[scarhbar]

Before I go into my question, I'll just give a small bit of background info. I've had Discus for a while. Everything from a large group of wild caught Nhamunda Discus, to some itty bitty cute Discus from Hans. They are some of my favorite fish Now that you know that, on to to my question!

My LFS has this Discus who they claim to be incompatible with other Discus. I was thinking "Psh, ya right, that's a bunch of bull". So I asked to see him. He wasn't very colorful, he wasn't fed very well (but I've seen worse), and he was kind of shy at first. Until I sat there for a while and he eventually came out. They said they've tried him in other tanks with all sizes of Discus. They said he was chased around a little in the tank with the huge discus (he's around 2" btw), but he still stood his ground and even started nipping at some of their fins! They tried a few other sizes of discus in different size tanks, but all to no avail. He would abuse anything smaller than 3". They said that he's been kind of weird since they received him a few moths ago and the previous owner did not want to risk having him hurt his other display discus too much.

Sorry for the long section. Now, my question is, should I take this little guy in? He doesn't seem to have any defects, and they said he eats healthy. Just a little slow to grow. The only thing I kind of wonder is my tank size. I've got a fairly heavily planted 29 gallon, that has been established for over a year. It's got lots and lots of filtration (haha a large canister and an HOB). My levels are all great, and the tank looks pretty bare. I'm not worried about keeping the fish alive, but whether or not this single discus would fit in my 29 gallon long run. I've only kept discus in large tanks, so this is new to me. What do you guys think?

I just hate to think where he could end up in this little rink-a-dink town. Probably in some 10 gallon with a few Oscars and Bala Sharks.. *shudders*

 

[thelub]

I've seen discus do OK by themselves. Sometimes they force themselves to live in solitary confinement due to aggression like that. If you can give it a good home I'd give it a shot. It would be better off than like what you said put in a really bad situation or really small tank.

 

[ctaylor3737]

Alone he should be alright. If you kept discus before I'll save you the normal rant. They do,better in groups,and more, than likely he is stunted and probably won't grow much more. I have some doubt,about what the story your LFS gave you. The bigger the group the lest aggressive she'll be.

-Chris

 

[scarhbar]

I've seen discus do OK by themselves. Sometimes they force themselves to live in solitary confinement due to aggression like that. If you can give it a good home I'd give it a shot. It would be better off than like what you said put in a really bad situation or really small tank.

Do you know what causes this aggression?? I hope it doesn't have like Mad Discus Disease or something!

 

[scarhbar]

Alone he should be alright. If you kept discus before I'll save you the normal rant. They do,better in groups,and more, than likely he is stunted and probably won't grow much more. I have some doubt,about what the story your LFS gave you. The bigger the group the lest aggressive she'll be.

-Chris

Ya, I'm sorta thinking the same thing (about my LFS). I'm thinking they're giving me a little bit of bogus info to sell me the fish quickly to make room for something else. I totally forgot about the possibly of stunted growth honestly! Dang. Hmm I wonder if that's what makes his behavior so aggressive? Maybe he's in pain or something? And they said even with more discus he'd go after one. I know they seem to be less aggressive in big groups, but they said that for sure he was still mean. But who knows...

 

[OVT]

I had the same situation several years ago when my LFS just gave me that 3" guys after he got returned by several customers due to conspecifics aggression. He did not grow much and he spent the rest of his life solo with a bunch of cardinals. His problems ended when he missed the tank next door by several inches.

I say go for it: I bet he will fare much better in your care.

v3

 

[scarhbar]

I had the same situation several years ago when my LFS just gave me that 3" guys after he got returned by several customers due to conspecifics aggression. He did not grow much and he spent the rest of his life solo with a bunch of cardinals. His problems ended when he missed the tank next door by several inches.

I say go for it: I bet he will fare much better in your care.

v3

Oh he jumped out?? I had one jump out when I was doing a water change. I went to go turn on the faucet, heard some splashing, ran back in quickly, and I saw my pug pouncing in front of the tank. He was pouncing on a little discus it was too late when I finally caught my pug. The pug had already punctured it's brain or spine, so it was too late

Here was the victim

And here is the offender

 

[scarhbar]

Ugh, that Cyano in the first picture :/

 

[Betta132]

I'd say go for it. Give him a chance at a nice little tank of his own...
I think now and then you get fish with really weird personalities. Female bettas are normally okay in communities, as you may know, but I had this one who nearly murdered a danio when I tried to put her in. And those are hard to catch! Not sure how she nabbed it...

 

[lksdrinker]

Sounds like you've already received the advice you need; and since you've raised discus before you probably know whats up. But I havent seen anyone talk about your plans for feeding? I was hemming and hawing over whether or not I should start a discus tank and from what I've read (no real life experience with discus yet), you might be in for trouble with such a small discus in a heavily planted tank. Only in the sense that if you're feeding high protein like beefheart its going to mess the tank quickly and be difficult to properly clean in a planted tank.

 

[ctaylor3737]

Sounds like you've already received the advice you need; and since you've raised discus before you probably know whats up. But I havent seen anyone talk about your plans for feeding? I was hemming and hawing over whether or not I should start a discus tank and from what I've read (no real life experience with discus yet), you might be in for trouble with such a small discus in a heavily planted tank. Only in the sense that if you're feeding high protein like beefheart its going to mess the tank quickly and be difficult to properly clean in a planted tank.

You can do it, just requires discipline and good filtration when feeding. You have to vacuum up the left overs.

-Chris