When to cut down feeding?

[Bizarro252]

Hello!

I got my Discus at 3" from Hans back in April, so they should be about 8 months old now I would think? They are currently 5-6" nose to tail so that makes them, what, sub adults? :)

When I got them I was feeding them basically as much as I could for the first month or two, up to 5 times a day, right now I am feeding 3 times per day, 2 of those being a homemade mix, and one being either Hikari Mysis shrimp or bloodworms.

I was doing daily 70% changes for the first 5 months or so, and am currently down to an every other day 70% change, keeping an eye on Nitrates and this seems to still keep them in check (about 10ppm max).

I am wondering when it is time to cut down to 2x per day, and if I should eventually get down to 1x feeding per day? Looking forward to less piles of poop everywhere in the morning one day, and maybe twice a week water changes :)


Thanks!

[NJDiscusGuy]

Hi, I wouldn't go down less than 2x per day even when they are fully grown. I have always done 1 am feeding and 1 night feeding for adult discus.
Rob

[Filip]

Hello!

I got my Discus at 3" from Hans back in April, so they should be about 8 months old now I would think? They are currently 5-6" nose to tail so that makes them, what, sub adults? :)

When I got them I was feeding them basically as much as I could for the first month or two, up to 5 times a day, right now I am feeding 3 times per day, 2 of those being a homemade mix, and one being either Hikari Mysis shrimp or bloodworms.

I was doing daily 70% changes for the first 5 months or so, and am currently down to an every other day 70% change, keeping an eye on Nitrates and this seems to still keep them in check (about 10ppm max).

I am wondering when it is time to cut down to 2x per day, and if I should eventually get down to 1x feeding per day? Looking forward to less piles of poop everywhere in the morning one day, and maybe twice a week water changes :)


Thanks!

A though one Bizzaro . I like to believe in the common wisdom shared here on SD that the more work you put in the discus the better they'll end up to be.
So adjust your feeding and WCs schedule dependent on your available time and goals .
They still actively grow until 16 months of age and continue to grow slowly even after that till 24 months so you still have time to work on their potential .

[Bizarro252]

Thanks for the feedback :)

While we are on the topic of feeding, I sometimes...slip lol and add more food than I probably should, they as a result will get visibly swollen stomachs from eating so much, usually in 2 hours or so the 'bumps' on both sides are gone. Am I risking them getting bloated or constipated by allowing this to happen? Should I be fishing out extra if/when this happens?

Reason I have not worried about it to much is how quickly it goes down (crazy metabolisms in these guys!) and I would guess they have this 'issue' anytime they get lucky out there in the wild.

THanks

[Ryan925]

I've had mine for a year and a half now. I still feed three times a day. They are still noticeably growing. They are still getting thicker so I continue to feed