I picked up 3 greens ( 3" or so ) about a week ago. Initially the three were in a community tank but they didn't seem happy and were practically black the whole time ( black flourite substrate ) and just generally buried themselves in the vegetation the whole time. I picked up another 2 the other day and placed all of them in a 15 gallon so I can start to grow them out a bit. I intend to eventually have them all in a 90 or 120 that I will purchase in a couple of months.
I've got them in the bedroom where it's relatively quiet. I threw in some salvinia to shelter them from the light and there's a bunch of bioballs floating around as well from the main tank to help make sure the sponge filter is up to speed.
I put a powerhead on the filter and unfortunately this moved it lower in the tank which seems to have changed the dynamic a bit. There's one who is definitely bullying the others now whereas before that did not seem to be the case. Big swishing about and such. The only items in the tank are the heater, a ground probe, and the sponge filter resting on the bottom since if I put the little stand on the filter it's so loud I can't sleep. This seems to have changed the cover they had quite a bit. The bully is one of the ones I bought more recently.
I've been feeding thawed cubes of brine shrimp and blood worms. Right now I'm alternating types for each feeding and I feed one cube for each feeding. I'm trying to feed at least three times daily. More if I can get the wife to remember. We thaw them out and rinse them through a net so we catch only the food and not the gunk from the cube.
The tank is BB, no paint or anything and is up against the wall. Temp is warm to the touch ( thermometer says 84ish while the stealth heater is set to 82 ). I'm doing 50%+ water changes at least every other day, although so far it seems to be daily. Water comes from the tap and is treated with a half capful of prime into the funnel before dumping in the water after it although I'll be getting some more Python tubing as this whole bucket routine is getting old pretty quickly. Lighting is LEDs in a hood I swiped off another tank but in practice I'd say a good 30% of the surface is covered in plants or bioballs.
Questions:
What can I do to help curb some of the aggression? All are eating. I've tried making sure there's some excess about after the bully is done eating just to make sure everyone gets some. All of it is gone by the time the next feeding happens. Someone suggested staring him down, but he doesn't really seem to care and it just makes the others hide behind the filter while he does his best to kick them out of there.
Would more cover help? Not a lot, but I've got ( don't laugh ) this plastic human sized skull given to me as a joke for my other aquarium. I'm tempted to toss it in there since it's hollow and should be easy to vacuum around and move if needed. I figure it will give them something to else to hide behind when the other gets too aggressive. Maybe a chunk of driftwood upside down to resemble roots?
Should I try adding a 6th? I got 3 but figured since they shoal having only that number was asking for trouble. I don't want too many if I end up not being able to get the bigger tank and have to settle for a 55 gallon or something in that size range vs. the 90 or bigger.
I was also reading that discus may harbor diseases that are transferable to people. Should I be worried about this? I keep catching the cats trying to drink out of the tank. Althgough for the most part the discus don't seem to care too much about the cats other than the thump when they jump up on the dresser.
Thanks for any suggestions.
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