myofibroblast
01-02-2014, 02:13 AM
For those with experience in using Hikari frozen bloodworm cubes, I'm just curious how many cubes you have used regularly per feeding for 8 discus fish?
Currently:
- 2x 5-6" wild blue (brown?) discus
- 2x 3-3.5" wild Heckel discus
- 4x 2-2.5" domestic juvenile discus
- 6x wild cardinal tetras
I have been using one cube from the blister pack, sometimes mixing it with Ocean Nutrition formula 1 and 2 flakes. I pour everything in at once, and let the fish eat at their own leisure. The problem is, the 4 domestic juveniles, the 2 wild Heckel discus, and one of the wild blue discus go into an eating frenzy and they pick off everything within 5 minutes. The remaining wild blue discus eats a lot more slowly. It will eat a few bloodworms, then swim away and circle around to pick food off the gravel. It used to be okay because 3 of the domestic juveniles were not in the tank yet, and there usually was quite a bit left for the slow wild blue discus to pick at. But since the addition of the juvenile discus the slow wild blue discus has not been getting his pickings off the gravel. :-(
To remedy the situation, I tried a few things to no avail:
1. I used two cubes per feeding plus more flakes, tetra bit granules, hikari discus pellets mixed in - result = wild heckels and domestic juveniles and the one fast wild blue discus eat everything very quickly, picking off the bloodworms first, and then everything else, within 5-10 minutes. The slow wild discus will only eat the bloodworms and whatever it gets during the initial sinking of the bloodworms from the top is all it gets, because by the time it circles back around to pick the gravel, everything is gone. More concerning is that the juveniles go from slim to huge bellies after each feeding, and I worry they might develop swimbladder compression or constipation/obstipation from all that food because they are so much more efficient at competing for food.
2. I spread two cubes on opposite ends of the tank. Result = same as above, the fast eaters are very fast at picking food off the sand (maybe the white sand makes it really easy for them to see the food). Now they just swim all over instead of staying in the feeding grounds.
3. I feed 3-4 smaller portions at 15 min intervals during each feeding. Result = one or two blood worms for the slow discus, everything gets eaten during the transit from top to bottom.
At this point, I think maybe when the slow discus gets hungry enough, it will eat more quickly. I just hope I'm not underfeeding the slow discus. I haven't seen any evidence of abnormal stool-its stool is just small thin dark brown droplets because it's not really eating that much. It doesn't like the flakes or pellets, and when I mix the blood worms with the flakes it will sometimes not eat all together or be very precise in picking out the worms. There are some decaying vallsineria leaves it may be picking on too, but I'll keep an eye out for any evidence of disease that might be making it less frenzied than the others during feeding time. It's still active, coming up to the front for food when I approach. The difference in appetite is just more pronounced now that the juveniles are in...so I'll keep this guy on my watch list.
Currently:
- 2x 5-6" wild blue (brown?) discus
- 2x 3-3.5" wild Heckel discus
- 4x 2-2.5" domestic juvenile discus
- 6x wild cardinal tetras
I have been using one cube from the blister pack, sometimes mixing it with Ocean Nutrition formula 1 and 2 flakes. I pour everything in at once, and let the fish eat at their own leisure. The problem is, the 4 domestic juveniles, the 2 wild Heckel discus, and one of the wild blue discus go into an eating frenzy and they pick off everything within 5 minutes. The remaining wild blue discus eats a lot more slowly. It will eat a few bloodworms, then swim away and circle around to pick food off the gravel. It used to be okay because 3 of the domestic juveniles were not in the tank yet, and there usually was quite a bit left for the slow wild blue discus to pick at. But since the addition of the juvenile discus the slow wild blue discus has not been getting his pickings off the gravel. :-(
To remedy the situation, I tried a few things to no avail:
1. I used two cubes per feeding plus more flakes, tetra bit granules, hikari discus pellets mixed in - result = wild heckels and domestic juveniles and the one fast wild blue discus eat everything very quickly, picking off the bloodworms first, and then everything else, within 5-10 minutes. The slow wild discus will only eat the bloodworms and whatever it gets during the initial sinking of the bloodworms from the top is all it gets, because by the time it circles back around to pick the gravel, everything is gone. More concerning is that the juveniles go from slim to huge bellies after each feeding, and I worry they might develop swimbladder compression or constipation/obstipation from all that food because they are so much more efficient at competing for food.
2. I spread two cubes on opposite ends of the tank. Result = same as above, the fast eaters are very fast at picking food off the sand (maybe the white sand makes it really easy for them to see the food). Now they just swim all over instead of staying in the feeding grounds.
3. I feed 3-4 smaller portions at 15 min intervals during each feeding. Result = one or two blood worms for the slow discus, everything gets eaten during the transit from top to bottom.
At this point, I think maybe when the slow discus gets hungry enough, it will eat more quickly. I just hope I'm not underfeeding the slow discus. I haven't seen any evidence of abnormal stool-its stool is just small thin dark brown droplets because it's not really eating that much. It doesn't like the flakes or pellets, and when I mix the blood worms with the flakes it will sometimes not eat all together or be very precise in picking out the worms. There are some decaying vallsineria leaves it may be picking on too, but I'll keep an eye out for any evidence of disease that might be making it less frenzied than the others during feeding time. It's still active, coming up to the front for food when I approach. The difference in appetite is just more pronounced now that the juveniles are in...so I'll keep this guy on my watch list.