discus

[fishkid951]

hi guys
i hav a discus who is about 10 cm(not exactly sure how big) and he is by himself and i want to buy a friend or 2 for him. the last one i had was about 4cm and he killed him by chasing him and stressing him out. i hav spoken to someone and he said a 2yr old discus would kill any other discus i put in with him. i know that i should buy a discus that is about the same size but i would like to know if i can put more discus in with him. the last one i had was chased for about a week and then never came out because he was scared the big one would chase him but he had stopped after a week. if i was to add in 2more discus about the same size as the one i already hav would they be killed??
thanx all
fishkid

[tanker]

Discus (like all Cichlids) are very territorial. You can try one a little bigger and see what happens.

[Star_Rider]

Discus are a schooling cichlid..so adding 2 more to a loner is not recommended.
they should be in a group of no less than 4 with more as abetter alternative..they will spread aggression..so keep that in mind..at 10 cm..this is not and adult discus. a healthy adult discus will be about twice that size..in the right set up and right food..easily twice that size. mine are just over 1 yr old and are 6".

that said..consider more fish if the tank will allow it..

[MikenDanielle]

To ease of on his territorial ways when you add new fish try rearranging the aqua scaping, this will put every back at square one for picking their territories. Hopefully it will keep the original one occupied in finding his new niche as opposed to chasing the newbs.

[kmail5776]

^^^I agree w/what he/they said.

Rearrange your landscape just after introducing the new fish.

10 cm. is only about 4", so if its 2 years old . . . stunted? Maybe if your discus grew up alone, you're better off keeping it alone. My BDs are also almost a year old, and are 6".

So here's the thing, if you buy one about the same size, but younger. It'll probably grow larger than your 2 y.o. and possibly force him to the bottom of the pecking order. That's if your discus doesn't harass it to death like before.

[FishyMatty]

Not to be a pirate but I had three small discus, the smallest about 2" the largest about 3" the biggest one did a lot of chasing so I did a complete renovation to there tank and added 3 more discus 1-2" 2-1.5" now the biggest and second biggest are chasing all the rest. This is a heavily planted tank with tons of hiding places. Most of my discus will rarely come out. Help fishkid and me please!!!

[fishkid951]

i used to have him with some other discus until they died. (from worms & aggressive fish-now gone.)He has been lonered for about 6months. He used to be a very good tank mate for my other discus.

If he is stunted(which probably is the case) will it effect his health or anything? Will the stuntedness ever go away?(eg. like humans will eventually grow out of it if they stunt their growth when young and bodybuilding). I was talking to a guy and he said to kill it because it isn't good for breeding and it wouldn't look good in a display tank. I don't want to kill him-he is my most beautiful fish and one of the best looking RT's i have ever seen.
Back to the original question should i have them divided for the first few days/weeks to get the RT used to the ones i will buy?

Thanks All for your answers.
Fishkid

[Star_Rider]

when you add new fish you need to give it time for the pecking order to establish.. I had 4 cobalt reds then added a pigeon blood and 2 red white diamonds.. they were in q for 3 months and had time to grow(the red whites are smallish the pigeonblood is as large as the cobalt reds.

oddly the 4 cobalt reds accepted the white red diamonds..the pigeonblood was chased by the dominant male..I left them to their own as far as the pecking order..that was several months ago..you need to keep an eye on the aggression but they pretty much just chased the pigeonblood into a hiding spot..but now they all swim together..the pigeonblood has assumed his spot on the ladder..
lesson..give it time..rearrange the structures but make sure there are hiding spots. and make sure the all get to eat..I fed in several spotsin the tank at feeding time to make sure they all got food.

[discus bob]

i had a Marlboro red that ended up a loner in a 55 gal<didnt pair off> so moved him to a 75 gal with the rest of the discus..he went in at 4 inches in to a tank with six 6in adults and well he tries to run that tank so i removed the drift wood and replaced with a larger piece and changed the plants around and now everything is fine even added a 2 in blue diamond and no aggression from anybody.Worked for me might work for you.

[fishkid951]

Ok
When i get the new discus i will re-arrange my tank. I will also divide the tank for a week or so with one on one side and the others on the other.