Overly aggressive Discus

[Sportsnutim]

I have three Discus in my 55 gallon tank and few other fish. I have one Discus that has started becoming a major bully with one other Discus. Does anyone have any ideas what I can do other than getting rid of him or separating them indefinetely?

[RedScare]

Rearrange the tank or get more Discus.

[Hooked Newbie]

What size tank? If you have room to do so, you can add 3+ more to spread the aggression.

[The Zigman]

I had the same issue with 3 discus.
Now I have 5, and no problems.

You should have more than 3...

[Draal5]

You need to add more discus ASAP they will kill each other fairly quickly 3 is the worst possible number to be keeping.

I recommend 1 or 5 or more discus nothing in between

[Sportsnutim]

I have a mating pair in my 38 gallon tank. I am guessing I will have to get two more for this 55 gallon tank that should be sufficient you think?

[pinkertd]

Yes, that's what I suggest too, get your total up to 5 and harmony should return! I have had a couple of aggressive discus in the past and some of them are aggressive no matter what. One of the worst ones I had was a red marlboro, no matter what I did....rearrange, took her out of the tank and used her as my "sacrificial lamb" in the QT tank with new discus to ensure there were no issues....she didn't care. She bullied everyone, new discus, old discus, even in a large group. I rehomed her to a friend I used to work with.

[Sportsnutim]

I had a Powder Blue discus and he was a major bully to this same discus: I have a feeling he is a weak link in the bunch; it seems almost all of the discus pick on him. I hope this works or I may have to get rid of him instead. : (

[Sportsnutim]

I thought about putting my other mating pair in the 55 gal tank but that would be total chaos they would all be fighting for the one females attention.

[lilim10]

No, actually I don't think thats true...maybe discus already know when a girl is taken or something LOL, but I keep a mated pair in a community with three other discus and they get along fine.

[AnDr3w]

lol. I didn't even know discus got aggressive.

[yourchoice]

I agree putting in the mated pair will be the same as putting any other two random ones.

[pinkertd]

My discus spawn in the same tank with the unpaired non-spawners and I never have any aggression issues with any of them. Never any disagreements between the pairs and the others. Occasionally I'll have 3 females trying to spawn at the same time with one male and I've never ha a need to separate any of them.

[wataugachicken]

I had a Powder Blue discus and he was a major bully to this same discus: I have a feeling he is a weak link in the bunch; it seems almost all of the discus pick on him. I hope this works or I may have to get rid of him instead. : (

probably if you got rid of the "weakest link", the other discus would just focus on the next weakest.

[pinkertd]

probably if you got rid of the "weakest link", the other discus would just focus on the next weakest.

This is exactly what happens when there aren't enough discus in the tank to spread the aggression around.

[Star_Rider]

depends on how you want to handle the situation. if you want to have successful spawns..the mated pair will fend better in a breeding tank.

you will need to add more discus to the main tank tho.

oddly mated pairs do not seem any more aggressive than others in a tank..I have a mated pair that spawn infrequently. other than the male is the dominant fish in the tank..he is no more aggressive than normal.

andrew..discus are cichlids and will exhibit aggression..more conspecific.(within the species)

[RedScare]

When one pair of my Discus started mating the female became so aggressive she incessantly fought with the other fish. I thought a different and bigger male was going to break her jaw so I moved the pair to a 29 gallon.

Healthy Discus can get very aggressive. Don't let their reluctance to change make you forget they are not Cichlids.

[sarafish]

im having the same problem but my guys are fairly new so they are still sorting out "top dog" But i have 6 discus and i agree you need to get at least 2 more so one doesnt get harrassed all the time.

[ask_avi]

You need to add more discus ASAP they will kill each other fairly quickly 3 is the worst possible number to be keeping.

I recommend 1 or 5 or more discus nothing in between

I have 2 (size 2") in 16 g. Both are healthy but they are fighting, such as tell slapping, cheesing to other. Can I separate them? Please help. - Thanks.

[pinkertd]

I would not separate them. It is all normal behavior amongst young discus. I went thru this with the last 2 I purchased. It started while they were in QT together and continued when I put them in the tank with my adults. It was always the same one doing the chasing of the other one. I've had them about 9 months now and they are just starting to mellow out and swim together. I was always afraid that the one being chased would stop eating and sulk one day, but he didn't. And now they're fine together. Just had to get them over the growing up period!

[yourchoice]

Have you got something in the tank for structure?Big tall red clay pot.If they are newly aquired keeping the tank lights off might calm them down until they get to know each other.Two males might be a constant problem.

[ask_avi]

You need to add more discus ASAP they will kill each other fairly quickly 3 is the worst possible number to be keeping.

I recommend 1 or 5 or more discus nothing in between


I would not separate them. It is all normal behavior amongst young discus. I went thru this with the last 2 I purchased. It started while they were in QT together and continued when I put them in the tank with my adults. It was always the same one doing the chasing of the other one. I've had them about 9 months now and they are just starting to mellow out and swim together. I was always afraid that the one being chased would stop eating and sulk one day, but he didn't. And now they're fine together. Just had to get them over the growing up period!

Many thanks for this quick response, yesterday whole night I observed their activity seems your word is very true. If any thing goes wrong I shall post. -avi.

[golfproinlexky]

Not to jack your thread, but I've had similar problems with four discus. Two are 3.5 that I've had just over a year and two juvies 2.5" that I've had since the first of this year. The juvies are eating and swimming with the others, but one in particular is getting bullied and is showing it in nipped fins. It doesn't stop that fish from being social and eating, but I'm worried about what is going to happen.... any thoughts?

[pinkertd]

I would say just let it be. I know you have to hold your breath and hope that they work it out.

[Blues14]

I bought a pigeon blood and wild type juvies out of the same tank. At the lfs, the pigeon blood was the biggest and bullying everyone, once i got them in my 180 with 4 angels, the wild started schooling with the angels and started picking on my pigeon blood....its not too bad yet, but i am adding more discus as i can afford them. And i was worried about the angels. lol

[ask_avi]

I would say just let it be. I know you have to hold your breath and hope that they work it out.

Pink, you are perfectly right. The problem that I had earlier, that is no longer there. One more conclusion is that "Stress Bar" is not necesserely ment for any stress, I feel it is totally depend on their mood. Any idea you can add on this issue. By the way recently I have added 2 more yellow face super red melon (1.5 "), they are also doing the same thing as other two did. Is it pair like behaviour? At what size they are ready for making a pair? Please let me know. Thanks. :iagree::iagree:

[pinkertd]

Glad to hear your earlier problem is gone!!!:thm:
And you are correct, stress bars are also mood indicators too.
You are not seeing pairing behavior in your 1.5" discus. You won't see that until they are at least 8 months old and much bigger. You're just seeing the feistiness of young discus.:)

[ask_avi]

Hi Pink, I have to disturb you again, my one leopard discus 3.5” in size, suddenly became dark form yesterday night, took very little food. Garlic extract is not available in my country, so I made the same thing manually by crashing garlic. Simply I lost my way, I can’t find any please help. Tank status : 20 USG, Temp : getting too high on day due to heavy summer (36C to 37C), few times I use little ice to reduce it to 31C to 33C. Stock : 2 leopard (3.5”), 2 melon (1.5”). All are well enough except this one.

[sir fresh]

I had a simlar problem with 2 mated pairs every thing was fine and then one of the females picked on the other and left scar tissue over one eye, I quaranteened her and have tried on 3 diffrent occasions to put her back each time she gets attacked.

Yet the 2 males and one female are fine............it's frustrating but that is the fun of keeping Discus.