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Thread: Bullied Discus

  1. #1

    Bullied Discus

    Hi all,
    I have a juvenile blue diamond that has been bullied by all the other discus in my main tank. I took him out to rest him in the QT tank for a week, thinking he had recovered i put him back in the main tank. Right away they were bulling him again, i am unsure of the last time he ate, he looks skinny and temples are pushed in and his dark in color. He is not sick, he has been bullied to the point he cant eat. Right now he is on the sand sideways breathing heavy, he does not look well at all. What do i do?

  2. #2
    Can i force feed him a pea? I dont know what to do

  3. #3
    Moderator
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    How many discus are there in the tank you are adding him to? Discus are, or can be very vicious to each other and have a hierarchy. The smallest or weakest will tend to get bullied. If you keep him in the same tank, try feeding in different ends of the tank, so at least he gets a fighting chance of eating alone, or with minimal bullying. If it still gets a bad rap, you might have to permanently move him and get him fat again before reintroducing him to the main tank. It's tough to see I know.
    Why me ?

  4. #4
    There were 5 other discus in the main tank. I have him in quarantine at the moment, and i also had a new discus in the QT tank too but even the new one belted little blue up. So i removed the new one and put him in the main tank with the others. This morning little blue is up off the sand and swimming around slowly, i think he just tried to eat something. He is in a 100L tank with only cory catfish now, i hope he makes it. I have decided to leave him there permanently if he survives like you said, and fatten him up before i even think about placing him back in the main tank with those other nasty buggers. Thank you

  5. #5
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    Corys' make good tankmates for discus, so it won't feel threatened or lonely. You are doing ok Sabrina.
    Why me ?

  6. #6
    Thank you Steve, I have also removed the bully in the main tank and put her in a 2 foot time out tank. I sat and watched her bully the others away from plants and decor, obviously she thought she owned the tank and all the things in it. So she can stay in the 2 foot until she learns some manners!

  7. #7
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    Another trick I learned was to re-arrange the tank. Putting the main bully back into a tank that is not familiar sometimes calms things down a bit. Worth a try if all else fails
    Why me ?

  8. #8
    Yes i thought about that Steve, i will post a photo of my tank as it stand today and could you suggest if i have to much decor in it? I could remove the barrel and bells and just have the drift wood and plants? But i wonder then if they have no where to hide from each other they might get worse? Since taking the bully out, for some reason my totally placid discus has gone mad and is chasing all the others around now! Why would this happen?
    Click image for larger version. 

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  9. #9
    Ok i made a decision while sitting here looking at the tank, i took out the bells and barrel, now there is only plants and driftwood in there. It looks a bit bear but lets see if this works! This is what it looks like now...
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by Sabrina; Wed Oct 26, 2016 at 04:14 AM.

  10. #10
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
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    Hi Sabrina;
    Sorry to hear about the little BD ,look i under stand ,it a tough one ,Steve has rightly suggested the main points ,the only other possibility which might help is to get a plastic egg shell divider ( it is a plastic divider with little square holes 1 cm x 1 cm that you can put it right any where in the tank ) you see the issue is that discus are schooling fish so they need each other to feel secure and eat ,the divider might help BD to feel secure but stop the bully to physically come into contact with him ,just a thought ,i don't know your temp but 1 degree c lower might reduce every fish activity but you should not go less than 27 c .hope this helps.
    Sayid

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