Any hints on adding new discus??

[lynnea]

I have three large discus (all about 4 years old) and would like to add 2 or 3 more to my 4 foot tank, but can only afford small ones. In the past Ive added one new one at a time and the bigger ones just harass it til it hides and eventually suicides. I think the three I have now are all males. Would really appreciate any tips for introducing young ones to the tank.

[sharn]

i dont know how people do it with discus but the way alot of people do it with large cichlids is like this-

remove existing fish into a temp holding tank/bin
rearrange decor
add new fish (after theyve been quarentined of course)
let them settle in for a few days
then add the existing ones back in

the new fish go into the enviroment and have time to settle in and start to develop their group rankings, then you add the older fish and they think theyre in a new tank because they dont recognise it and will hopefully fall to the bottom of the group, however if theyre extra bossy and large that might not work

perhaps having an extra 3 will just even out all dominance problems all together as the alpha has to spread the dominance over 5 other fish?

i would probably grow up babies seperatly unless your still doing some good sized w/c's on the existing tank, little ones are easy targets.

good luck!