Small fish

[Julie]

Hi.

I have four discus, and since I got them three have grown and are doing great. One of them however doesn`t seem to have grown much at all. He seems to be healthy enough but does get picked on quite a bit. I don`t know if he is a runt or the stress of being picked on and last to eat is stopping him growing.
I was told that having six or more discus can help with fish being picked on as it`s spreads out the aggression.
There is only one shop in my area that sell discus fish, and the fish they have in are quite a bit bigger than all of mine.
Do you think this would help or just add to the little guys problems if I got two more bigger fish.
I feel so sorry for him as he`s cute and is actually the only one that swims to meet me when I go up to the tank.

What do you think.
Julie

[Kindredspirit]

Hey Julie~

Poor thing! There always seems to be the low man on the totum pole~the smallest~

...so you are not alone there by no means....My SGxsnowflake was the smallest in my 35gal...but recently he just isnt going to take it anymore! He bumbs back now! It seems the pecking order is always changing~and I just added two discus from another tank in with him, as they are close to the same size~ It is working out so far....

I do know that keeping 6 discus or more is a good thing, but someone will be along that can advise you better. I'm thinking it would be a good idea...but I am not sure~

Please QT if you do get more, esp from your lfs~ It is so easy not to esp if they look great! But do it do it do it!! lol!



hth~

Marie~http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_33_3.gif

[Elcid]

There's always going to be a pecking order no matter how many discus you have and it's not necessariliy a matter of size. I have 14 in a tank but the smallest isn't the one that gets picked the most, in fact no one picks on her :).....I do have another fish that gets picked on a lot and she's always been the one my fish pick on. Even the newer smaller fish pick on her! Go figure! :) Anyway my point is that just by getting a few more fish does not necessarily mean that ur favorite fish won't be picked on.

[AADiscus]

Julie,

How big is your tank? You can always put a divider up so that no one can pick on that fish until he feels he can pick back at them. lol I have never used a divider but alot of people on simply recommend and have used them.

[White Worm]

I dont think anybody addressed that you should start the feeding at one end where all the aggressive discus are and then drop some food on the other end for the little guy who eats last. Spreading the food out should allow everyone to get fair share. If you drop it all in at one place, there will always be the odd one that doesnt get as much. I have also used divider before. Seperate the little guy with a couple others that arent very mean and feed them seperately until the little one regains his confidence. Maye even by himself because with the egg crate, he can still see the rest and still feel comfortable with a group but not get picked on. Mike

[Ryan]

One of the reasons people suggest buying a group of 6 - 8 juveniles to start with is because you'll always have a couple fish that don't turn out like the rest. There's almost always a "runt" in the group -- and by runt I don't mean a fish that quits growing at 3" (although you get those sometimes, too) but a fish that always lags behind the rest in growth and development.

Being at the bottom of the pecking order probably contributes to this. However, I'd think that if you separated a fish either by putting it into a different tank or by adding a divider, the remaining discus will have to re-establish a new pecking order. This means you could end up with a new discus on the bottom, being harassed or chased away from food. It's probably best to leave the fish all together unless the aggression is enough to completely stress the small fish out.

I will agree that 4 fish is a tricky number. That doesn't leave much room for the aggression to be spread out.

Ryan

[ronrca]

One of the reasons people suggest buying a group of 6 - 8 juveniles to start with is because you'll always have a couple fish that don't turn out like the rest. There's almost always a "runt" in the group -- and by runt I don't mean a fish that quits growing at 3" (although you get those sometimes, too) but a fish that always lags behind the rest in growth and development.

Being at the bottom of the pecking order probably contributes to this. However, I'd think that if you separated a fish either by putting it into a different tank or by adding a divider, the remaining discus will have to re-establish a new pecking order. This means you could end up with a new discus on the bottom, being harassed or chased away from food. It's probably best to leave the fish all together unless the aggression is enough to completely stress the small fish out.

I will agree that 4 fish is a tricky number. That doesn't leave much room for the aggression to be spread out.

Ryan

I agree! Majority of the time, there will always be at least 1 runt. Separating may help or it may not. Each discus is different. Ive had runts all of a sudden catch up to the rest and out grow the biggest yet. Its wierd but he must of had a grow spurt similar to kids.;) Having more discus will help lessen the stress of always being picked on. Stress is bad for fish as stress leads to dis-stress or dis-ease then to disease.