Four Beauties revisited

[plebian]

It's been a month since I received 4 juvenile discus and they seem to have an established hierarchy, A, B, C, D. A and B are the two blue scorpions, 2-3 weeks older than C and D, the two blue diamonds. A, the dominant fish, is slightly larger than B, its sibling.

Their personalities are starting to come out. C and D, although younger, smaller and lower in group status nevertheless have strong personalities. B periodically reminds them of their position in the group, especially during feeding time. While they accept their position, they are not in the least intimidated. They are ravenous feeders with a corresponding growth rate. I think they will eventually become larger than either scorpion.

The casual observer would never guess that A was dominant. A is the last to begin feeding and does so only after most of the food is gone. He satisfies himself with picking up the leftovers and nibbling on the periphyton covering the driftwood. All of them nibble on the periphyton, but none as frequently as A. B alternates between uninterested and voracious. Initially, all of them were voracious eaters, but ever since I started supplementing their granulated food with freeze dried tubifex and brine shrimp, A has become picky.

 

[Mazain]

It's been a month since I received 4 juvenile discus and they seem to have an established hierarchy,

This is gona take awhile, discus at juvanile state can be dominant and feed all the time, but that dose'nt tell you the end result and size of your discus. Stress is one of the worse in hierarchy groups that releases growth inhibiting toxins.
In most of my discus groups, the ones that feed and was showing growth were the ones that grew to 15cm and above. The ones that feed and took longer to grow never made it pass 11cm.
Many might argue on the tank size, but stress is the main cause for limiting growth.