still in the range of "Normal" or should someone get re-homed for its survival? Do they eventually work things out even at this level?

[Lenin]

If you have a pair, I would take them out, it's a behavior that will not be corrected, one of them might hurt the other one really bad, specially if both don't want to back down. I had this happen but with angelfish and ultimately one killed the other.

[applekrate]

Thanks for your reply. I cant tell if she has officially paired. All 5 are my favorite so I guess I was just hoping they would magically get over it and go back to the way they were....
They dont yet show injury but it is probably because I have separated them off and on. I know nothing about breeding so I dont know what is norm is on behavior.

[DiscusDrew]

Usually the female will pick a mate and the other male will back down and the pair will chose a spawn site and keep everyone away from it... That said all fish are different so there is no 100% guarantee on anything, fish have personalities to some extent. If it were my tank, and I do bred, I probably wouldn't change anything but I would take note and keep an eye on them. If it gets too bad force her to pick one and divide them onto one side of the tank. I also in these instances if i'm NOT looking for pairs or spawning behavior will typically add more fish to the pot. Let me know how they progress and I can try to help you along. Give them a breeding cone so they have a clear territory to claim, most likely the other male our males will back off after sorting it out. I've never had a fish die and be that persistent (discus) but I HAVE pulled fish because I saw more damage than I was comfortable with.

[strawberryblonde]

These guys are only 4.5", which is on the young side for pairing up. You actually don't want them to successfully breed unless they are full grown adults at that size.

Thought they are young, they do start with the pairing/fighting behavior as teenagers, so that part is totally acceptable.

If it were me, I'd change up the tank in order to jolt them out of their current state of mind. =) Try pulling them all out for an hour while you either add some driftwood, or a potted plant or 2, or take driftwood out/move it around. Anything that changes the layout and look of the tank is going to change the status within the tank.

When you put them back in, put the picked on male in first. Then add the friendly outsiders who aren't pairing. Then add the female. THEN add the fiesty male. Take your time with the addition of each discus and let them get used to the new digs so that by the time the biter hits the tank the rest are ready for him.

Sometimes it won't work, but it often helps just enough for it to be worth the hassle of removing them and changing things up.

[shoveltrash]

+1
I did a total rescape when this started in my tank (at the time my Discus were smaller too, around 4.5-5"). it worked!
altho I didn't remove them like Toni recommends - that's actually a great idea.
good luck

[applekrate]

Everyone thanks for your help on this,

So glad to hear its maybe/kinda normal behavior. Didn't think of them as teenagers. I would prefer to not do any breeding because I am not educated on the subject. So if there is tips on how to discourage the behavior Im happy to follow them until later. I think she had eggs/wrigglers/free swimmers with each male??? When they made it to free swim they were immediately dinner for the tank mates. I tried moving the eggs and parents once but the pair ate them immediately.
I just upgraded my tank 2 days ago so unintentionally the tank was completely rearranged.
I didn't add the fish in the right order. I will try removing them and then adding them correctly. I did notice that the new tank seemed to help. Drew if adding the fish in order does not work I will use what I believe your saying and just watch for injury for a while. So far they don't have injury. Thinking of them as teenagers helps. I have hope that they will grow out of it.

[DiscusDrew]

They generally only grow into it worse in that regard.... Its their natural instinct to breed.