Big discus picking on small newcomer

[NorCalAl]

I have a medium sized discus now (about 4"). I bought him alone both because he was the only one in the LFS, but also cause I wasn't too sure how discus would fit into my tank and I honestly didn't want to expose two or three to conditions that would not work out. Fortunately, he has worked out well so I finally decided to add another.
The newcomer is 1/3 the size of my current resident and now the big one seems to be chasing the little guy around. I found the little one hiding this morning and since then, I've seen the big one chase him into hiding basically every time he pops up. The little guy is eating ok - when he can! But I am worried.
Is this going to end in time? Should I have gotten (or should I get) another smaller one? This marlboro had three tankmates, so I could get another.
Please let me know your thoughts and experiences!

[the_oracle]

That is one bad news mate. Discus are territorial by nature. And to make things worse, your new addition is way too small than the host. You might want to consider moving the newcomer to another tank, that is, if you have extra. Or you could put a partition to separate them. Hope that helps..........


Sanie.

[mistakes r crucial]

HI NorcalAl,

Discus are a schooling fish so they are far better in groups of preferably 6 or more. When you have more Discus together the agression is spread out among them so the one individual isn't getting a continual pummeling. As Discus are cichlids they will always have a go at each other to establish a pecking order but mormally they don't hurt each other too much. I would suggest you buy at least a couple more when funds permit and you should find the issue will resolve itself.

PS: Gold Nugget Pleco...very nice!
MAC

[zipztar]

Yeah that happened with me, i bought 2 small ones and the largest one started to pick on the otehr.. then i bought a larger one and they formed a gripe list... bigger on the second biggest etc etc... kinda annoying, but now i got 6.. but the real bossy one (whos not even the biggest) still goes after the pussy one :P

[NorCalAl]

Darn good luck! My store had a special today and sold me three more for $15 each!!!
The big one is still trying to be the aggressor, but what's funny is now the new guy (the one in there two days now) is acting like it's HIS tank too! Actually, it's looking much better. All five seem to be doing ok.

Mac: yeah, the little golden nugget is very sweet. I'd heard a lot of things about keeping them alive - none of them good. So far, he's just doing wonderful. Aside from the big discus, none of the fish except him can push the synodontis around. The syno just avoids the gn pleco now. :-)