Advice for how to continue.

[BigBoom217]

Hi everyone,

I had a shaky start with my first ever 5 discus. I bought them at the LFS whom I trusted and listened to him only to get on the forums here and learn.. so on and so fourth.

I ended up with 3 healthy discus and two very unhealthy and inferior runts. (Not round, One with large eyes and one with a chipped eye, too skinny.. I could go on) One of the runts is already dead and the other is probably soon to follow. The other three are very happy, sociable ravenous little pigs. (Stress bars no longer visible)

I have them in a 75g, should I purchase three more discus for them since I don't want problems down the road?

Should I introduce all three at the same time after quarantine?

Or, assuming the fourth runt survives, should I just let things go with the four?

[rickztahone]

6 would be a great number in a 75g tank. If you are willing to put the new arrivals through QT and they pass, then you will be fine. However, in the time that they are in QT (over a month), both groups of 3 (possibly) would be pretty miserable for a while since they will probably be ganging up on 1, especially in the smaller QT tank.

I hope that helps?

[BigBoom217]

That's my biggest concern, right now everyone is getting a chance to eat but I'm a little worried about the three in the QT. I don't think it's worth cramming 7 in the 75g just so everyone gets a long in the QT. That's just my thought on it.

[rickztahone]

That's my biggest concern, right now everyone is getting a chance to eat but I'm a little worried about the three in the QT. I don't think it's worth cramming 7 in the 75g just so everyone gets a long in the QT. That's just my thought on it.

If you leave 3 in the 75g though, you will have a problem shortly anyways. You are stuck in a hard spot because of how things played out. My advice would be to buy another 3, QT them, and roughly a month to 6 weeks you can add one of the discus from your 75g and see how they react. If everything is fine, then you add all of them to the 75g.

[Rudustin]

I'm sorry to disagree with Ricardo because he always gives perfect advice. I amend slightly what he suggests. I would not attempt to put just one of the new discus into the tank of the three after quarantine. I have tried that before and the new fish always gets bullied unmercifully. I would suggest introducing all three of the new Discus to the ones you have in the seventy five at the same time to limit the amount of bullying that could happen. Adding one fish to an already established pecking order usually puts the new fish in jeopardy of being badly treated by all three of the original bunch. This is only my opinion of course and this situation could be debated but from my experience that is what I would do. Best regards and good luck with your discus. Rufus

[rickztahone]

I'm sorry to disagree with Ricardo because he always gives perfect advice. I amend slightly what he suggests. I would not attempt to put just one of the new discus into the tank of the three after quarantine. I have tried that before and the new fish always gets bullied unmercifully. I would suggest introducing all three of the new Discus to the ones you have in the seventy five at the same time to limit the amount of bullying that could happen. Adding one fish to an already established pecking order usually puts the new fish in jeopardy of being badly treated by all three of the original bunch. This is only my opinion of course and this situation could be debated but from my experience that is what I would do. Best regards and good luck with your discus. Rufus

You raise a good point Rufus, but, if we were to introduce the whole group to the new tank, you can potentially lose all your stock, which is why, OP, this is a difficult place to be in. I am not necessarily disagreeing with you here Rufush, it is a valid point.

[BigBoom217]

I think I'm going to pick up two more right now, quarantine them and hopefully the last runt will survive long enough for me to introduce those two after the QT. This way if he does die I would have 5 which I think would work out. Instead of waiting for the runt to die which may or may not happen. He's actually getting into the scramble for food now so I think he's gonna make it.

[rickztahone]

I know its too late now, but next time, consider buying from any one of our sponsors. I assure you, the idea of "if he does die" would not be an issue with quality stock. Good luck.