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as wendy has already posted with pictures we have just added 2 discus to our tank, unfortunately one of them seems quite intollerent to the other, pushing it away whenever they get close. we have the space in the tank to add 1 more, 2 at a push for stocking and the lfs still have 2 left.
would it help to ad 1 or 2 more?

Yep, it would. Discus will bully each other just like many other cichlids, even though they will usually not bother other fish. One discus will become the boss man-ma'am, and dominate the weaker one. It would be a good idea for you to add another discus, because then the prime fish would not focus its aggression on just the one other discus. With two fish to bug, the bully would spread out the aggression and be in far less danger of killing its "friend".

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Discus rarely, if ever, "kill". Young specimens seem to be more rowdy and require more than one tankmate for full behavioral effect. As their discs fill out, you'll notice that they'll mellow out a bit, at least IME.

I consider 5 discus to be a minimum stocking number for discus. The greater the number of fish, the more the aggression is spread out. What you will see is that the aggressor role will shift over time to another fish in the group.

When you have aggression with discus, it is a good idea to have "safe" areas for the fish to seek as a retreat. Driftwood or the resin wood from PetSmart work well.

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"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

hi, thanks for the replies. we just went and got another discus. he is a lovely bright tangerine one. he is acclimatising now. the other two seem ok, the smaller one hides in the plants now and again, but both are eating well and seem happy.

When we first got our two discus, we had the same problem. The "dominant" one would not let the other near the food and it became very weak. Just as I was about to get another discus to fix the issue, it just started to straighten up. I started putting food specifically in it's hiding place and also where the dominant one like to eat... once the other one got some food in him it started to stick up for itself. Once it established that they left eachother alone. Good luck!

there is no problem with eating, they are all eating well. things seem to be settling abit, i think it was just sortung out the pecking order.

here they are....finally all three together in their new home. thanks for all the help[/font]

sometimes adding discus can make things worse rather than better, overstocking can occasionally abate agression, but just as often to maintain pecking order, some new fish will join forces with the dominant fish in persecuting the already suboordinate fish.

Adding visual barriers to the tank can help a bit, frequently feeding fish simultaneously at opposite ends of the tank can help a bit.

tank seperators can be handy too, although the visual stress usually continues if there are visible holes, the primary danger can be that discus like to run rivals away from food, thereby weakening them.

If the weaker fish has a few weeks of being able to feed unmolested, it has a good chance of being reintroduced or the barriers removed, and may represent itself a bit better next time.

Discus can be temperamental tho, sometimes these conflicts abate as soon as quickly as they start, but it ultimately is your call as to how late to leave seperating the fish. my advice is do it before the feeding routine of the fish is too greatly disturbed, dont wait for emaciation or illness/depression to set in as they seldom recover. Not to mention that diseases like hole-in -the head will typically affect the weaker specimens- who then often infest the others.

And take it from someone whos had to struggle with hole-in -the head, its a sod to beat, sometimes even metronidazole isnt effective.

Discus will often ,even when compatible, take a shot at each other , especially over food, but as long as this aggression isnt consistant , it isnt a problem.

This may sound like rubbish to you - but I often think that one of the things that can cause increased aggression in discus is the presence of lighting that is too bright, this obviously illuminates them brightly, and often i think that may provoke a dominant fish, since the the suboordinates colours even when submissive may seem to be annoyingly distinct .

Ive had much fewer problems in tanks that are suitably dim lit, or have excellent vegetation cover preventing all the light entering the water column.