Switching to Discus

Hello All

2 month ago I decided to switch my tank to Discus , I read allot about them & a friend of mine encouraged me to do it as he is an experienced discus keeper , so he offered to home my 2 parrots in one of his empty tanks (5o gallon) till I get a new tank for them & gave me my first dicus .
the point is that 4 days ago I went to my LFS where I found a new stock of beautiful discus so I decided to get a tank mate for my existing one, the new one is pretty smaller than that one my friend gave me & the old keep bulling & chasing him/her all over the tank & don't let her/hI'm even eat .
Is this normal & is there any thing I can do to get them used to each other?

Thanks

 

This happens from time to time.

If you add an existing cichlid to anothers cichlids territory, it will usually pick on the other one (The smaller one at most times).

I would recommend either adding more decorations for less eye contact between the two fish or removing the older Discus from the tank (Not the smaller one), re-arrange the decor and re-add him/her.

 

thanks for ur reply , I think I'll rearrange the tank's decoration cause I don't have an extra tank to host the bigger one in

 

I would add another 2 Discus myself, Discus as a whole enjoy the company of their same species. you have a 47 gl tank, you can really have a total of 5, which would make them much more comfortable. I would still rearrange your decor, but more of the Discus own kind acts as a calming effect for them.

 

I agree with Disc. The more discus you have, the more comfortable they'd be. However in that size tank I think that's all you could add.

Are they young or mature discus? Young ones can be super sensitive, so be careful.

 

However in that size tank I think that's all you could add.

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Sorry, I make the mistake of thinking everyone can read my mind. Adding 3 more is a bit overstocked. but a total of 5 can be done as long as you do regular (everyday) maintanence. 4 would actually be more suitable for a 47 gl with a pleco in there. I just always seem to add one more than I should because I don't mind the Water Changes.

 

Even adding one more would be good. Though, this is natural behavior to establish superiority. But they are not really hurting each other.

 

thanks all for ur helpful replies , actually I'm planning for adding at least one more discus as the new stock will be available @ my LFS on the 18th of the current month , after your replies I'll actually add 2 of these amazing creatures , I do 30% water change every after day , the new discus I recently got is not mature yet