Need advise

[mrs madmatt]

Hello, I'm new to discus keeping and not sure what to do. I have a male white swan, about 10cm, and a female snakeskin, about 13cm, both in a oversized 3ft. They have been getting on fine but the last couple of days she has been a real meanie. Everytime feeding time comes shes picks on him and chases him away from the food.

Have been watching them through the day and she is ok. No picking on him. I'm worried that he is not getting any food.

They are getting fed twice a day. The other fish in the tank are pepperment bristlenose, and they are never out at feeding time.

Any suggestions would be good. :wink:

Thanks

[Matt15]

Sounds like your tipical female.... hahahahah *jokes...!!!

My female discus are the same. The females are usually the boss of the tank.
I can suggest you try feeding at both ends of the tank. And if your using the feeding cones have one at each end of the tank. They're only about $3ea.

[mrs madmatt]

thanks will give that a try tomorrow. Tried feeding at both ends of the tank but she still picked on him. Have one cone and will go out tomorrow and get another. I feed them discus dinner, is that good to put in there?

[fish_r]

u might have to split them up for a while and give them a break other wise the one getting picked on will get stressed and probably get sick.

[Merrilyn]

Having only two discus in a tank is really bad news unless they are a mated breeding pair.

One will always try to dominate the other.

Much better to have a group of three or more.

You haven't said how many litres your tank holds, but so long as you don't exceed the rule of 40 litres per adult fish, you could probably add another one or even 2 fish to the tank. That will certainly help to spread the aggression.

Peppermint catfish are pretty much nocturnal, so you're unlikely to see much of them during the day.

Drop a few slices of blanched zucchini or cucumber into the tank when you put the lights out. Give it about half an hour, then take a look in your tank using a torch. You should find your peppermints munching happily on the greens.

Vegetable matter forms a large part of their diet, so while beefheart is great for your discus, it's not good for your peppermints. Variety is the key word when feeding fish.

[mrs madmatt]

Thanks everyone for the help. They have settled down now. I was a bit shocked how quickly that happened. One day she was being nasty and the next she has just about stopped it.

I put feed in both ends of the tank and it is helping. :P

I will definately be looking at getting more discus to add to the tank.

If there is anyone in adelaide that is interested in selling any let me know. :thumb