Discus Bully

[hargreavesheber]

Hi there.

My six 3" Discus have been in my 4ft community tank for a month or more now. At first they all hid behind rocks and plants. The last couple of weeks 1 Alenquer Red has been coming out, feeding and being best chums with my angel fish, but as soon as any of the other Discus come into it's view it chases and pecks them??? They are obviously stressed out..... I am having to put food behind the rocks etc because they are too scared to come out. Any advice appreciated.

Cheers

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Hi there.

My six 3" Discus have been in my 4ft community tank for a month or more now. At first they all hid behind rocks and plants. The last couple of weeks 1 Alenquer Red has been coming out, feeding and being best chums with my angel fish, but as soon as any of the other Discus come into it's view it chases and pecks them??? They are obviously stressed out..... I am having to put food behind the rocks etc because they are too scared to come out. Any advice appreciated.

Cheers

This is not out of the ordinary, normally just part of the hierarchy. Sometimes you get a really aggressive fish though that takes over the tank. If he is eating a lot more then the others this is not going to help either. Is this fish any bigger then the rest? It might be best to put this guy in your QT tank and let the others settle in a bit better and eat. Once they are eating well and settled in you can put the aggressive fish back into the tank.

 

[Knox213]

Discus are extremely confusey i dont thikn i like them they look nice.. But just too wierd for me

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Discus are extremely confusey i dont thikn i like them they look nice.. But just too wierd for me

Why are they weird?

 

[Knox213]

i thought marine fish where hard to keep. apparntly these are harder.

the fact they need extremely soft water water changes every day etc.

its just wierd

and they look peaceful but seem evil now

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

i thought marine fish where hard to keep. apparntly these are harder.

the fact they need extremely soft water water changes every day etc.

its just wierd

and they look peaceful but seem evil now

I don't know where you got your information from, but almost all Discus do fine, even better in harder water. They don't always need water changes everyday, depends on stocking level, how much you feed, what you feed, your filtration system and age of fish. In most cases daily water changes are ideal, but I know some people who can easily get away with weekly water changes. They might be a little evil, but that's not just Discus, that's ALL Cichlids.

 

[Knox213]

i guess so.

 

[hargreavesheber]

It's a touch bigger than the rest but nothing major. Is this problem likely to continue if i don't do anything?? Or will they eventuelly get on? 1 of the others comes out a touch and doesn't get as bullied, they stay side to side and lift their fins up, almost displaying. But other times even that 1 gets chased away and pecked.....
Cheers
Heberh

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

It's a touch bigger than the rest but nothing major. Is this problem likely to continue if i don't do anything?? Or will they eventuelly get on?

That's something I couldn't really answer for you, they might start standing up for themselves, they might not. Hierarchy will always change, and keep in mind there will be a runt, which is at the bottom of the hierarchy. How long have you had them? Let them settle in a little longer if it goes on for more then a few months then you might want to swap him out for a little bit.

Take care,

Connor

 

[ILuvTropicalFish]

Connor has given you solid advice. I have a bully. I pulled him out and let the other three get acclimated and then put him back, after about a week. He stayed in the middle of my 55 gallon and waited for anyone to come out of hiding and immediately ran them back. He now has his very own 20 gallon tank while the others grow up a bit. I would try the qt idea to see if it helps.

 

[hargreavesheber]

I have had them for a month and a half. I'll just give them a bit longer before i do anything,see how things go.

Many thanks for the replies...