Changes in my Discus Behavior

I just removed another "problem" fish in the tank. I put it up with the Angel that I removed last week. It is my avitar. That guy is the bull of the tank and wont leave anyone alone. I figured I would remove him again and see what happens with the others. They may not be actually spawning because really none of the others can win in a fight against him. He assumed the ENTIRE tank as his territory and was running the others away from what they though was their territory.

Now the bull of the tank is the Mayan Jade which has been trying to pair with that brown. Now with him as the bull, hopefully those 2 will spawn and maybe even the other 2 seemingly pairs I have as the Mayan Jade ONLY messes with others near that sword where the brown and it stay.

 

The pairs are not in the new tank.... heck I dont even have a new tank... it is the aggressive fish that I took out of the show tank.

 

Nope.. well a month or so ago...

 

Oh, ok, sorry... been in a daze most of the day.... cleaning the apartment, changing water, feeding all the pets and the kids, watching the kids, moving fish, observing behavior of the fish, running to the store to prepare for tonight's NASCAR race and everything else my brain feels fried!

 

Update about 2 weeks changing the inhabitants around:

The balance if the tank has changed! A LOT!

Social structure re-adjusted to the lack of having a dominant male in the tank. It appears that in the social hierarchy there MUST be a dominant fish. The Mayan Jade has become that one now. On the plus side as "leader of the crew" he is not as violent as the other one. He actually appears to be acting more as a guard for the others. Almost all pairing behavior with that brown one by him have ended. The brown female does however seem to still want to pair with him, he just is not responding back with as much interest as before.

On a plus note, 2 of the Red Sunsets are acting more and more like a pair each day. No matter where they are in the tank they seem to be intolerant of the other Discus coming near them. They do not seem to have picked a nesting site though so they kind of roam around the tank together snapping away other Discus that come near where ever they are at that moment.

The other fish seem to be mixing around now courting the Brown Female and the Mayan Jade... There is 1 Red Sunset (male) and the Blue Turquoise (female) that are kind of interfering with the Mayan Jade and Brown Discus respectively (the Blue Turq is trying to pair with the Mayan Jade and the Red Sunset with the Brown). This is also skewing the pairing between the Mayan Jade and the Brown.

Overall the tank is much more peaceful now.... I may though add the other one back to the tank in a few weeks if this does nothing. Then I guess I will need to make another change such as pulling 2 that I know the sex and putting them together alone in the 55 with a breeding cone and see what happens.

 

Ok I now have something real going on! There are 2-4 Discus (the new Heckels) that have went to the right side of my tank where most of the other fish are not. They defend that area and keep the other Discus away....

I cannot figure out who is the pair or if there are 2 pairs to it.... but 1 IS cleaning off a vertical piece of driftwood! By keeping the Angels I do know what is going on! It does not mean I will get a spawn from them right away but I am pretty sure it is beginning!

Much research and I now know that my others (original tank breds) are TOO young to breed! They are getting closer to the time but typically Discus do not breed until 15-24 months old and most of my tank breds are only 12-15 months old themselves! The wilds however I am assuming are 3 or older by their size!

 

I think so... they wont breed right away but I think they are pairing some.... I think that they may have done this already in the other tank at the store.... who knows.... I dont expect eggs though for a month or 2