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craniac24
Mon Mar 14, 2005, 06:39 AM
Hi Everyone.

Greetings from the United States! It seems like most of the people on this board are from the other side of the world. I've been enjoying myself lurking around and trying to re-aquaint myself with the Discus bug. It's been almost 15 years since I've kept them and just recently I decided to set up a tank.

After finally seeing my tank cycle, last weekend I picked up 8 juveniles, and added them to a tank containing tetras and clown loaches. I'm already experiencing a few challenges. One of my blue diamonds came down with what appears to be fluke. I've been treating with Prazi and have been monitoring him. He hasn't been eating at all and looks very very thin. Not sure if he will make it.

On the other end of the spectrum, one of the fish, a red turquoise, has clearly established his dominance. In 9 days I swear he's grown by 50%. He is by far the most voracious eater and its been a treat seeing him grow. Unfortunatlely he is also the tank bully. At first, I would only ocassionally see him chase the others around. Now though it seems like he is doing it all the time. He will literally stalk my other fish.

My other healthy blue diamond has born the brunt of his aggression. The turk is absolutely relentless to him. Despite all of this, the diamond is a real trooper. He always seems to do what he can to get his fair share of food and swim around as freely as he can.

Not all of the other fish are quite as resilliant. In fact, most of them aren't getting nearly enough food because of the Red Turk. The tend to hide in the back of the tank and are generally timid. Some of them are starting to look very thin, and I don't know what to do. I'm literally starting to think that I need to get the turk out of there so the others can actually have a life! Then again, from what I understand...if I did that it would be likely that another fish would assume the dominant role anyway. I really don't know what to do.

Anyway...its been a real treat so far despite the challenges. I would appreciate any thoughts anyone might have about my dilemma. Here are some pictures of my setup and some closeups of some of my guys. Pardon the quality....they were taken with a camera phone. I promise the water isn't really that cloudy!

Merrilyn
Mon Mar 14, 2005, 07:03 AM
Hi craniac, and welcome to the forum. We have friends from all over the world. Hope you enjoy your time with us.

Your fish all look pretty young, so it's to be expected that they are still sorting out the pecking order. However, if the turk is making life miserable for the others, it might be an idea to isolate him for a couple of weeks, and then return him to the tank. He will become the 'new guy' and not so likely to push the others around.

Nice looking set up you have there. Love your pics.

kalebjarrod
Mon Mar 14, 2005, 10:48 AM
welcome back to the dinner plate world

i agree with ladyred, isolation may be needed

let them have a little sort out time first :wink:

craniac24
Mon Mar 14, 2005, 08:43 PM
Thanks guys for the thoughts. One of my concerns is that I don't currently have a secondary tank that's cycled. Waiting another 3 or 4 weeks to get one going could be too long to leave this guy in there the way things are going. I went home for lunch today and he was at it again...viciously chasing everyone around. He didn't even bother to eat too much because he was so busy keeping everyone else away from the food!

Could I get away with keeping him in a small tank for a couple weeks that wasn't cycled? I have no problem making sure I keep the tank extra clean and doing daily water changes. Is there anything I could do to make the tank suitable for a temporary home without waiting so long to get it "established"?

Thanks in advance for your help.

craniac24
Mon Mar 14, 2005, 08:48 PM
One more thought. What about getting an aquarium divider? Would giving him his own space within the same aquarium for a couple of weeks serve the same purpose? Can anyone think of any potential downside to that approach?

leanne31
Mon Mar 14, 2005, 10:31 PM
Hi you could try putting him in a bag or a bucket for a few hours and rearranging your tank then put him back in sometimes it can trick them into thinking they're gone to a new home I've seen it work before, I suppose its up to the individual fish, maybe its worth a try first. :lol:

leanne

Merrilyn
Tue Mar 15, 2005, 05:10 AM
Just a couple of thoughts for you.

Can you return the bully to the fish shop and get another as replacement.

You can use an uncycled tank providing you take water from your cycled tank and use that to fill the new tank AND take some used filter medium from your established tank and put it in the filter on the new tank. That should give you enough biological filtration for the new tank.

Dividers within the main tank don't seem to work. As soon as the fish is released he's bullying again. Complete removal for about a month seems to the only thing that works. Gives the others a chance to grow and become more confident, and when he goes back, he becomes the new guy on the block.