new discus

[roadblock]

Hi all, I am new to this forum and hopefully you will be able to help me. I have a 37 gal. with one medium discus. Tonite I purchased a small discus to add to this tank. I acclimated him and added him to the tank. The problem is the larger discus is chasing him around. He is not relentless, but I am still concerned. Is this normal behavior that will subside in a day or two, or do I have to take other steps to insure the survival of my new fish? Believing that discus are very peaceful fish, I was surprised to see this behavior. Did I make a mistake by adding this fish in this manner?

Thanks for your help.

[Benny]

Your largert one is just showing whos boss... Hehe..
Theres something known as a "pecking order" where the head is the most dominant fish of the school... This takes a fair bit of chasing before the fishies are certain, but the chasing should stop sooner or later.. although discus prefer to be in groups larger then 2 fish, ill let an expert offer you an answer, but IMHO it will stop

[marg]

Benny is right, the Big one is just trying to let the little one know he is the boss of the tank.

Have you got something in the tank that he can hide in?. If you can afford to it would be a good idea to get a few more because as Benny said Discus like to be in groups. I haven't had them too long but that is one thing that I have found out.

Welcome to the forum. You have joined a good Forum, there are a lot of people in this forum who are really dedicated to their fish, and they are all prepared to give you lots of help if you have a problem or if there is something that you don't understand.

[Merrilyn]

Hi roadblock, :newbie welcome to the forum.

What you're describing is pretty normal behaviour for discus. They are, after all still cichlids, even though we don't think of them as such.

Now, as far as your older fish is concerned, some new fish is trying to move into his territory, and he's not too happy about that. Putting a new smaller fish into an existing tank is not the ideal way of doing things.

Okay, there are some things you can try. First, remove both fish to a separate container. They won't fight in the smaller container, preferring to school together in the face of common danger. This will give them a bit of time to get used to each other. In the meantime, rearrange all the plants and decorations in your tank. This will make it a whole new territory.

Next, put your new, smaller fish in the tank first, and give him as long as your are able, to settle in and become comfortable in his new home (a couple of hours, if possible). Then, release your older fish into the tank, and immediately feed them both.

The bigger fish may be fooled, or he may just start chasing the smaller fish immediately. All you can do is watch, and if things get too rough, you will have to put a divider in there till things settle down.

The other thing you can do is to add more fish. Discus are a schooling fish and do better in groups. Your tank will hold 4 adult discus quite comfortably, with perhaps a few small tetras in there as well. Having the larger group means that one fish is not singled out all the time for being bullied. Your large fish will still chase the smaller fish, but it will be spread over the group, and he will soon tire of it.

Good luck. Hope that is of some help. :P :P

[goldenpigeon]

hi and welcome to DF.com :D

they will stop soon but i would advise you to have more than 1 discus. they are skooling fish

[roadblock]

Thanks for all your suggestions. These are all things I should have known because I am a fairly experienced aquarist, but these are my first discus and I beleive I was lulled into a false sense of security with these peaceful looking fish. Thanks again and look forward to keeping you all up to date with my progress.

[DR.V]

hei ladyred, I like all your moving icon!! COOL hehe...
Anyway, welcome to the best discus forum roadblock

[ctvu]

Welcome to DF.com

ctvu