new baby discus

[kegobeers]

I just added a new baby discus to my community tank. It already had just 1 pre-existing discus. The baby seems very stressed and the older discus seems to pick on it a lot. I turned off the lights to try and reduce some stress. The baby is starting to breath more quickly. What should I do?

[chrissyoscar]

Add a divider if you can to protect him. When you say baby discus just how small is he?

Thanks.. Oscar

[kegobeers]

1.5 inches in diameter
the other discus is about 3 in. in diameter

[chrissyoscar]

Yeah keep a close eye on him.
If he's still being picked on then put a divider in or you'll end up with a runt. If the picking is real bad he could even come down with diseases due to stress and die. I once added 4 young discus about the size of a 20cent piece to my planted tank which had 4 larger discus in it.
I ended up loosing all 4 young ones due to diseases caused by stress because the older fish wouldn't except them and kept bullying them.
If you have a spare tank put him in there and if you can get a few more young ones as they like being in groups of 5-6.

Oscar