Can I fatten up a pinched forehead?

Hello everyone, this is my first post and I'm fairly new to discus keeping. So I made the common mistake of purchasing 5 discus from the LFS before doing my homework. One of them is a 3.5 inch blue diamond discus that is skinny with a pinched forehead and has not grown in the 8 months that I've had him. He's definitely at the bottom of the pecking order and does not eat as much or as aggressively as the others. He pretty much eats the left overs after the others have gorged themselves. They are all in a 90gal tank and I do 50% water changes every other day and feed 4-5 times a day.

I also have a Pigeon Blood in a 30gal bare bottom tank that is growing like a weed! He gets 30-50% daily water changes and is fed 4-5 times a day. As soon as his growth slows I plan to throw him into the 90gal tank with the others and put the Blue Diamond into the 30Gal.

So my question is... Will I be able to fatten up my blue diamond if he is put on the same tank regimen as the pigeon blood or is he a lost cause? I figure since he'll have the tank all to himself, he won't have to compete for food or deal with the stress of being bullied. Is it worth a shot or a waste of time?

Thanks
Jason

wesleydnunder said:

The blue diamond is permanently stunted. If he has not intestinal parisites, then putting him in the 30 gal with lots of water changes and good food will probably fatten him up. With that said, he'll probably never be other than the omega fish in any school. He'll likely be bullied and wind up thin again through being not allowed access to sufficient food. I had a little discus like that years ago that I rescued from one of my customers. I kept it alone in a 30high and it got nice and fat but was permanently stunted. It was shy at first but quickly learned that I was the bringer of food and acted like a puppy whenever I walked anywhere near the tank. It lived about another 6 yrs and had a decent enough quality of life, considering it was alone.Mark

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Mark, thanks for the reply. I think I will put him in a tank by himself and see if I can fatten him up. If he doesn't fatten up then I will treat him for any parasites. Maybe I should post pics with updates.