# A Lonely Discus



## Isthan (Feb 27, 2006)

I've got a 3 inch Discus that I "rescued" from my parents under-maintenenced 37 gallon tank and moved it to my planted 75 gallon. Before the Discus was introduced, the tank was established with my original stocking of 13 Harlequin Rasbora, 4 German Rams, 6 Pearl Gourami, 1 Juv Bristlenose and Golden Sunshine Pleco, Ghost Shrimp+Snails. The tank is doing fantastic between the fish and the live plants. The plants have really grown and offer quite a few hiding places.

I generally fed my original stock with Flake food supplemented by lots of different foods that I rotate. They really like this and have gotten so relaxed with me that the pearls will eat from my hand. The Rasbora dart at flakes, knocking it down from the pearls during feeding time so the Rams get just as much food. The only trouble with this discus is that he is shy and hides whenever someone passes the tank. This has made it challenging to feed the Discus. However I found the discus is fond of veggie thins that sink to the bottom. Since this feeding method is not as time sensitive as flake being devoured, the discus can creep out slowly and munch on veggie thins. 

Since he is the largest fish in the tank (although a pearl might say otherwise) there does not seem to be any problems so far. What I would like though is for the discus to be a bit less shy. I'm assuming that after conditioning the discus long enough with this feeding method, he would get into the habit of feeding at regular times. Would adding one more discus to the tank help that shyness? Is the tank too heavily stocked for more discus? I figured if the second discus was smaller than the current one, the current discus would assume a leadership role. What do you all think?


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## sean369 (Dec 29, 2006)

i thik it would look good if you got 2 more discuses (mayby different type or something)


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## Hawaiian (Aug 17, 2005)

Hello, I would if possible get at least 4 to 5 more friends for it. They are naturally schooling fish and will always be shy and easily stressed when by themselves.

Ike


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## azfishguy (Jul 1, 2005)

I agree. Discus should not be kept alone. Without companion discus always hides and looks depressed. I keep a school of 5 and they rarely separate.


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

I think you should get another 5 discus but I also think it would be overstocking the tank.

You can take out 6 pearl guorami or just get another two discus as suggested.


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## LindaC (Nov 7, 2005)

I agree, you do need to get some friends for your lonely Discus, they really don't do well when they're alone, however, you should remove a couple of the Gouramis before you add more Discuss. Six Gouramis is a lot and they too can get pretty large. Why not remove at least 3, even 4 and purchase 3 more Discus so you have a school of 4; this should work well.


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## B.A.T. (Dec 10, 2006)

I have a 50 gallon planted tank and I only have 1 discus and it dosn't seem lonely at all. It has full color and a good appetite, it is always at the front of the glass and active. I have had a group of 3 before and every time they just establish a severe pecking order.


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## Isthan (Feb 27, 2006)

Wel first off, thanks for all the responses. I like this discus and all, and would love to fully acomodate it. I really like the pearl gourami more than the discus though as they are easily my favorite in the tank. They will eat from my hand ;D. 

I believe I can get 1-2 more discus without cramping space from other fish because the tank has many hiding places among plants.


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## gibmaker (Jan 3, 2007)

definetley need more discus, for example a breeder will put about 100 juvinile discus in a 100 gal tank to make them feel more comfortable, I have 4 of them in a 125 gal tank and it took them a while to get used to the surroundings but now if I walk by the tank they follow me, if I am trying to look past the plants with my nose on the galss trying to see something else they get right in my face almost as if to say hello I can cover my whole hand over the glass when they are right at it and they dont even freak out, some of the best adapted discus I have ever had, also remember that discus get very large


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## gibmaker (Jan 3, 2007)

B.A.T. said:


> I have a 50 gallon planted tank and I only have 1 discus and it dosn't seem lonely at all. It has full color and a good appetite, it is always at the front of the glass and active. I have had a group of 3 before and every time they just establish a severe pecking order.


do you have any other fish with it?


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## B.A.T. (Dec 10, 2006)

I do, 10 cardinals, 4 rummy nose, 2 bolivian rams ,3 blue rams, some ottos and 3 small loaches. I think that with time and the discus getting used to your tank it will be more active and less skiddish. Also when you put him in there, did you move around the contents of the tank? If not other fish probably had established territories, and the discus could have been bullied. Even if there is no physical damage you know how shy discus already are.


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## anonapersona (Mar 11, 2004)

*4 or more*

I thnk that 4 is the barest minimum for discus. They do have a pecking order and with 4, the lowest rank gets pecked at a lot, very stressful. 5 is better.

What I seem to observe in my tanks is that the lowest ranked fish is pushed away from the group. I think that in the wild he would be the "sacrificial sheep" the first one to get eaten if a pirannah were to come by, thus alerting the rest. Since this lowest fish gets less to eat and less rest, he would also be the slowest and/or smallest of the school, thus the one least likely to outswim a predator or pack of predators, so everybody else gets away. "I don't have to outrun the tiger, just you." The bigger the group of discus, the less stress this particular fish has.


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