Added New Discus To Tank At The Weekend

[mattlee]

for those that dont know i have been keeping discus for about 4 months or so. i originally started off with a 2 inch fish that was given to me as a friend closed his tank down this fish didnt last long but while he was alive i bought him a few friends a 3 inch yellow pigeonblood, a 4 inch penang eruption and a 5 inch albino golden. all was well so not long after a bought a 5 inch albino turk. this fish turned out to be a bit of a bully having a go at every discus in the tank.... the penang eruption fell ill and was isolated in a seperate tank but i couldnt help it and it died. so i ended up with 3 and the albino turk seemed to be aggressive to an extent that the others hid away from it. so this weekend i added 2 new fish to try and spread the aggression out to try and keep stress levels down, they are 2 beautifull red checkerboards about 5 inch.

when they were added everything was peacefull and all were getting on fine and eating but since yesterday 1 of the new fish has constantly hid in a corner and wont eat.... since adding the new fish the other albino has become aggressive towards them so they are getting it now from both albinos, nothing really goes near the smallest yellow discus. the discus thats hid away refuses to come out and eat but the other comes out and eats pretty much anything put in but gets chased away by the other 2 albinos.....

i thought adding more would help but it seems to have bought the other albino out and into a bully too! is this just dominance? will it go away when sorted out? also the one not eating, should i put him in a tank on its own to try and get it eating again? they have been in there together since saturday so 4 days so far......

 

[mattlee]

anyone got any suggestions......?

 

[JA5ON]

a think they might just be sortin things out give it abit more time mine did it to start off with they have a got at each othere now and then and one will back off a go hide for abit just see how it gos for 1 more week.

 

[snowflake311]

Try the old move everythig around trick. You could even try to take the big bully out for a few days then add him back. Some fish just hate eachother. If these fish are causeing so much stress a fish will not eat I think you need to do something now don't wait too long. Most cichlid work things out in a day or 2. If it goes on longer then that you need to do something.

If it were me I would take the bully out now. Move stuff around let the other fish chill then try again in a few days. But that's just me. Good luck.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I agree, probably just them settling in. Your Discus are probably proving their dominance in the hierarchy. I would keep an eye on the one that isn't eating, but it is not uncommon for Discus to hide and refrain from eating when first introduced. Let me know if this problem doesn't go away in about a week or two and you may want to treat the Discus with some Metro (especially if you see any white feces.)

 

[tr0p1cal]

i added 2 discus to my existing 8 at the weekend, world war 3 broke out str8 away and my smalleist discus was even bullying my new bigger one, the 2 new discus would jsut hide behind my plants but when i put food in they came out to eat, they are still hiding away now and again but are eating. Ive found from having discus that if they dont eat for a day or two summit is wrong,id either take the new ones out and let them feed or remove the bully for abit.

 

[roadmaster]

Try the old move everythig around trick. You could even try to take the big bully out for a few days then add him back. Some fish just hate eachother. If these fish are causeing so much stress a fish will not eat I think you need to do something now don't wait too long. Most cichlid work things out in a day or 2. If it goes on longer then that you need to do something.

If it were me I would take the bully out now. Move stuff around let the other fish chill then try again in a few days. But that's just me. Good luck.

+one. Had one bully Discus that despite moving decor around,placing it in "time out " in another tank, it still behaved more like my dempsey than a Discus.
The group I had was of several different strains. I ended up trading them until I had all one strain and all was peaceful.
I also placed very large pieces of driftwood (20 inches) in the tank, and this too helped by allowing dominant fish to claim territory. The two dominant fish did not hassle the others nearly as bad unless the others tried also to huddle near the driftwood. the others spent their time among the plants but oddly enough at night,,, all huddled near the wood without incident. as soon as lights came on of a morning however,, the dominant fishes run off the others.

 

[mattlee]

I agree, probably just them settling in. Your Discus are probably proving their dominance in the hierarchy. I would keep an eye on the one that isn't eating, but it is not uncommon for Discus to hide and refrain from eating when first introduced. Let me know if this problem doesn't go away in about a week or two and you may want to treat the Discus with some Metro (especially if you see any white feces.)

Hi Connor.

will the discus be ok without food for another week? ive not seen it eat for 5 days at least. even if i drop food right infront of it in its corner it goes untouched....

as for moving thing around its kind of difficult a the tank is planted and most plants are rooted into the sand. the only decor in the tank is a large piece of wood

 

[snowflake311]

Move the wood could help add a rock or something . If it has been 5 days since the stressed fish has had food I would take that one out. Let him destress and then try again.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I would probably take him out and put him into a quarantine tank for observation. My main concern would be internal parasites at this point, sometimes the stress of traveling can trigger these types of things. Have you been feeding what your breeder/supplier feeds?

 

[mattlee]

I would probably take him out and put him into a quarantine tank for observation. My main concern would be internal parasites at this point, sometimes the stress of traveling can trigger these types of things. Have you been feeding what your breeder/supplier feeds?

yeah ive been feeding the same thing as i bought plenty from him.... ill put the discus into qt tomorrow

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Try to snap a picture of him too if you get the chance. Did you get him from the LFS or breeder?

 

[mattlee]

Try to snap a picture of him too if you get the chance. Did you get him from the LFS or breeder?

they were bought from an importer who sells them privately and to lfs. ill get a pic when possible

 

[mattlee]

the discus is now in a bare bottom 90L tank with a few apple snails for company and is swimming around as if nothing is wrong..... i added a chunk of bloodworms and they have all gone but not sure if the discus or snails have eaten them! ill get a pic asap

 

[mattlee]

pic as promised.....