# Skittish discus



## Derek113 (28 Jan 2017)

I got 6 young discus on Wednesday.  I have them in my fish room and all Hell breaks loose when I enter the room. They dart all over the aquarium bashing into the glass ect. Any tips on calming them down?


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## KipperSarnie (28 Jan 2017)

Reduce the light & put up a half screen so your not immediately seen move slowly & wait patiently.
What colour background do you have?
I've noticed black causes large fish to be more skittish.
I've had Uaru now about 3 months in a black tank & these guys have doubled possibly trebled in size yet they're still skittish.
One of my Discus tanks has F1 Browns all welcome me entering yet one who for some reason runs & hides as I enter it takes a lot of patience waiting for it to come out of hiding.


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## Derek113 (28 Jan 2017)

I have kept the lights off so it's just natural light in the room. They dart around then hide. After a minute they realise they are being fed and they come out. My fear is that they are going to damage themselves hitting the glass. 
I will give the screen a go and reduce its size as the days go by.


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## sciencefiction (28 Jan 2017)

They sound scared of humans for whatever prior reason which sadly happens to a lot of fish.  They may do better in a tank not being transparent for a while. This way they can't see you...at least its worth a try. You can cover the sides with something black.
A few years back I bought a group of clown loaches. The moment I opened the door they swam into hiding, very violently at doing so..Discus tanks are mostly bare, so the fish can't hide increasing the stress. It took me years of patience and the fish did overcome the fear of me, or any human. I was very gentle at water changes and there were times when I crawled into the room so I don't spook them...That was roughly over 5 years ago..Little by little they started trusting me, stopped hiding when I am in and in fact now they are in a puppy stage where they bunch at my hands for food.
They are now living in a black round pond and this has helped them tremendously to come out of their shells additionally...So it depends on the fish but I am finding out that fish kept in non-glass tanks are more outgoing and confident of their surroundings.

As for discuss...I've read this happens a lot. You need to try to reduce stress to a minimum, banging doors, lights being turned on and off without schedule, etc..They can damage themselves otherwise.


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## KipperSarnie (28 Jan 2017)

Derek113 said:


> I have kept the lights off so it's just natural light in the room. They dart around then hide. After a minute they realise they are being fed and they come out. My fear is that they are going to damage themselves hitting the glass.
> I will give the screen a go and reduce its size as the days go by.



I think lighting the room & not the tank could be your problem.
Only my opinion but all they see is a black shadow covering their light source a little like being in the wild & a predator casts it's shadow over them.
I'd try keeping the tank light on & putting up a half screen to hide your shadow, no sudden movement on your behalf & keep bumps & bangs to a minimum. 
It is only a couple of days since they were introduced.


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## Lindy (28 Jan 2017)

You could try some plants? I have 2 amazon swords in with my 10 youngsters and when they were smaller ie 2-2.5 inches they also had a bit of redmoor root. They would shoot in amongst that lot rather than dashing for the sides. They are 4 - 4.5" now and when the door opens they rush to the front looking for food.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## Derek113 (28 Jan 2017)

I have two large echindorus plants that they hide behind. The issue is that they are not hiding as I go in the room. When they see me they dash all over the tank in a panic.


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## roadmaster (30 Jan 2017)

Only been a few day's.
Not just Discus species  skittish for first week or two IME, but I realize this does not help with concern over possible injury.
Once kept a group of discus in tank that was poorly placed around a corner, and each time someone suddenly entered the room from around the corner, the fishes dashed about in wild fashion.
I moved the tank to where the fishes could see me or anyone else from across the room and they settled down.
Also noted the same darting about when light's on the tank suddenly came on.
I placed a standing floor lamp in corner near the tank with dim bulb that was on timer to come on one hour before light's over the tank came on.
Some floating plant's might help also.


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