Discus Furious Fighting Of Two Mails

[sparts]

I have 4 discus in my 4foot tank one pair and 2 mails the 2 mails are 4 inches in size each, they have started to fight so badly in the last few days that i am now getting worried, the main pair seem to intervene qiut often and stop the 2 smaller ones, but they are ltterally trying to pull each others mouth off big time is there a point when this will stop or will they have to be removed only have one tank at this time good plant coverage in tank

 

[ox5477]

You might have to remove them if this continues as they can seriously injure eachother. This behavior is the cichlid version of armwrestling or showing who is the stronger and tougher male. They will do this and the winner will usually chase the loser away from its territory but being in a limited area, the loser cant run away so it gets thrown right back into the mix again and the winner thinks that the loser is just still trying to steal his territory.

The breeding pair prob jump in because they feel dominant and try to make sure both of the males realize they control the tank.

But, as I said, try returning atleast one discus and if you can find a female with comparable size to the males then try to introduce her. They should tolerate eachother more and might have a slight chance of actually pairing. If worse comes to worse, take both of the fighting males back and get females. Females will not fight as aggressively over territory as the males do and so your community would not have as much tension built.

 

[kev_kb]

This is why its best to keep a minimum of 5 discus if you have room, and of course having more will spread out the aggression but you probably don't have room for this.

One thing you can try is to re-arrange the tank decor. This may settle things down or just the spread aggression out, but it may only be a temporary solution. If you have room and are able to then add another discus of a similar size, this should help. I guess males are in general the more aggressive, but that's not to say females can't be too, plus the only way to tell for sure is to see them breeding, so buying one female discus may be tricky/expensive.

 

[Don Trinko]

Please excuse my ignorance but how do you tell the males from females? Don T.

 

[Leonwillow]

Is aggression normal for discus? Is chasing each other around normal behaviour? My sister has 7 2inch discus in a 300 litre tank and they are forever chasing each other around. They don't actually make contact with each other though - just swim after each other till one swims off. One seems worse than the rest. Will all the chasing around eventually lead to stress?

 

[cheesy feet]

Is aggression normal for discus? Is chasing each other around normal behaviour? My sister has 7 2inch discus in a 300 litre tank and they are forever chasing each other around. They don't actually make contact with each other though - just swim after each other till one swims off. One seems worse than the rest. Will all the chasing around eventually lead to stress?

Yes,stress can actually give discus diseases leading to death.

 

[kev_kb]

Is aggression normal for discus? Is chasing each other around normal behaviour? My sister has 7 2inch discus in a 300 litre tank and they are forever chasing each other around. They don't actually make contact with each other though - just swim after each other till one swims off. One seems worse than the rest. Will all the chasing around eventually lead to stress?

Yes,stress can actually give discus diseases leading to death.

Thats true, but with 7 the aggression should be spread out and shouldn't lead to problems. You need to remember Discus are Cichlids and can be very territorial. If only one fish in the group is being hassled then you may have problems, but its unlikely.

You sex discus by pairing them off and watching them breed successfully, that's the only 100% true way.