Will a bigger Discus kill a new and smaller Discus

[Collusalbuzz]

The older (but still juvenile) Discus is chasing and harassing the new smaller Discus. Will it kill it? Should I remove the smaller one? This is an emergency coz I don't want to have a dead fish. Please help.

 

[A Fish Named Sue]

How long have you had the smaller discus? Usually when I add fish my existing ones harass it for the first few days but then they settle out and all is fine. If there are no injuries to either one yet I would just say watch them closely and wait it out, because moving it to a new tank might just be more stressful for the small one. Then again, I don’t have much experience with Discus fish and so your best bet might just be to separate them until they get bigger and can possibly be together again. You never know, individual fish tempers can vary a lot though...

Best of luck!
A Fish Named Sue

 

[Colin_T]

It depends on how big the tank is and how many plants, ornaments and other fish are in there. If the tank is small then there is a big chance the bigger discus will kill the smaller one.

If you rearrange the tank it might break up the territories and might give the new fish a chance. But if the new fish is the same sex as the bigger fish, they will fight and the smaller one will lose.

If you want a group of discus, buy 6-10 fish and add them at the same time. Get fish that are about 3-4 inches in diameter. Grow them up together and hopefully they will pair off.

If you need to add a new discus to a tank that already contains discus, rearrange the tank just before you add the new fish, then monitor them over the next few days.

 

[Collusalbuzz]

How long have you had the smaller discus? Usually when I add fish my existing ones harass it for the first few days but then they settle out and all is fine. If there are no injuries to either one yet I would just say watch them closely and wait it out, because moving it to a new tank might just be more stressful for the small one. Then again, I don’t have much experience with Discus fish and so your best bet might just be to separate them until they get bigger and can possibly be together again. You never know, individual fish tempers can vary a lot though...

Best of luck!
A Fish Named Sue

Thank you.....I'm going to try and wait it out,hopefully no one dies.

 

[Collusalbuzz]

It depends on how big the tank is and how many plants, ornaments and other fish are in there. If the tank is small then there is a big chance the bigger discus will kill the smaller one.

If you rearrange the tank it might break up the territories and might give the new fish a chance. But if the new fish is the same sex as the bigger fish, they will fight and the smaller one will lose.

If you want a group of discus, buy 6-10 fish and add them at the same time. Get fish that are about 3-4 inches in diameter. Grow them up together and hopefully they will pair off.

If you need to add a new discus to a tank that already contains discus, rearrange the tank just before you add the new fish, then monitor them over the next few days.

I actually got a pair as a gift and I kept them in my 25 gallon tank. One died and I felt sorry for the survivor. The lfs had only smaller ones in stock. Should I get more or should I just keep the bigger one alone.

 

[Colin_T]

Have you got a bigger tank?
Adult discus can reach 10-12 inches in diameter under ideal conditions and regularly get to 6 inches in diameter. A 25 gallon tank is not really big enough for adult discus so unless you have a big (6 foot plus) tank for them, I would not get more discus.

In the shop we had a tank that was 10 foot long x 30 inches high x 24 inches wide for our discus display. We had 10 adult discus (about 6-8 inches in diameter) in that tank along with a heap of other fish. When a pair of discus started breeding, the other discus were pushed over to the opposite end of the tank and got attacked if they got within 2 feet of the nest.

 

[itiwhetu]

Can do, be careful

 

[Collusalbuzz]

Can do, be careful

Ty

 

[Collusalbuzz]

Have you got a bigger tank?
Adult discus can reach 10-12 inches in diameter under ideal conditions and regularly get to 6 inches in diameter. A 25 gallon tank is not really big enough for adult discus so unless you have a big (6 foot plus) tank for them, I would not get more discus.

In the shop we had a tank that was 10 foot long x 30 inches high x 24 inches wide for our discus display. We had 10 adult discus (about 6-8 inches in diameter) in that tank along with a heap of other fish. When a pair of discus started breeding, the other discus were pushed over to the opposite end of the tank and got attacked if they got within 2 feet of the nest.

I'm looking to upgrade to a bigger tank as soon as I can