# Advice needed re Discus.



## Melll (20 Aug 2020)

I have 6 discus, a group of 4 that hang around together and a pair that stay together most of the time, one of them does visit the group of 4 and then goes back to his/her partner.  The problem is that the pair take over 3/4 of the tank regardless of the tank size, they have never bred or shown any cleaning behaviour but if any of the group of 4 come towards them, one of the 2 shoos the others away and pushes his/her? partner into the back corner of the tank.  

They are all in a 700 litre Rena tank at the moment but I am wanting to move them into a 540 litre custom built tank that is scaped with some chunky driftwood.  Here is the question, do I move them all or give the pair their own tank and just move the group of 4 over?

I bought them all at the same time from the same place and had them now for just over 2 years, even when tiny the pair hogged the majority of the tank so not a new thing. 



The two orange ones are the pair.  This photo is about a year old and taken just after they were moved into the 700. The blues now are quite a bit bigger than the pair and the other one with the sqiggles on is somewhere between the 2 sizes. 




Any advice would be appreciated.


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## REDSTEVEO (21 Aug 2020)

Melll said:


> I have 6 discus, a group of 4 that hang around together and a pair that stay together most of the time, one of them does visit the group of 4 and then goes back to his/her partner.  The problem is that the pair take over 3/4 of the tank regardless of the tank size, they have never bred or shown any cleaning behaviour but if any of the group of 4 come towards them, one of the 2 shoos the others away and pushes his/her? partner into the back corner of the tank.
> 
> They are all in a 700 litre Rena tank at the moment but I am wanting to move them into a 540 litre custom built tank that is scaped with some chunky driftwood.  Here is the question, do I move them all or give the pair their own tank and just move the group of 4 over?
> 
> ...



Hi Mell, for me it is a 'no brainer'. Move the pair to the new tank. All the behavioural characteristics you have listed screams out that they want their own space, so let them have it.

I've had 4 pairs of Wild Discus trying to spawn in a 400 litre tank, each pair protecting their own space.

If they are indeed a pair, it shouldn't take them long.

Good luck.


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## REDSTEVEO (21 Aug 2020)

This is my latest pair with fry in their 200 litre breeding tank.


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## Melll (21 Aug 2020)

Thank you @REDSTEVEO 😃

I don`t actively want to breed them but if they are going to, then how do I ensure they are up to the job re dietary requirements, decor/spawning cone etc?


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## REDSTEVEO (21 Aug 2020)

Melll said:


> Thank you @REDSTEVEO 😃
> 
> I don`t actively want to breed them but if they are going to, then how do I ensure they are up to the job re dietary requirements, decor/spawning cone etc?



A high protein diet and as varied as possible. Any live food such as live white worms, brine shrimp etc will help. With Discus it is best to try them on as many different foods as possible. Have a look at TA Aquaculture website, look at the dry foods available. Spirulina flake, earthworm flake etc.

Domestics will normally choose to spawn on a spawning cone, but will lay on large leaves and pieces of wood. If they are desperate they will even lay on the glass wall if the tank, heaters, filter inlet pipes etc.

If it is a compatible pair they will get on with it fairly soon.

Good luck 🤞


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## Melll (21 Aug 2020)

Thank you, I appreciate it and will keep you updated with how things go


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## Melll (2 Sep 2020)

An update on these fish.

The group of four are now settled in the 540 litre tank and it looks like they have split into two pairs which is not a problem as they have divided the tank equally.  The orange pair will be moved out of the 700 litre tank into my Fluval Roma 240 litre this weekend, it has my female Flowerhorn in there at the moment. 

On Sunday we took a trip out to World of Water at Palmers Garden Centre, Ullesthorpe.  We were not there long as got there after 4pm, it looks a nice shop and will be going back, maybe on Saturday for a good mooch,  They sell Stendker Discus 😃 some absolutely gorgeous looking ones, a bit pricey but a good size. Not that I am looking to get any more but if I was in the market then I would go there for them. They have a good selection of frozen foods, not a great choice of flake or pellets though. Lots of pond equipment, some tanks for freshwater and marine. The fish selection seemed okay at the quick look I gave them.
I totally got carried away looking at the fish I forgot to look at the plants 

Many thanks to @Gill for telling me about the shop 👍 and the cheesecake, you were right, they lied 😄


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## sparkyweasel (2 Sep 2020)

I used to go to World of Water when it was near Rugby. It was worth the trip, but it's a bit closer to Leicester now which suits me. 
That garden centre used to have a good aquatic department years ago, then it didn't have one at all, then it was taken over by Palmers and for a time it had a branch of Maidenhead Aquatics, but not recently. I hope WoW can make a success of it and stay there.


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## Melll (2 Sep 2020)

The building is great, it stands where the Antiques/Curio warehouse was, not actually inside the Palmers building.  A trip on Saturday taking the grandson and then to Palmers cafe for a sticky bun I think


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