Can you feed discus a diet of just Cobalt flakes?

[CammieTime]

Hi - I was wondering if I can avoid feeding discus any sort of meat mix and just feed them 100% Discus Hans Cobalt Flakes? Dealing with beef heart or super lean hamburger is such a mess and dirties up the tank immensely. Pellets require soaking prior to feeding, and I'm not sure what the benefit is of a pellet vs a flake in terms of feeding discus. Flakes seem so much easier and cleaner. Can I feed my discus just flakes and forget the meat mix and pellets?

[Ryan925]

I'm sure you could but is it going to give you the best results? Probably not.

There are pellets you can use that don't need soaking such as the bio gold or forrests aquabits

You can also feed freeze dried black worms from Al that are super nutritious and discus go crazy over them

[CammieTime]

I'm sure you could but is it going to give you the best results? Probably not.

Why is this true? Why are the flakes insufficient to feed discus as their entire diet?

[atlantadiscus]

Good question.Feeding only 1 thing certainly will not kill your fish,as millions of people for decades fed their tropical fish only flake food,Tetramin was the staple diet of most casual fishkeepers for eons.That being said,it is better to vary the diet just like we as humans do for ourselves,more of a chance in getting all the nutrients we need.Hopefully,this results in healthier fish.

[CammieTime]

Good question.Feeding only 1 thing certainly will not kill your fish,as millions of people for decades fed their tropical fish only flake food,Tetramin was the staple diet of most casual fishkeepers for eons.That being said,it is better to vary the diet just like we as humans do for ourselves,more of a chance in getting all the nutrients we need.Hopefully,this results in healthier fish.

Ok - so the answer is yes you can feed your discus just flakes and they will survive and be just fine, but it is preferable to vary their diet. Thus, you can feed discus mostly flakes and do the messy meat mix once in a while to mix things up.

[Akili]

Ok - so the answer is yes you can feed your discus just flakes and they will survive and be just fine, but it is preferable to vary their diet. Thus, you can feed discus mostly flakes and do the messy meat mix once in a while to mix things up.I would add Freeze Dried Black Worms to Hans Cobalt Flakes. You can order from AquaticSuppliers Freeze Dried Black Worms (Al Sabetta) - Northford, Connecticut

[DISCUS STU]

I'm sure Hans has a good nutritional breakdown in his flakes.Have you asked him if he advises to exclusively feed his flakes? Discus have certain protein requirements for optimal growth. Actually I just found it on the web. 45% protein? Not bad...I think I may have tried this and it's a good product but you end up with a fair amount of unusable "shake" which may be ok for the smaller fish but less for the bigger ones. This goes for most flakes.

104201

I've had issues with constipation, the Discus's not mine (lol), when feeding flakes but this may be particular to the brand.

If you're looking for some no fuss no muss alternatives then Hikari also manufactures "Bio-Gold" a very good pellet that I've never pre-soaked though some say it's a little on the expensive side. Nonetheless it's still a good product. I also feed Tetra Bits which have become very inexpensive from sources such as Amazon and what used to sell for about $20 for a 10.58 oz. container now seems to sell for half of that though shipping adds some cost back to that.

[atlantadiscus]

Currently,I am only feeding a rotation of Als FDBW with spinach,Cobalt Discus flakes,and New Spectrum Discus pellets.Seems to be working ok,fish are growing as expected and healthy looking.All of these are pretty much "no mess" foods.

[gators111]

No disrespect to Cobalt flakes, but there are better options if you are just going to feed one food. I would either go with NLS discus pellets or Northfin Krill Pro or Northfin Cichlid formula. They've got about the best ingredients around. And if you ever need to medicate your food for an internal parasite problem, it can be done easier with pellets.

[CammieTime]

I'm sure Hans has a good nutritional breakdown in his flakes. Have you asked him if he advises to exclusively feed his flakes?

Hans says he's raised some batches of fry only on the Cobalt flake food and had good grow results with them.

[bluelagoon]

I've been using Cobalt flakes just once,some times twice a day in small feedings.About twice a week that second feeding would be FDBW's"that's their treat".My fish are all adults.

[Willie]

I've seen nice adult discus raised solely on flakes. They have good size and good shape, but they don't have the "muscle bound" look of fish raised on beef heart. To each his own...

Willie

[warblad79]

Too much fillers on those flakes and less protein...I feed mine Premium beefheart mix flakes from Dan, Consist of 70% beef heart the rest are shrimp, spirulina and vitamins. All my fish go crazy with this food.

[DISCUS STU]

Too much fillers on those flakes and less protein...I feed mine Premium beefheart mix flakes from Dan, Consist of 70% beef heart the rest are shrimp, spirulina and vitamins. All my fish go crazy with this food.

Can you send a link for this?

[bluelagoon]

Too much fillers on those flakes and less protein...I feed mine Premium beefheart mix flakes from Dan, Consist of 70% beef heart the rest are shrimp, spirulina and vitamins. All my fish go crazy with this food.

70% beef heart doesn't mean that it has 70% protein.It still needs fillers to bind it all together;no matter what kind of flakes or pellets you use.

[Clawhammer]

I'm sure Hans has a good nutritional breakdown in his flakes.Have you asked him if he advises to exclusively feed his flakes? Discus have certain protein requirements for optimal growth. Actually I just found it on the web. 45% protein? Not bad...I think I may have tried this and it's a good product but you end up with a fair amount of unusable "shake" which may be ok for the smaller fish but less for the bigger ones. This goes for most flakes.

I've had issues with constipation, the Discus's not mine (lol), when feeding flakes but this may be particular to the brand.

If you're looking for some no fuss no muss alternatives then Hikari also manufactures "Bio-Gold" a very good pellet that I've never pre-soaked though some say it's a little on the expensive side. Nonetheless it's still a good product. I also feed Tetra Bits which have become very inexpensive from sources such as Amazon and what used to sell for about $20 for a 10.58 oz. container now seems to sell for half of that though shipping adds some cost back to that.

Haha, been a long time since I have had to deal with "shake" ;)

[warblad79]

70% beef heart doesn't mean that it has 70% protein.It still needs fillers to bind it all together;no matter what kind of flakes or pellets you use.

I didn't say 70% protein analysis, I'm talking about the content of the flakes...I understand there's still filler but less...Dan is one of the sponsor here so if you doubts or concern in regards to his beefheart flakes please ask him directly

[bluelagoon]

I don't have to ask but will.Flakes mixes are usually 45%-50% protein when using beef heart/worms/sea foods as main ingredients.

OK...Dan..What company makes the beef heart flakes that you sell?

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Why is this true? Why are the flakes insufficient to feed discus as their entire diet?

There's also the Discus' food preferences to think about. It won't give optimal results if they eat very little each mealtime. I've tried flakes and even pellets (you're not the first to have this idea) and my fish were eating 1-2 bites each mealtime, this didn't improve even after 3 weeks. So instead of getting full bellies of BH, FDBWs, bloodworms, they were eating much less, therefore growing less. I want mine to be big & beautiful. So I fell back to what the experts are doing.

[Second Hand Pat]

I don't have to ask but will.Flakes mixes are usually 45%-50% protein when using beef heart/worms/sea foods as main ingredients.

OK...Dan..What company makes the beef heart flakes that you sell?

Dan is a sponsor here and he makes his own BH flake. Here it is on his website http://inlandempirediscus.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=61_70.
Pat

[bluelagoon]

Dan is a sponsor here and he makes his own BH flake. Here it is on his website http://inlandempirediscus.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=61_70.
Pat

Thanks

[NeonTetra]

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?99232-Number-of-times-you-guys-feed-2-5-3-inch-discus/page5
Pellet diet: You can get big discus
BH: You will get very big discus

*Bonus track*: More feedings more WC, quality of water is also very important for growth, never forget :)

[Hart24601]

Realistically yes, should have no problem feeding any quality pellet or flake food if the fish eat it. I mean it's fun to think we are doing something special by rotating foods and giving "treats", but that is really more to make us feel good - I do it too. Or think something we make is somehow going to be better because we put in the extra effort, but the ultimate reason BH is popular is that it's a very inexpensive source of lean protein for growing out a lot of fish and not breaking the bank and the fish normally eat it quite well.