I recently purchased 2 discus (? blue diamond), they fought (pecking order etc) so I purchased another 2 ( ?pigeon blood) to "spread the load". I however am still left with one fish (the smallest) that is constantly picked on, and so is now in hiding. The biggest fish is about 5cm diameter, the smallest prob 3.5cm. I am feeding the smaller fish by pressing food tablets against the glass which he seems to be eating, so I am not overly concerned with him starving to death. However I would prefer not to feed him this way, and would prefer him integrated into the tank community. Does anyone have any ideas as to how

(A) I can give him more confidence

(B) I can stop the other one picking on him.

Please note it seems to only be the pigeon blood who picks on him. The blue diamonds tend to leave him alone.

Thanks in advance

The Pigeon is the dominant fish. They may both be males.

How big is the tank?

Are there lots of hiding places? (The more places there are for discus to hide, the more time they spend in the open).

If the tank is big enough the best solution is to add more Discus. 12 is a good number but you need a good sized tank for this many (600+ Litres).

If the smaller discus is eating ok you could wait to see what happens after a few weeks. I usually take the smallest discus out into a separate tank. It gets fed lots and the tank has many water changes. I give it a few tetras for company. Once the discus has grown a bit and has caught up to the others (6-8 weeks) it is put back. The pecking starts again immediately but the fish is now of a size where it can hold its own.