How to Stop discus fighting??

[Billy]

hi all,

i have 2 medium size discus that is always fighting. They bite on each other's mouth and trying pull it out!!

I ended up using a divider to separate them!!

Also i bought 2 baby red tuq from SLS today. One of them is settling in fine but the other one is a bit stressed and the other red tuq is trying to kill it.

They are all in a 4ft bb tank with 6 cories in there !!
Ph at 6.7 , 29C
others unknow but do 10% w/c daily (approx 80ltrs)

How can i stop them from fighting??

[africandiscus]

You need more fish. You should have a min of 6. When I had 4 there was so much fighting that they all died from stress. Eventually the dominent one died due to the stress of being alone.

[parasite]

discus are shoaling fish so 6 or more should definately help u with ur fish fighting.

[weird]

I agree, before last Saturday, I had 4 discus togther ... at dinner time they fought ... mouth to mouth like you said ... now that I have added 2 more , 2 seasoned turqs from SLS (big older guys... about 3 years) ... they have changed the dynamics of the tank ... now 2 days later very little fighting and if they do it is more spread out ... I recommend min 6 to spread out fighting.

[Chafule]

would 5 still fight?
i was thinking of getting into discus but paying for an extra discus is quite expensive
i can get 20$ for any discus
cheers

[africandiscus]

The more the better. Trial and error

[Billy]

Ok so i can have excuse to buy more discus!! :lol: :lol:

If mixing different sizes of discus, will they still fight ??

The problem is now the big ones are fighting each other and one of the small one is bullying the other small one.

But the big ones don't bully the small ones.

So should I buy more small ones or big ones ??

[mtchye]

This is kind of a hard question. I find that discus personalities vary so much you will have to work out a balance yourself..

My large ones also bully the other large ones, but not the small ones. The red turqs from SLS that we got also seem incredibly aggressive, even trying to chase other bigger juvies. Out of the 5 of them a friend of mine got, 1 got so bullied it didnt get any food. When placed into my tank it was the smallest fish, yet started to bully everything else! :p

I would say that you would be better off getting more small ones. One because they are cheaper, and two because hopefully that will distract the bigger ones a little.

I have 2 large, 2 medium, and 3 small fish in a 4x2x2. The 2 medium red melons seem to keep the ultra aggressive small red turq in check. Perhaps you can try getting something a little larger than the turqs. The red melons that SLS had were very nice and mine aren't overly aggressive but do put the lil red turq in its place when it tries any funny business with them. They are around 1.5-2cm larger than the red turq.

GOod luck
Vincent

[flukes]

I agree, really depends on the personality of the fish. You would be the best judge of that.

The reason the bigger ones fight is because they are trying to compete for dominance of the tank, thats why i think if you get one more about the same size, they will spread it out over the 3 of them.

[chris_d]

This could all have been a voided if you had bought a set of 6 to start with...everyone would be a lot less stressed. But since you got them already i would suggest to get a larger tank and possibly move the med ones out

[kalebjarrod]

more fish it is.

[Billy]

looks like i really need to get more discus in my tank.

The reason i started with 2 discus (now med size) was because they were a gift from my friend and i was too busy to look after them before.

Now i have finish uni, i got all time i want to look after my fishes, until i get a proper job.

i hav already got 3 4ft tanks and 1 3ft tank,
Here is what i put in them

Tank1 4ft: 4 discus
Tank2 4ft: 2 Flowerhorn (separated)
Tank3 4ft: 4 X flowerhorn juvi
Tank4 3ft: 4 clown loaches, 1 BGK, 1 Kisser, 1 Gold Gourami, ...etc

I want to give away my X flowerhorn juvi so that i hav another 4 ft for discus. Who wants them ??

[weird]

<major envy> Nice little collection you have ...

[kalebjarrod]

very nice but tank 2,3 & 4 have some things in them that will hinder you keeping more discus

you should sort out the problem as soon as possible LOL