So I bought two new young (one 3" and one 2") discus for my discus community tank yesterday. I already had 4 discus in there that are about 3"-4" For a total of 6...

I did about a 90 minute acclimation period where I syphon-dripped the tank water into the water that the discus traveled in to my home. The temps ended up equal and the ph was about .2-.4 difference when they were transferred. (I did this around 1am in the dim/darkness to keep the stress levels down for all the fish. No worries until this morning when I went to the tank for the morning feed. 5 of the 6 were in front of the glass "seemingly ready" for breakfast but when I approached the tank they all scattered, very frightened. They hardly ate much of the food that I fed them and continuously were darting about, chasing and picking at each other. Are they just trying to maintain a new "pecking order"?

I also have read that sometimes a discus will darken to an almost black color under stressful or sick conditions..and one of my turquoise blues was very dark. A few of them will be very dark from time to time, but I was just wondering.

they do darken up for stress but also to blend in when they are frightened, introducing the new fish in the middle of the night wasnt good for the group to be honest. Its the same as someone moving in on you in the middle of the night.

Give em a few days they will settle their hierarchy business and go back to being the vultures you love so much once again.

I also QT the new discus for 3-4 weeks before they go into the community tank, these fish are very likely to pass something on due to their fragility especially after being stressed from the tank to a bag to a bucket to a tank with inhabitants.

What color is your substrate and background?

I messed up by not getting the QT tank ready for them, and I didn't realize it until I was on the way home.

Substrate is a thin layer of black rock and the back walls are black too. The tank stays fairly dark all the time and I used to keep Ketapang and a good amount of driftwood in the tank, which I know were good for the discus, but the tannins made the water so dark you couldnt even see in.

Wow.. I've only been involved in the discus community this go-round for like four months.. The last attempt was in the early 70's when only wild caught were avail.. .BUT.. I have to quip in on a comment on this thread... It is my understanding.. by a very qualified breeder.. that if your fish spend any length of time in a transfer bag.. the drip method is harmful if not fatal to a fish.. according to him, there is a backup of poo that hasn't yet been exposed to the volume of air that the drip method incurs. Once the poo laden water gets exposed to fresh air, there is a massive bloom of ammonia occurring within minutes!.. Tis far better to "bob the bags". of course insuring that the chemistry was close, and then netting them out for the transfer.. NEVER ever utilizing the transport water in the exchange. Bill in Va.

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12 Tanks, 900 gallons. Discus/Angels/Malawi/Lake Victorias. Just added a 135 & 2 - 29's..