How to feed my discus

[abc1234]

Hi everyone!! I just bought 10 1 inch juvenile discus yesterday. And they were looking for food immediately when I place them into my tank. But I do not know how to feed them because when I place the tetra bits into the water, it will just float around. The discuses will not swim up and feed on the tetra bits. So anyone have any suggestions??? Thanks!! Btw, my tank is 3 ft length and 1.8 ft height. Thanks!


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[Bill63SG]

1st tetra bits should sink,especially after a little while.Are you feeding something else?2nd,the person you bought your fish from should have told you what they are feeding them,so you would know what to feed them,and it should have been more then tetra-bits,so you would have a few options.try putting the bits in a small cup of water and let them soak awhile,then feed.

[abc1234]

The guy used to fit them tetra bits too and beef heart mix. But my tank is gravel so when the tetra bits sink, it disappears.


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[Mihai Boldor]

You should try to buy some beef heart mix from the guy you bought the fish and try feeding them little portions but often.

[abc1234]

But I'm afraid that it will fall to the bottom and they can't find it as the gravels will cover them.


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[4discusdude]

1in fry + gravel = disaster n headache. Try blood worm.

[abc1234]

Oh my, can I put like a large feeding disc in the tank. And put the food there??


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[4discusdude]

You can try that but the thing is the discus recognize you were trying to feed them. One in. Discus still need a lot of food n water change everyday without missing a day. When u put a plate in there they might scare of it n maybe not eating from that. Also u can try al freeze dried black worm (the owner of this forum) n stick it to the glass. N then when the discus realized u were giving food to them, u can try to feed the tetra bit in mornings.

[Elliots]

This may not help but maybe try crumbling up tetra flake so it is very small? Try Discus Hans for flake food, he may have small small flakes. I think it is OK for food to fall to the bottom it should still be eaten. Food should not stay on the bottom very long no more than 5-8-10 minutes. If it is not eaten it should be siphoned out or eaten by bottom feeders.

[Rudustin]

Okay this is such a delicate matter on this forum so I will try to be gentle. How big is your tank? I wouldn't call one inch discus juvenile more like they are babies. Bringing up baby discus in a tank with gravel will be difficult because the excess food that they don't eat has to be syphoned out of the tank or the bad bacteria in the tank will end up fouling your water and the discus will get sick and die. Ten one inch discus is a great group of discus but they need water changes very often. At least once a day and more than fifty percent and all food not eaten would be more obvious if you had a bare bottom tank. If you want the discus to grow out well you will need to feed them four and five times a day and with that amount of food it will not all be consumed so there will be left over food rotting in the gravel. Could you remove the gravel? If you have ten little discus they will need room to grow so the tank at this point needs to be at least thirty to forty gallons and eventually they will need a much larger tank to grow out in a healthy way. Where did you buy the discus? From a local fish store or local breeder? If so you need to do as suggested by the previous replies and buy some beef heart mix from the person you bought the discus from but most of all you need to remove the gravel as soon as possible. If you could answer some of these questions we here on the forum could help you even further. Let us know. Rufus

[abc1234]

My tank is 3ft length 1.5 ft breath and 1.8 ft height. I can remove the gravel if it is recommended. I bought them from a local breeder. And thanks for helping everyone!


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[abc1234]

Now they are staying at the back of the tank. Is this common?? Or did I scare them??


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[abc1234]

And if I were to remove the gravels, what will be the best way to do so without hurting or to scare them?? And I have some driftwoods and meshes of moss in the tank. Do I remove them too??


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[4discusdude]

Ok, let me ask u this. How long has the tank been running? U can try to put them in a small bucket n take out all the gravel, driftwood n plant. I don’t know how long is ur tank been running but after u take out the gravel, ur tank might run mini cycle, but then with the large age water change every day should be ok. Bump up the temp to 86 to 87 for couple week n they should be fine.

[abc1234]

My tank have been running for about a year already. So after I have removed the gravels, do I leave the discus in the bucket?? Or place them back into the tank?


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[4discusdude]

P7t them back in tank n with daily age water change

[Rudustin]

Yes, your tank is big enough and yes take them out of the tank if you can in a bucket and remove the gravel. The drift wood can stay and let the plants float on top for while. Then do a water change. Then let them get used to that with the lights off for 24 hours and then get back to us. They will hide a bit at first but they will eventually get used to the situation.

[abc1234]

Okay!! Will do it once I'm back from school. So after removing everything, do I feed them anything for the first 24hrs???


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[abc1234]

Hi everyone, they are eating now:) am really happy. I feed them tetra bits and beef kidney about 3-4 times And does 20% change daily.


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[abc1234]

A little update on them. They are now eating well but will only come to eat when I'm gone. So I can only watch them from afar.


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[MSD]

In time they will get used to you.