Hi Guys, I had a recent comment I thought I'd discuss and maybe we can shed some light on the mystery of Discus Aggression. Thanks for Subbing and hitting that like Button! You Rock!
Thanks for the update.. I'm a new discus owner and I'll admit that I am so worried about my other discus fish because they are always being chased by my red cover discus. I know it's normal I just don't want my other fishes to die due to extreme bullying. I've noticed one of them is now staying on top of my tank and I'm that the reason behind it is that the fish is trying to find a safe place. I'm worried because he might die due to starvation. I guess I'll have to let things go as normal based on what you've mentioned. The price of a single discus fish is expensive especially here in the Philippines which is why I don't want them to die just because of bullying.
I am glad you said this. I just got 3 new 5” discus and i had one 5” royal blue that has been in the tank and he/she has been picking on one specific one even a few of he/she scales have been picked or scrapped off and i was worried. Thanks for the tip!
I had a single Discus on his own in the tank for just 24 hours until I could buy the rest of them the next day, after having put the others in, the one from the day before has pinned them all in the top corner and not letting any of them come out to feed. I have a huge net that I might put him in for a couple of days just so the new fish can swim about normally and feed and release the original Discus back in and see if that changes anything. I just don't want all my new fish to get stressed out and not feed before they've even had a chance from the beginning!
Makoy Unggoy if you want to know what I would do it’s this....Keep them all together, make sure your feeding 4 times a day with at least one feeding being beef heart which you can hold with tongs right in front of the fish. If after 4 days they still won’t eat what’s right in front of their mouth, it’s likely they are more than stressed but sick with something. Seeing as how you said you got these fish at two separate times, does that mean they came from different suppliers? If so, you should expect illness and treat accordingly. Many people are confusing bullying with illness as being the cause of fish decline. IF you mixed these fish from different suppliers you may be in for a rough ride. Discus 101 never mix your Discus without lengthy Quarantine and even then most experienced Discus keepers don’t even bother risking it. If you bought these fish from your local pet store they are all likely mixed anyway and loaded with parasites and/or bacteria or viruses. That’s the stone cold hard truth. You can get rid of the one you think is the trouble maker but I promise you in time, IF they aren’t sick, another will take its place. Also, it’s very common for fish newly introduced to not eat for days. Hope this helps and good luck.
@@aquawoman6475 Thanks for the reply, no the fish are are all from the same supplier, not different sources and have been through qt already. I didn't say they were sick and not eating, the bully fish is eating all day off the gravel etc but all the others are prevented for going to eat any food because as soon as they move out of the top corner to go for any food, the bully is back at the top and keeps them herded at the surface and they are unable to come out. Obviously if this carries on then in the end the herded fish will be stressed from the constant harassment and lack of food anyway, that is why I suggested putting the bully in the net just so the others can have a few days or so of peace in their new tank to get adjusted, eat etc and then reintroduce the other one after they have all settled in and feeling a bit more confident
While it is true, aggression is normal behavior, there are bad apples. I have one who was third in line and took over the second spot. That reversal in roles between 2 and 3 seemed to spark highly aggressive behavior. He was getting revenge not only on former no. 2, he was also much more aggressive towards the other fish. Hopefully, he’ll chill out. The question is what do you do? You can’t flush it down the toilet or separate it.
I would totally agree with you # however regular water change # and food distribution in the tank makes a lot of difference # I’ve done that to see that change # at times their aggression could bother us # but as u said it’s their natural behaviour and we really like that # hence happy fish keeping #
I set up a 55 gallon tank a year ago with 6 three and a half inch discus, and now they are about six inches and the mean ones got meaner. Sometimes now it gets frustrating to watch the aggressive behavior, not enjoying much anymore, just saying.
You are right 😊 tho i do think that there is a 'scale' so to speak. Some are more aggressive than others as they all have their own personalities this is normal. The best way to deal with it if its a problem where one constantly and relentlessy bully another or others is to buy more discus. 100% the bigger the school, the less aggressive they are. They say min of 6.. i dont agree. Its more like 12+ and it goes away. Thanks for sharing 😊
I definitely agree with your video. I have had Discus For about 5 years now . Those are some huge discus minor deathly not that big but they're getting bigger would love to send you a video of my tank 75 gallon South American Live plants driftwood aquarium
Great vid. I had African cichlids for years and the aggression my Discus show is so comforting to see. The Africans would fight to the death, pick on a new Fish to the death...my smallest Discus is top dog, honestly my tank aggression is comical after dealing with Africans. I wouldn’t put a number on it tho, it is what it is
Kyle Raines Hi Kyle, Thanks! I too had a tank with African's and they were more aggressive. Back in the day it wasn't even recommended to keep a larger group to stem the Aggression like it is today. But even that doesn't guarantee a peaceful tank, just made it a bit more likely that the one fish wouldn't get singled out. Funny how everything is relative.
I have 6 discus in a new tank. The dominant discus is the only one eating as he chases the others into submission. Should I be concerned as the others have not eating in a week?
Hi Jerry, I keep it at 82 or 83.... it fluctuates a tiny bit due to my Water barrel being at 82 degrees, by the end of the week when I’m ready to do the water change the tank is usually back up to 83. They do fine with minor temp changes.
Hi ONG PHIN, Discus can darken their color due to illness and/or trying to blend in with their environment. My tank being so dark tends to bring out the peppering on my Pigeonbloods. Thanks for watching and thanks for your comment.
hey, i've had a small group of 3 discuss in my tank, sadly about two weeks ago one of them died becouse of an internal parasite infection, as soon as i realised i medicated the water, as soon as all the other fish were back to normal (took about 2 weeks) i took them back to the main tank, sadly one of them died, i went to the supplyer where i got the orriginal group, and they told me to add a new one becouse they tend to do better in a group of 3 or more, (i hope this is true and not just some sale technique just to sell more of them) anyhow i digress, i placed the new discus in the tank after qt, and as expected he started hiding, i thought this would pass and he'd adjust to the new enviroment, but this int the case, and whats worse the older discuss are agressively going after him anytime the new discus peeks out and is visible to them, (maybe its important to mention that the new fish is not the smallest one in the tank,) is this normal ? they are dashing through the tank chasing him, at night when the lights are off they seem to get allong just fine. i allso put them in a slightly smaller tank just the 3 discuss to see how they'd react and there is no sign of agression there either, only in the main tank, the smaller tank is way to small to keep them in there for ever so thats not an option either. so i have no idea what to do, is this normal pecking order behaviour ? any tips ?
Mateo Limberger As long as they aren’t doing physical damage to the new fish and the new fish is eating normally, I would leave them be. Sometimes it takes awhile for them to all settle in and sometimes they never do and one fish is always at the bottom of the pecking order. It can be unsettling to see such aggressive behavior but it is their nature. Again, you wouldn’t want the new fish to starve or be tormented to the point of physical damage but if it’s just chasing him back to his corner, that’s fine. Mine still do that after five years together.
@@aquawoman6475 yes but i havent seen him eat since i bought him, so for allmost a week i am not sure he ate at all, wich concerns me. anyhow that answers my question about the agression thank you
Mateo Limberger get some long tongs or tweezers and put some beef heart and/or black worms right in front of his mouth. Shoe away the others if need be just to test if he will eat at all. If he does eat, then great! You know you can always just feed him like this until he gets settled. If he still will not eat then I would separate him in a hospital tank and see if he improves there. If after a few days of being alone and he still doesn’t eat...I would treat him for internal parasites. Hope this helps.
Wow just completed this very experiment with removing the "alpha @*ole" from my tank for about a week and a half from orginally adding two more to the four I already had making a total of six discus.. the "@*ole" chased the #4 (smallest) discus to what seemed death! Perhaps it was sickness that may very well had played a part as the two additions became sick a day after adding them to the tank. Upon quarantining them, #4 dies from what looked like continues bullying from "alpha @*ole" but again could have gotten sick from the new comers? (No I didn't quarantine first 🤦🏾♂️). So I decided to remove this guy after the two heal and are back in the tank healthy and cool... it's now been a week and a half just bought a pigeon blood that's at least a good 2-3 inches larger and put them both in the tank at the same time EVEN AFTER REARRANGING the tank..lol this guy is STILLLLLL the "Alpha @*ole" of my tank! The End!
This sounds like a left vs right debate on crime. So he would remove the fish from society and you'd just Leave it to into!irate and skip the no bail process. He you two work it out.
Hello, sorry you aren’t happy with your new fish behavior. If you watch my videos on Discus aggression you’ll see that this behavior is totally normal. My fish have been in the same tank for going on 4 years and they still fight and push each other around. They can lock lips and they can hurt each other but that is rare. It’s more common for them to posture with the lower fish backing down to the top fish. Because you added new fish what you are seeing is a school of Discus establishing a pecking order. They need to decide who is the toughest and who is the weakest and who falls between. It’s worse in the beginning so take heart that in a few weeks they should all know their place. That doesn’t mean that ALL fighting will stop, it just means that it won’t be as bad. Don’t stress over what they do. As long as they look healthy and are eating normally let them be a Discus. Discus are an Aggressive Species. Hope that helps.
AquaWoman thank you very much for answering with a good advice because a lot of people quit RU-vid and don’t answer after they post a vid after a year so thanks by the way do you keep arrowanas? And any tips for breeding discus
Top Notch Thank You! No sorry I don’t have any Of those. As for breeding, if you have a couple pare up you can move them to their own 40 gallon breeder tank with a breeding cone and let them try. Often new Discus Parents will eat the first few broods. So you have to be patient. Good luck with your new fish!
Paula Veldof Hi Paula, Thanks! They get a varied diet of everything the Discus eat which is homemade beef,fish,nori,vitamin mix that I make, plus Australian freeze dried black worms, a commercial food called bug bites, cobalt flakes, Algae wafers and occasionally sinking pellets and fresh organic zucchini from my garden. I plan on making a video focused on them in the near future. Subscribe so you can be alerted to when it's up, if you haven't already. I love those little guys too! They must be happy because they keep laying eggs.
What you say has a lot of truth however you are dead wrong about one discus taking the place of a very aggressive one their is a huge difference in a killer and natural pecking order . Not only is it fine to remove overly aggressive discus. It is paramount to know when to remove one that is so aggressive that the others will stop eating and starve themselves to death . Even in huge tanks you can have an overly aggressive discus kill all the others . You have what I would call normal pecking order what most new discus keepers are calling aggressive is one discus pinning the others in a tank wall and attacking 24 -7 until one by one they are all dead ..
Dave Mathis I would imagine if anyone had a "killer" Discus who was killing their fish off one by one they wouldn't just let that happen. I have never seen these "Killer" Discus you speak of. That's not to say they don't exist but I've never personally seen and or even heard of them......until now. I will be sharing your post with some friends of mine that are professional breeders and see if they've seen or heard of killer Discus. Thanks for watching!
devildestiny555 Lol No, but if you ever see one I’d sure like to see a video of it in action! This whole idea of “Killer Discus” reminds me of Bigfoot. They may be real but so far I’ve seen zero scientific evidence to prove it.
I have one that killed 3 discus, it will chase around the tank untill I turn off the lights, it won't let them to eat and the fish will starve to die or it will die coz of too much stress , my tank size is 5x2x2 , 5 discuss fish
As a solution I have changed the hardscape totally with lots of hiding places and planing to more plants in future, check my channel for new hardscape and discuss
No, adding more plants won’t help. As long as all of your fish are getting food, I wouldn’t worry about it. Sometimes adding more fish can change the dynamics in the tank. Keep in mind though, Discus are aggressive by nature. It’s normal behavior to have a pecking order.
I have 4 discus .. one was light blue now he's like black or dark blue .. I used to have a divider after cing Ur video I removed it like few seconds ago .. hope it goes well
Rinu Joseph your Discus turning dark is a worrisome sign. I’m afraid it means he’s likely sick or at best very stressed. Keep a close eye on him and if you don’t already have one, you should think about preparing a hospital tank. Make sure all of your water parameters are perfect, do frequent water changes and see if he improves. If he’s eating that’s a good sign. If he’s not eating and getting darker and his fins are clamped you can be certain he’s sick and fighting off either a bacteria or a virus. You may see other symptoms like cloudy/ dull eyes, stringy white poop, white pimples on scales. IF he gets worse, I’d move him into a cycled hospital tank and start treating him with a broad spectrum antibiotic. BUT first, just do the simple things first, lots of clean fresh water, quality food, dim the lighting and check him frequently. Let him tell you if he’s getting better or worse. Hope he gets well soon and Good luck! Keep me posted and ask any questions and I’ll help if I can.
Try regular water changes #just 20% maybe each day is a great practise # and giving adding food in one area # try distributing the food so that everyone gets to eat # and after they are settled they arrange them in a hierarchy and that’s that than # they only get aggressive during feeds # stay top of them and spread food along # and see the difference # happy discus keeping # it wasn’t never easy #
Tank On Cleaning I respectfully disagree with some of what she says , Some discus have abnormal aggressive behavior due to our breeding methods throughout the years . You can and should remove a killer . They can and will kill the others and it is highly unlikely that another will step up and be just as bad I call this balancing the aggression . It's better to remove the perp for a week or two and return it than to just sit there and say awww that's just nature . Especially with expensive fish.
Thanks Dave, I have experience with keeping many different types of Fresh Water, Marine fish, Corals and invertebrates, but I've never actually kept Discus before. I was very surprised at the aggression levels of this one fish! It leaves the Tetras and Plecos alone, just doesn't like other Discus? From my previous experience with other species, if they have a bad attitude, its bad for everyone, but not this guy! Thanks for your reply! Cam
