Bully discus

[discus2day]

Hello everybody.
- I have a 30g tank
- 2 discus (1 pigeon blood & 1 red turquoise - 3.5 inches, breed)
- 3 SAE
- Planted tank (all anubias)
I've been having them for almost 2 years now. About 5 months ago, both fish had some kind of bacteria (cotton-like stick all over the fish body). I used "quICK cure" to treat them and the bacteria went away. They both are in good health now (I guess). However, since then, the turquoise just keeps attacking the pigeon, chasing it all over the tank, especially during feeding time. I took the turquoise out and put it a different tank for a month and introduced it back to the tank, but after couple hours, it started to attack the pigeon again. I tried the same thing for the pigeon, but it didn't work either. Therefore, I ended up using a separator. Because it is a show tank, it doesn't look very attractive with the separator in it. I wonder if anybody have any ideas how to solve this.
Thank you in advance!

[Merrilyn]

It's very common to have aggression when you only have two discus in a tank. Remember they are cichlids and most cichlids will fight to some degree. The only way to reduce the aggression is to introduce more discus into the tank, and in your 30 gallon tank you could easily add another one. That way one fish is not being picked on all the time. You will still have some aggression, but the bully will not always be picking on the same fish.

When you are ready to add other fish, remove your two first, and re arrange the plants, rocks etc. so things look different. Put the pigeon in first, then the new fish, and about an hour later add the bully. He might not be so aggressive in this "new" home.

[chris]

I agree with merilyn, add another discus should ease the Tension,
alter the pecking order a bit :!:

[flukes]

Id try make the new fish the same or bigger size than the bully this way it might put him in his place, if he looses dominance. This still may take a few fights too settle things down.

[funkyfish]

don't know bout that i had 3 the same size discus in a 30 gal tank it worked to a point till 2 of them killed the other bout 2 months after i put them in there .I believe in at lest 5 in a tank and even then u still have a prob with bully's just a few words from my experiance
good luck with ur fish

[flukes]

yeah but 5 fish in a 30gal tank, thats just cruel. All 5 would be stunted in time..

[funkyfish]

well i don't mean to put 5 in a 29 that is creul i use 29's for hospital tanks
most of my tanks are 55 and bigger