Discus Bullying?

[Ashurbarnipal]

I have about five recently acclimated discus in a 90 gallon tank (Amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0-5, ph 6.5, gh 3). I didn't put them in altogether and I'm thinking that may have been a mistake, since the first one I put in has been bullying the rest. Only that one will eat and acts calm, but the others are constantly hiding and breathing hard whenever I turn the lights on.

Any ideas on what I can do?

[koaladarshana]

if they're just recently acclimated they might still be setting up their peking order. it's important to remember that a little aggression is normal and in fact a sign of healthy fish. my experience has been that the aggression between new and established discus only fully subsides to a lesser extent after about a week. how long have yours been together?

also here are some things that you can try in the meanwhile to lessen their aggression:

1. keep the lights off or very dark; this seems to calm them down, dunno why
2. try a mass feeding of their favorite food [but be sure to keep the lights on beforehand for this one as mine refuse to eat if it has been dark]
3. get more discus; your tank is large enough for more of them and they are social beings who might benefit from more "social interactions" [this might help to spread out the aggression]

anyway i hope that helped! it sounds like you know what you are doing and i hope the discus will just mellow out on their own after a while... they probably will. lol.

[Ashurbarnipal]

They've been in there a little over two weeks since I got the first one. The first one still is eating very healthily, and the second one to go in has started, which is extremely good, because its bag leaked in shipping and heavily injured by the time I got it.

The other 3 however are still refusing food. And I'm starting to worry cause it's been a week since they arrived.

[koaladarshana]

What are you feeding your friends? I had to experiment with food for mine; they refused pellets at first but bloodworms did the trick to get them to start eating. Also they seem to eat more robustly if you can extract the juice from a garlic clove [takes some work...] and soak whatever you are feeding in it.

Discus will go on hunger strikes for almost any reason, so the best thing you can do to help in the meanwhile is maintain their water quality. As for them not eating in a week I would not worry too much because in the wild they do not find food every day so they can adapt.

In fact I have one pigeon who has not eaten in a month and a half; he is the last one I introduced to my setup. I got him at a bargain from a supplier I had had great experiences with in the past but I had no idea at the time that this discus was stunted. I've come to learn since then that this is the reason he will hardly eat yet somehow he is still alive and looking alright...

Lastly there is the possibility of parasites to blame for their not eating, but I'm of no help or experience in that dept.

[Ashurbarnipal]

I usually rotate between NLS Thera, Hikari Discus Bio Gold, Omega one tubifex on the non-frozen end of the spectrum and frozen bloodworms, spirulina brine shrimp, beef heart, and mysis shrimp.

I'm starting to think it might just be trouble getting used to the light. These guys came from a breeder who I don't kept them under much light. I have 4 T-5s over this tank, but I've only had two on (they were a deal, but I can't control them individually) since I got them to let them acclimate.

[MuckyFish]

Put some floating plant or plastic floatable plant once it's base is cut off. Java fern, water wisteria are easy to come by that can provide shelter from the light.
Also, drift wood, releases tannins that reduces the light a little, but more importantly provide hiding spots.

[Ashurbarnipal]

I have driftwood in the tank as well as amazon swords, water sprite, riccia, dwarf sag and hornwort. There are plenty of hiding places in the tank.

Here's a pic:



In an update, I have definitely seen all of them eat now, but only two of them will eat readily yet.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

2 Problems I see. Although the tank looks good, IMO it is way too open for the Discus, and it looks really bright. What kind of lights do you have on that tank?

[Ashurbarnipal]

What do you mean by too open?

And I only had the lights up that high for the picture, I normally only have one set of lights on. In that pic, there are 4 T-5s on, but normally I only have two on.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Too open = not enough hiding spots

IMO even a pair of T5's is too much. But again, that's my opinion. The only time I had my discus under any kind of high intensity light is when I them in a high tech planted tank, however their were so many plants in there it wasn't a problem as they could get into the shade quite easily. In your tank, there is really no place for them to all get out of the bright light. Once your plants grow in it will likely be fine.