Discus aggression.

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Jesse W

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 15, 2012
Messages
107
Location
Jackson, NJ
So I recently bought some discus and have them in a 29 grow out tank until I am able to setup my 75G in a couple months. However I noticed the one yellow pigeon (who is slightly bigger than the rest) is being aggressive. Now I thought it was a constant thing, however I didn't realize I when I observed the fish most was after feeding time. When I wake up I look at them and they are peaceful and schooling together! Only until the second I put food in and pretty much a half hour after that is the big guy aggressive. I see 1 small nip on my turquoise little guy. Should I be concerned? Will this settle down as they get used to each other and older, once the dominant one has made his point? First time discus owner and just trying to make sure everything goes ok!
 
I think the aggression is getting worse :/

You have to remember that Discus are Cichlids and do have cichlid traits. My suggestion would be to feed the fish at 2 points in the tank (at the same time)so that everybody gets what they need per feeding.
Depending on how small the fish are, the 29 might not be big enough for them which is part of the reason for the aggression. We used to feed our Discus live Tubifex worms (I think they are called black worms these days) in cone feeders located on opposite ends of the tank so that no one fish could hoard all the food. You may want to try this trick to see if it satisfies the aggressor. If it doesn't, you should devise a partition for the one fish until you get your larger tank going.

Hope this helps...(y)
 
How many discus do you have? As a rule discus should be kept in groups of 5 or more, one reason is to stop aggression problems. I started with 3 and from day one I had so many problems with discus beating each-other up all the time, I had to go and buy another 3 discus and an hour after I added them the aggression stopped. Depending what size your discus are the 29g might not be big enough for the fish you have or to add any more.
 
29 is way too small for discus. Try taking the aggressor out and put in separate tank. After about a week, put him back in display tank. This may help reorganize the alpha male. I do this tip with my angels. Get working on 75 quick tho. Good luck.
 
But yes I will have my 75 gallon running soon and will be adding more discus. The aggression has actually calmed down quit a bit though.
 
Jesse W said:
But yes I will have my 75 gallon running soon and will be adding more discus. The aggression has actually calmed down quit a bit though.

How many discus do you have currently?
 
Guinness said:
How many discus do you have currently?

I currently have 3, sorry you asked before and I didn't respond. But as I said once the 75 is setup I will getting more. There is almost no aggression now though.
 
Jesse W said:
I currently have 3, sorry you asked before and I didn't respond. But as I said once the 75 is setup I will getting more. There is almost no aggression now though.

That's ok. Yea that's the problem only 3 there will be trouble. You say it's almost stopped but in my experience it will calm down for a little while and then start back up again. Just keep an eye on em that's all you can do till the other tank is set up and ready. Just try not to leave it to long of you can help it. Good luck and keep us posted and post a pic of the bigger tank when it's running. ;-)
 
That's ok. Yea that's the problem only 3 there will be trouble. You say it's almost stopped but in my experience it will calm down for a little while and then start back up again. Just keep an eye on em that's all you can do till the other tank is set up and ready. Just try not to leave it to long of you can help it. Good luck and keep us posted and post a pic of the bigger tank when it's running. ;-)

Thanks a lot! will do!
 
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