MasterShake2003

I've posted this in the Discus section as well, but it doesn't seem like a very busy part of this forum.

So I bought my second Discus today and he and my first one seem to be fighting. The newbie keeps getting chased around the tank and I'm trying to figure out if this is normal or what. Is this common among cichlids?? Are they just working out who's the boss? That would be my logical deduction, but I'm just curious if anyone knows how long I should expect this to go on? Will the behavior disapate on it's own?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

angelfish220

how long have you had the original fish? Ive read that they can be territorial so if you have fake plants you could move them around a little to make them remake their territory

MasterShake2003

I've had the original for about a week and he seemed very happy. While acclimating the newbie, however, the original kept trying to get at him through the bag. Again, they have only been together in the same tank for about 2 hrs., so it may just be them feeling each other out.

I wanted to get at least one more discus, but I'm worried I'll have to deal with this every time I try to introduce a new friend...

angelfish220

More than likely the original discus is being territroial. Are they about the same size? if they are and if you can I would switch arould the tank decor so that they develop their territories at the same time and arnt defensive. If you want to add even more discuses then I would get them now as well if your bacteria can handle it. If they cant then pick up some biosphira as well. Like I said this is all from stuff I read not experiance

MasterShake2003

Well, I'm going to go to my LFS and see if they order me the ones I want in particular, which I don't see as being a problem. Then hopefully by next week, I will have all the discus I want.

I can't find Bio-Spira around here to save my life. I hear great things about it all the time. I may have to order some from Foster and Smith...

angelfish220

What about seeding it from another tank? Usually you do this to cycle a tank but you can add more bacteria after cycling using this too.

MasterShake2003

Well, problem with that is I just seeded my 20 gal with old media from my 55 gal and those are the only two tanks I have...once my 20 gets established, I could always use some gravel from that and hang it in panty hose in the 55 for the discus, but I think my 55 gal. tank would be fine adding 1 or 2 more discus at once.

MasterShake2003

Also, the fighting between the two is sporadic at best. The best way to describe it is it's as if you had a single cat for 5 years then brought a new cat home. They will tolerate each other for a few minutes at a time, but then they get aggitated one one runs the other off, LOL...

capekate

Hello... congrats on your Discus fish! Cant wait to see photos!
As far as the aggression in the tank, as was told to me, "remember they are cichlids'! And yes, they are going to chase each other around and get very testy with each other. This is normal, and some what alarming for us Discus owners.
When bringing in Discus its a good idea to get them all at the same time. Each time you bring in a new one, this is going to happen. Whenever I brought in new Discus to my tank I had to watch as one would get picked on and bullied, its so sad.Bringing in at least three more at the same time will help so that the aggression will not be directed at one in particular.
Good luck with your Discus. Have you checked out the Discus Care sheet? Its got a lot of good information for new Discus owners. I wish Nicole was still with us, she has a lot of Discus and was a great source of information for me when I started the Discus tank.

~ kate