Pot Belly Discus Chasing Others Around Tank

[Cameronb_01]

Hi,

As the title suggests I have one discus fish in my tank, with a pot belly, (picture attached), who chases his fellow tank-mates around tirelessly, (vid linked).

There are 9 of them in the tank which is 450L and I feed 7 Gamma Blisters a day, (a mix of blood-worms, white mosquito larvae, spinach and lots of other stuff).

Has anyone got any ideas as to why he is behaving so aggressively or the cause for his pot belly?

Best wishes,

Cameron

Vid:

 

[mikey11]

not sure....but that is a lot of discus for that size tank

 

[Demeter32]

Is it protecting a certain area of the tank? Any one fish being harassed more than the others?

Are you sure this fish is a male? I've never owned discus but I do have other types of cichlids and they all get aggressive when they want to spawn. American cichlids in particular will protect and clean a specific spot where they wish to lay eggs. Usually discus will find a vertical object such as an ornament, plant leaf or even the corner of the tank and lay eggs there.

As mikey11 said, 9 adult discus in a 120ish gallon tank is about 3 too many. They say around 4-5 in a 100gal so I'd say around 6 in a 120gal. Discus get huge as adults and at least 20gal per fish is needed IMO.

 

[Cameronb_01]

Thanks for your responses @mikey11 and @Demeter32

Last week on Friday 2 of the Discus spawned together but their eggs were promptly consumed by their fellow tank mates.

However the fish in question is not either of the ones involved in the spawning.

Regarding the space issue, I have a temporary fix for the solution in that tomorrow I am going to transfer the breeding pair from last week to a separate 30 gal breeding tank.

The fish is not protecting a certain area of the tank.

However, a third discus has started shaking indicated she might lay eggs, (also not the one pictured). She is in a close proximity to the male from last week who appears to have ditched his last mate.

Is it possible for a male discus to be two timing? If so which one of the females should I transfer to the breeding tank?

Also just to confirm: is the stomach bump not a cause for concern for either of you?

Thanks again.

Best wishes,

Cameron

 

[Byron]

I will add a concern about the food...bloodworms are not good food for any fish more often than once a week. They are known to cause intestinal issues, so this may if not directly, indirectly be part of the problem. But I would change to a different food, one without any worms.

 

[Demeter32]

Yes the male may very well of moved on to a new girl, while discus do pair off they don't always stick with their first partner.

I don't really know what an egg laden female discus looks like, but perhaps that is what the fat belly means. That or it could be plugged up, have you seen if poo lately? Maybe throw some veggies in there (de-shelled peas, spirulina flakes) to maybe move things along.