discus... one pugnacious meanie!

[xyyz]

i know they're cichilids and all, but i thought they were peaceful and community oriented.

so it's odd when i introduced this 1.5" little guy, named "mr discus" into my 29 gallon setup only to find the innocently funny fish took charge of HALF THE TANK. that's right, not a single hiding spot, or some "cave" like area, but half the tank. he sits right above some amazon swords (at leat i think they're amazon swords) and the moment any of the other angelfish come into his domain in charges and nips.

i already have a dominant angelfish pair in the tank, and they generally chase off the other two angels, but that's all they do, chase. this guy, he goes up agaist the large male angel 2.5x his size and takes bites.

will he calm down, or is this how he's gonna behave? if he's going to be this agressive, i'll have no choice but to remove him and give him back.

[marchmaxima]

You introduced one only? Are there any other discus in the tank? from my limited understanding of discus, they prefer to be in groups..... But I can't say categorically that this has caused his aggression....

[xyyz]

just one. they have to be introduced in pairs or more?

[JustOneMore20]

People keep Discus singly and in pairs, but they are a schooling fish and with a group, the aggression is probably spread out more.

A 29g isn't big enough for a group though and IMO not big enough for a pair of Angels and a Discus. If you plan to move any of those in the future, than thats a great idea. If not, then I'd remove the Discus and save those for a larger tank where you could have 5-6 of them.

Small tanks can increase aggression in fish as well.

[Zagz]

I agree that a 29 gal is not big enough for a discus and angelfish esp. Discus as juvies need to be in groups and need different water requirements than the other fish. I would return the discus or get another tank, cycle it well first and add the discus you have and a few others.

[xyyz]

the plan was to move the fish into a 55 gallon within a couple of months.

as for the discus, is it a must to keep them in soft acidic water, or can they be acclimated to the harder more alkaline water in my area?

[white-worms]

Your angel fish will be the dominant fish shorty. When discus are small, they are easily bossed around by more aggressive Angel fish

[xyyz]

i guess this discus is the exception to the rule. it's clearly the most dominant fish in the tank.

[white-worms]

Originally Posted by xyyz

i guess this discus is the exception to the rule. it's clearly the most dominant fish in the tank.

Well' I've seen this happen many times with my own discus. Put some new ones in and one might become the boss. But it usually doesn't last very long. Just had one of mine grow on fast compared the the other and take over things, but a week later it's not anymore really and two others are now catching up.

Angel Fish for me, are much more aggressive than Discus, especially when they start to get some size on them and catch up a bit on the discus. The tables are usually turned in the end - which is why lots of Discus keepers frown at people who mix angels with discus.

I do have two angels and 6 discus myself in 6ft tank, along with other small cory, tetra's. But I'm keeping a close eye on the angels though. I bought two black veiltail angels. Which seem much less aggressive so far compared to other varieties like Marble Angels etc.

Discus really are stange fish, one day to can have one that rules the tank big style, a week later he's demoted.

[bs6749]

First, discus prefer to be in groups of at least 6. It's best to purchase 6 or more fish from the same brood and put them in a grow out tank. The ideal size to purchase is anything larger than 2.5 inches as fish smaller than that tend to be more unforgiving and their needs are greater.

Secondly, you DON'T need to cycle a discus tank. The whole point of putting them in a growout tank is to do frequent and large water changes. Most breeders/experts would recommend changing no less than 50% of the water every day when growing out discus. Though I feel this is a bit much, I am no expert. Nitrates are a growth limiting factor for many fish but they are removed through large water changes. You don't have to cycle the tank...it will cycle itself over a period of time of doing large water changes. One of the best things you could do would be to run multiple sponge filters in the grow out tank.

I have doubts about the quality of your discus. By the way you described its behavior I have a feeling it's a stunted, bug eyed discus that is an "adult" when it comes to behavior but it looks like a juvenile. Do you have any pictures of the fish? I suggest buying from a reputable source. Look around on www.simplydiscus.com/forums in the sponsors section. There you will see QUALITY discus. Many experts on there that won't steer you wrong when it comes to purchasing quality stock.

As far as tank size, you should be looking at a minimum of 29 gallons as a grow out tank for up to ten 2.5" discus. The water will need to be changed 50% daily though. I recommend going with a 55 gallon setup and buying 6-8 3" fish. Don't believe what you hear about a 29 gallon tank being to small for a discus. Ask breeders what they use for thier breeding pairs. You'd be surprised by the amount of them that say they use 20 gallon HIGH tanks. The pairs that are in there are healthy and produce fry every week or so. They aren't going to do that if they aren't comfortable. IMO a 55 is the minimum that you'd want for a group of adults. You could get away with 6-7 adults in there if you keep up on the water changes.