[Termato]

I am really curious about the discus eating / breeding habits because these guys are very aggressive when eating / breeding and peaceful all other times. I took a video of my discus eating and you can see that during the entire feeding process they were all on edge. It is very dance like in it's flow, a show perhaps. They didn't do any harm to one another though so that's good. It's just crazy to me how strong they are. I am considering moving the two bigger ones into another tank so the smaller guys can get a bit bigger. Thoughts on that?

P.S. the video is quite long (17m 20s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdtl4MB-v7w

One of the discus

 

[Doogy262]

Hi,I am new to discus keeping and took a year of research before setting up and getting my fish about 6 weeks ago and just love them,mine act just like that at feeding time and as you can see in the short video at breeding time but as you noted there is no damage it seems like mostly scare tactics. Beautiful fish by the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sStrO93xZ4c

 

[Termato]

Hi,I am new to discus keeping and took a year of research before setting up and getting my fish about 6 weeks ago and just love them,mine act just like that at feeding time and as you can see in the short video at breeding time but as you noted there is no damage it seems like mostly scare tactics. Beautiful fish by the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sStrO93xZ4c

Yeah, I've noticed the behavior in the tank with my smaller discus as well. I got those first. Been growing them out slowly overtime. I actually did the same before I got mine. I was scared to kill them when I got them so I've been very cautious to study them before getting into it. I've been keeping them now for 6 months. It's just these big discus are something else. Absolutely unreal how powerful they are for discus. I was just concerned about the huge ones hurting the smaller ones. They seem to be fine and they've been in there for over a month now. We'll see how it all goes.

Congrats on the breeding! Beautiful fish you have there.

 

[discuspaul]

That discus behavior appears to be quite normal pecking order activity, particularly at feeding time. None of the discus are hiding out behind plants or rocks, and are not turning darkly colored, which are indicators of undue stress from aggression. No one is getting hurt - nor shying away to any extent - so again - normal discus behavior.
If you split them up, you will very likely have even more aggressive pecking order behavior, in both of the 2 smaller-numbered groups.

What size is that tank ? - It seems rather small for 7 large fairly mature discus - adult or near adult. Their behavior might abate to some extent if they were housed in larger quarters.
How long have you had them together as a group ? - This too may have a bearing on their behavior.

P.S. I composed this post before seeing your 3:18 post above.
I suspected the group hadn't been together very long. Give them some time, and the behavior should settle down somewhat.

 

[Doogy262]

Hey,me again forgot to ask what your feeding them in the video

 

[Termato]

Hey,me again forgot to ask what your feeding them in the video

I'm feeding them beefheart and bloodworms. They LOVE the beefheart. I do feed them at least 2 but sometimes 3 times a day. Not that much, of course, as that is the last and biggest meal of the day. The two earlier ones are snack sizes.

That discus behavior appears to be quite normal pecking order activity, particularly at feeding time. None of the discus are hiding out behind plants or rocks, and are not turning darkly colored, which are indicators of undue stress from aggression. No one is getting hurt - nor shying away to any extent - so again - normal discus behavior.
If you split them up, you will very likely have even more aggressive pecking order behavior, in both of the 2 smaller-numbered groups.

What size is that tank ? - It seems rather small for 7 large fairly mature discus - adult or near adult. Their behavior might abate to some extent if they were housed in larger quarters.
How long have you had them together as a group ? - This too may have a bearing on their behavior.

P.S. I composed this post before seeing your 3:18 post above.
I suspected the group hadn't been together very long. Give them some time, and the behavior should settle down somewhat.

Thanks for the tips. That's definitely a good point about the space in the tank for the big discus. Also thanks for the input on that being normal discus behavior. I haven't had such big ones and they are definitely more aggressive than their younger counterparts.

Yea, all these guys seem healthy. I have a 125 right next to this 75G that's empty that I could set up for them so they have more space.

I didn't have this 125 ready to run when I got the discus so they went into the 75. It is definitely a small tank for these big guys. The tank gets daily 40% water changes because of that and...discus.

I originally had 5 discus in there and it wasn't as chaotic but I recently got two more (the guy I ordered them from gave them to me late. He still owes me one discus...) anyways... The six discus I got from him were going to go into this tank. They were all of the smaller ones in that video. The two bigger ones were going to go into another tank but I had second thoughts.

I chose to do house the two bigger ones in there because I felt it may make them healthier? I don't know. I did notice that within the week of them being around other discus their behavior and health improved so I haven't separated them yet.

I'm planning on having the 125 set up within the next month and It'll be a bare bottom tank. Then I can move these guys in there.

The other discus are in a 150G with angels and a giant school of tetras. Much smaller discus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhaQ-SNP5LA

I'm going to pull those little ones out to grow out in a bare bottom tank as well. They've been growing slowly in the 150G and I'm getting impatient.