How to stop discus pecking at each other?

[iro11a]

I have 6 Discus in my 4 foot tank all about 7-9cm i have brought them all different times so there is alot of territorial things going on but when my 3 foot tank was free to try and stop this was i moved them all then a few days later moved them back but out of all 6 ,5 will fight each other pecking and fighting over meal times the most and the other stays out of trouble and is very shy but even if its not meal time they are always going at each other.

I have had them all for at least 2 months now and i would have thought they would have settled in by now anyone got any other tips without moving them agian?beacuse my 3 foot tank has juvie discus in there now?

Any help would be great thanks

[Merrilyn]

Is there one particular fish that is bullying all the others, or is it a general push ahd shove between all of them.

If it's one fish, then you can remove the bully for a few weeks and let the others settle in. By the time he is returned to the tank, he will no longer be top dog and all should be reasonably peaceful.

If they are fighting and having a free for all, then there's not much you can do. Unfortunately it's pretty much normal behaviour for discus.

Although it looks pretty dramatic, they rarely do any damage to each other. The only time you need to step in, is if one fish is being constantly picked on by all the others.

[iro11a]

5 out of the 6 are pecking at each other the one that is not stays out of everything and noone pecks at him nor it will peck back but the other ones one is a bit more greedy with the food and pecking the other ones but they all seem to be sharing the pecking around,just the red turq is on top of pecking order and considering he was the last one i purchased.

[freshyyf]

Sorry to borrow your thread, I got one particular bullying discus. I tried to quarantine him and put it back twice. It was still aggressive as before. He constantly peck at ALL the others, serious chasing.

Anything to do to "tame" this guy? Give me such a headache.

[samir]

if there's general violence its quite normal and in fact a sign that your fish are nice and healthy. it usually sorts itself out after a while. you only need to get worried if you have a fish that hides in a corner, most times they face one of the top corners tilted sideways. thats when you need to separate the aggressor or the victim.
8 fish are better than 6 and 10 are better than 8. the more you have together the less problems one has.

[the german]

its just a natural behaviour of discus in naturel habitats it seperates the strong from the week discus what brings the strongest genetical combination of fish together to breed strong fish or to say it in short words natural selection.
sometimes it can happen that one discus is too strong for a little tank so the seperating thing is a way.
i found out that especially the male discus who do that are extreme good breeders who take very very good care of there eggs and fry

[freshyyf]

I tried to buy a bigger discus and put it in the tank. It seems like the bullying still continues, regardless the size! So, does size actually matter? The small will dare to peck on the larger one?

[the german]

its not everytime the biggest one who is the strongest,its like with us humans some are big and weak and some are smal and strong

[freshyyf]

Just some update.... The bully is now become bullied! What an interesting behaviour. :lol: .. The ranking changed a bit. Now, they are better as they pecked at each other, bully and being bullied. Very interesting. I got to observe more and let you all know. For your info., my discus are all from different strains.