New Discus (problems..)

Hello..
I just brought home two new discus, they are reds, but not solids. My question to discus owners is this: Have you ever had any problems when introducing new discus?
My little guy (of the three original) Casper... (aka curly) who was always picked on has now found two new Discus his size and has not left them alone since bringing them into the tank. He nips at them and won't leave them alone. Is this normal behavior? Will he let up once they get used to each other? The new discus are not bothering him at all, he is the one doing the picking. Any suggestions?
thanks, kate

 

Re: New Discus

Congrats on your new discus. From what I have heard, if you want to have discus, you add all the other fish first and the the discus so they are not stressed out by the new arrivals. As for the new discus being attacked by the old one, I have no idea. Sorry, if I haven't helped.
Tom

 

Re: New Discus

HI Tom
well.. I bought the three discus two weeks ago and wanted to make sure they would be ok and acclimated before I added anymore. And at the cost of them, I couldnt buy the five that I wanted for the tank all at once. I'm just hoping that they just need time to get used to each other and I will watch them and see how they are doing in 24 hours.
thanks, kate

 

Re: New Discus ( problems..)

On waking this morning and watching the Discus interact, I see that Casper has not given up on tormenting the new Discus. Its not good, he won't leave them alone and once he starts the others get into the aggression act. So I am off to petsmart to buy a divider for the tank and I'm going to either separate Casper from the rest for awhile and see if that doesn't slow down his aggression. Or separate the two new ones. But I think that I would rather separate the instigator from the group and let the others get used to the new guys in the tank. Any advice?? thanks, kate

 

Well, I bought the divider and set it up. Now Casper (aka Curly) is on its own side by itself. The new Discus are swimming around more freely now and I think that by keeping Casper on his own side will help the others acclimate to their new surroundings. In time I'm hoping that I can take the divider out and hopefully Casper will be a good boy!
~ kate

 

lol sorry no one has responded!! Makes it kind of lonely.

As I have never had discus but can use my experience from other fish.... here we go.

Casper is the little male, right? The two that you bought with him, what are their genders?

The new red ones, how about them? They are closer to his size..

I think seperating him for a little while is a great idea, let them get used to the tank. I think when you release him again, he'll jump right back to what he was doing until the newbies stand up for themselves... which, once they are used to the tank I believe they will soon..

Good luck!

 

HI Amnagria.
Well, Discus like angel fish, you just can't determine the sex until they are ready to spawn. Even tho they have male names.. I have no idea what gender they are!
I'm hoping that I will end up with a pair and fry at some time! I agree... I'm hoping that in time the other fish will get accustomed to the tank and each other and hopefully casper will be a good boy! girl?? lol...

 

lol where are all the discus experts here!?

 

I knowwww.... hmmmm think I will have to PM Nicole!!! haha....
Ohh well... I have the divider up and casper is on his own side.. sniff sniff... but I can't have him terrorize the new ones!

 

HI Kate,
Well, it seems you've found out who is the boss of the tank.Discus in a group such as yours will have one that is leading or boss of the group , all your discus are juvies even though some a bigger even than others this little guy wants to or most likely is at this point running the show.Sounds like he wants to let the new ones know he is the boss around here. I had a 8cm golden (still do) that was picking on all my others had so many herded in a corner and the rest he was constantly fighting with to the point where a couple became really stressed, some of these fish are 15-16cm, the only way I could put a stop to it was to take him out for a couple of days, when I reintroduced him back into community tank it was no longer "his tank" and he left all the others alone.
I'm interested to hear how the divider works out, less invasive if it does work so let us know. If by chance it doesn't you could either put up with this for a little while longer as it will settle down or remove and reintroduce back into tank.
Good Luck
New Fish have you posted pics

 

HI Kate,
Well, it seems you've found out who is the boss of the tank.Discus in a group such as yours will have one that is leading or boss of the group , all your discus are juvies even though some a bigger even than others this little guy wants to or most likely is at this point running the show.Sounds like he wants to let the new ones know he is the boss around here. I had a 8cm golden (still do) that was picking on all my others had so many herded in a corner and the rest he was constantly fighting with to the point where a couple became really stressed, some of these fish are 15-16cm, the only way I could put a stop to it was to take him out for a couple of days, when I reintroduced him back into community tank it was no longer "his tank" and he left all the others alone.
I'm interested to hear how the divider works out, less invasive if it does work so let us know. If by chance it doesn't you could either put up with this for a little while longer as it will settle down or remove and reintroduce back into tank.
Good Luck
New Fish have you posted pics

HI Nicole.. hope your feeling better! Its winter where you are?? where is that?? Its soooo hot here!
anyway... casper was the runt that was bullied by the others til the two new ones showed up. Now it seems that he wants to be the one that does the picking on! So as I mentioned I did use the divider and so far the others are getting along and the new discus are moving around a lot more and not hiding in the corners. I will leave casper behind the divider for a week and then reintroduce him to the rest of the tank and see how it goes. I sure hope that he settles down and that they can be all together soon. Its a clear divider so they do see each other. I will keep you posted on that. I am trying to get some photos of the new ones. At the pet store they said they are tourquise reds?? As soon as they calm down a bit I will try and get some photos! ;D

 

HI Kate,
Have you taken the divider out yet? Just wandering the outcome, by the way its winter in Australia, yep I'm feeling better Thanks for asking.

Nicole~

 

HI Nicole
I did take the divider out after four days and for five minutes Casper was an angel. BUT.. it didn't take him long to get back to his ole ways. So into the divider he went again. Yesterday during the Monday weekly 50% water change I took out the divider and decided to try again. Well he was ok for awhile and then started in on the same discus again. But this time that other discus Harpo decided that enough was enough and they proceeded to get into a big fight. Lip locked and everything. Harpo turned a deep red an was really mad. They batted each other with their bodies and nipped at each other for awhile. I decided to leave them be to let them sort out who was going to be the dominate one in the tank and sort their order out. At least Casper did stop for awhile and left Harpo alone. If the others defend themselves against Casper's attacks and not let him pick on them then I will let nature take its course. If I see that it continues tho I will have to end up bringing the divider back into the tank. At this point if this is how they act when new comers come into the tank I will not be getting anymore discus for that tank. They are cichlids and they do pick on each other from time to time! :-\
Thanks for asking... Have you ever had any problems with newcomers to your tank?
~ kate

 

Cichlids being Cichlids Sorry their being so trying. I don't know about Discus but with other cichlids if you take the bully out and move some things around and then re-introduce like Nicole said it usually helps. But you have to take them totally out of line of sight.
Carol

 

Cichlids being Cichlids Sorry their being so trying. I don't know about Discus but with other cichlids if you take the bully out and move some things around and then re-introduce like Nicole said it usually helps. But you have to take them totally out of line of sight.
Carol

HI Carol, well I haven't taken Casper out of the tank, for fear of change of water perimeters, temp* etc. You know how sensitive these Discus are to change. But thought that staying behind the divider by himself while the others swam around would be enough for him to learn his lesson or at least get used to seeing the two new ones in the tank. I will watch them today and hope that there will be some slowing down of aggression. Once one starts the aggression they all seem to get in on it. I thought the two angels would be a problem in that tank and yet they are doing fine. I will have to watch the angels for any pairing up, as I'm sure they would get pretty mean if they decided to spawn. In that case I would move them to the divider and leave them alone together with fry. What I really hope for are some discus fry someday! that would be great. ;D

 

Discus fry would indeed be great! Is there a way to fix the divider where casper can't see the other fish for a bit?
Carol

 

I would have to go and buy a lot of plants to fill the area up. Which I can do. I have used a bubble wand before with the bettas but that doesn't help much. So the only other possibility would be the plants. I'm watching them today and its not that bad right now. But the plants would be a solution, its just the 45+ mile drive that gets me! :-\

 

What about ordering them online?

 

I'm inpatient in that respect. If I decide to put the plants in I will want to do it that day. If I order online it will take about a week for me to get them, as I wouldn't use over night because of the cost. So if I have to take a drive tomorrow I will do that. Of course, you know what the traffic is like going to Hyannis when its NOT a beach day!! lol..

 

hahahaha agreed..


I was just trying to find someone to come and feed my fish while I'm down there!!

 

If it's bothering you or their hurting themselves take him out of the tank, he still knows he's in with the others. You could cover your divider with a piece of aquarium backing if you've got any laying around.
I would just let them go hard at it for a couple of days then it will stop but if you have a small tank there to put him in for 24hrs it should sought it out,don't worry too much though like I said if they are hurting each other then worry, which I don't think they are, sounds like normal behaviour which is more common with juvenilles.Kids being Kids
Nicole~

 

If it's bothering you or their hurting themselves take him out of the tank, he still knows he's in with the others. You could cover your divider with a piece of aquarium backing if you've got any laying around.
I would just let them go hard at it for a couple of days then it will stop but if you have a small tank there to put him in for 24hrs it should sought it out,don't worry too much though like I said if they are hurting each other then worry, which I don't think they are, sounds like normal behaviour which is more common with juvenilles.Kids being Kids
Nicole~

HI Nicole..,
thank you so much for that reassurance. I was hoping its just kids being kids' and that it will stop. I noticed yesterday that it really has slowed down a lot. I'm going to leave them together an like you said.. let them sort it out. There are no wounds on them and I don't believe they are getting hurt. I was surprised to see the new one that was getting picked on finally turn on casper and let him have it back. lol... The new one, Harpo really turned a dark red. It must have been pretty stressed out. But didnt back down. I think that is what it needed to do. Thanks! ~ kate

 

Glad to hear they are settling down,and that your not worrying as much about it .In all they will get used to each other and its a good idea to give them a few days to do so because I feel each time you divide off then take divider out the whole process is starting over again which would be frustrating for you.
How many fish do you have now?
You will find at feeding times these guys may start picking at each other for a while to..
Nicole~

 

HI Nicole,
Right now I have 5 discus and 2 angelfish and 4 cardinal tetras. Tomorrow I am getting two solid discus. ;D One cobolt and one yellow. I imagine that 7 discus and two angelfish may be overcrowding the 55gal. But for now they will be fine and if I need to, I can move the two angels to a 29 gallon that I have, but not set up yet. I'm sure I will end up doing that at some point.