Sad discus :(

[Olicat]

Hello everyone,
I have 90 gal tank with one leopard pleco, 6 blood fin tetras, betta and 3 discus. I do water change every week 30% and all readings are fine, 82F. I was trying to save life of one discus fish, that was in the shop for 3 months, so I brought him home, he was lively, not shy at all his colour was getting better, but... After that I hve decided to get another 2 discus, that was maybe mistake, now those 2 new are always together and I thing they dont want to be friend with my old one, he`s smallest aswell :( Now he is hiding and I`ve notice that he is much darker, than before... So what to do, should I get one more, about same size and colour as the old one, so they can be friends :) I know, it might sound silly, but he was so happy :( Another thing is my pleco, he is about 10 inch and I think I should get rid of him, because he is bit agresive, but he`s so beautiful... Thank you:help:

[Mgamer20o0]

adding more should help. since its smaller could just be picking on the weaker one stressing it out.

[rickster342]

Hi Olie,
Discus are by nature shoaling fish and do best if kept in a group of at least 6. This serves to limit any bullying by a aggressive member of the shoal and does make a discus feel less stressed. I would recommend that you increase the percentage of weekly water changed to at least 50% as well as it helps in improving the overall health of a weakened or stressed Discus greatly. Regarding the pleco, if he is displaying aggressive tendencies I would suggest you find another home for him as some plecos (particularly the common species) can actively feed off the slime coat of discus. Hope this helps!

[yourhero5002]

3 discus is the worse number of discus you could possibly have.

the 2 stronger will attack the weakest one.

[elpulgarverde]

I agree with the former suggestions. You could also consider raising the temp a couple of degrees. I'm not sure from the post how big they are..but growing discus benefit from a slightly higher temp. It also helps with stimulating the immune system and pulling sickly discus from the "funk" I'd consider 82 the minimum for Adult Discus to thrive in.
Please. if you add more discus- quarantine them. Don't risk ANY 'junk' in a tank with an already stressed discus.
And a herd is going to be more fun to watch!:grinno: