Which dry food granules is the best?!?!?!?

[allan_mark76]

Hello folks I was just wondering which of the four listed in the poll that you use the most and provides the max in nutriton. The reason why I ask is that there is now a choice as far as dry food granules is concerned and I want to buy the best that provides the best results for my discus. So please vote and say why. Also besides choosing the "BEST;D" can you also note what's the "WORST :-X".

Thanks.

A-

[Carol_Roberts]

I've only fed two of the four - color bits and Hikari. Hikari makes more of a mess.
CArol :heart1:

[samcatj]

My fish will not eat any of the dry foods you have listed. I've tried them all but they just watch them float by with no interest. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make them eat dry food please let me know. Thanks

samcatj

[DHDiscusMan]

I feed Color Bits and Spectrum. My fish always ignored spectrum but liked color bits so tonight I put both in at once and they ate everything. Don't know if they will still eat spectrum if there are no color bits to tease them with. My orange discus have a lot more red now with color bits for the last two weeks. Don't know if they would have gone more red anyway. I may withhold color bits to see if they go back orange.

Let me know if you get a firm opinion of what's best.

Thanks.

Dan

[fcdiscus]

What is that vibra-gro crap even doing on this list. Tetra Bits are by far the best! Frank ;)

Hikari Cichlid Complete is very good.
Less messy than the Discus Red.

[Ivan]

Don't use any of the above, I use Tetra prima. Little red sinkng granules. Fish love it.
Samcatj, the best way to get Discus to a new food is to starve them for a day, then feed first thing in the morning what you want them to try. It works for me, the only thing my Discus never took a liking to ever was the mysis shrimp. Nothing else touches the bottom of the tank!! Oh and use foods that sink a little, Discus don't usually eat from the surface. HTH
Ivan

[Discusgeo]

I don't use any of those. My Discus and Angelfish eat BioKyowa and Haifeng foods.
George

[jamesmcsyd]

g'day

I mainly use SERA premium discus granules. They love them. They are of superior quality. However, i also use AZOO, and nutrafin stuff too. Do't know if SERA is big in USA but in Australia and Europe it's top choice!

Sam, to get your Discus onto granules, feed them granules and nothing else. Even if they haven't touched them after a week, they will eventually go for them!

James

[Francisco_Borrero]

I have been alternating the following pellets for the morning feeding:

Tetra Colorbits
Azoo 9-1 discus blue/red (50/50 mix)
Jehmco's better sinking bits
Flake: mix equal parts of spirulina, earthworm and brine/krill

For the evening feeding (prior to water changes) I alternate:

live blackworms
beefheart
frozen mysids
red wigglers

I probably will change to live CA BlkWorms everyday in the evening, and use beefheart and mysids as nonscheduled treats. Bloodworms (Hikari) and frozen brine will also be treats. Red wigglers will be part of the morning rotation.

I aggree with those who think Vibagro sucks, althought my community fish did eat what I had left when I borught it.

Cheers, Francisco.

[RichieE]

Haifeng- not listed
Tetrabits


Has anyone ever run out of Vibra-Grow?

Rich

[DarkDiscus]

I have tried a LOT of pelletized food over the years and settled on Colorbits years ago, long before discus, as a good basic staple pellet for discus. My Nicaraguan cichlids always ate it and it does a good job (for a pellet) keeping them colored up.

My discus like it, it's clean and easy to feed as a supplement.

John

[DHDiscusMan]

OK. I couldn't decide. I bought one container of each Azoo (red and blue) a container of ColorBits and a container of Spectrum. Now I take some of each of the four and add them all to a parmasian cheese shaker and shake some into each tank. The discus get some of all four pellets at once and it all gets eaten.

OK so I'm a little compulsive. LOL

Dan

[allan_mark76]

DHDiscusMan (DAN) so how are the Azoo pellets going for you??? I was thinking about picking up some for myself. Please let me know as I don't want to be buying crap. Also did you notice an intensified color change when using the Azoo pellets versus the Tetra Bits.

Thanks.

A- ;D

[DHDiscusMan]

Yesterday was the first day with Azoo and as I said they are all in the shaker together with color bits so I won't know what caused which change. If you're going to Jeff's on Sunday let me know and I'll bring you some Azoo to try. They come in a huge container anyway.

Dan

[fcdiscus]

Dan, Not compulsive at all- A great way to do it, and get the benefits of all the foods! Frank ;)

[April]

you forgot onf1 flake. its the best...as far as i say.
my fishies love it and they do well on it.
mine dont like the pellet foods

[Richman]

When I first got my current batch of fish, they had been fed hai feng pellets. I bought some (expensive) and they loved them. But when I started feeding others foods, they changed their preference. I feed Hai Feng, Color Bits, and Azoo. They will eat them all, but if put in together, they will aways eat the color bits first. I feed Hai Feng and Azoo in the morning. They let them settle and then pick them off the bottom. In the evening I feed color bits. They attack them as soon as they hit the water. Then, when the color bits are gone, I feed beefheart. They swarm it. I feed beefheart in the evening because I want some left after I turn off the lights. The clown loaches clean up what is left and it makes them grow like pigs. Its great for their color also. I guess the fish like Color Bits best. I like Azoo best cause it's CHEAPER!!

i prefer the tetra colorbits, but you have to soak them first so they don't bloat in the fishies' stomachs. I have had extremely good results soaking the pellets in Discus Essential - a product Cary recommended to me. I just put the amount of Discus Essential that you'd need for the size WC i just did into a small container, pour in enough colorbits to fill it up halfway, let them soak for 20 min, and just dump them in the tank. My fish love them and i am confident they grow better with all those minerals.

Brad

[fcdiscus]

Color Bits in Discus Essential! Humm- I like that idea. I will try it, but to tell you the truth, I have never had a Discus get bloated on Bits. The Azoo is a differnt story, they blow up quit a bit when they get moist. Frank

[Jorge las Heras]

I do not use any of the included on the pool. I use, in order:

–JBL Grana Discus
–Sera Premium Discus
–Vitakraft Discus

[Jeff]

I have been using the Tetra Color Bits. The fish do accept and eat them. I use it in a rotation with the Formula Flakes.

[DavidAJ]

I use Tetra color-bits all the time. I had bought a very large container a while back and when I got my discus the guys at my LFS said they used 'em also. Every fish I have ever had has accepted them so I tend to stick with a winner.

My discus will also pick them off the bottom if they get to them first . My UD cats go crazy for them .

David

[JESSIE]

My dad will give a different answer but I have found that Nutrifn Redgrubs are their favorites.

Jes

Mine eat the AZoo just fine. I know most would not agree http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/3/fie.gif.

But my fish seem to like them. Have them mixed in my eheim feeders, with all the freeze dried and flake. Nice thing they sink so when the fishies get to them they are already soaked on the bottom.

Works for me....http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/w/thumbs.gif

Julz http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/r/content.gif

[allan_mark76]

Okay folks here's what I've been using for a while now:

TetraBits
Azoo Red Enhancer
Spectrum

I've been using each for two and a half months now and I've come to the conclusion that the Tetrabits are the BEST.

TetraBits- I like this stuff because it's slow sinking. The tetrabits are also in fair-large size when fed. My Discus readily eat them. The problem that I see with this product is that you have to pre-soak the bits or else you'd run into intestinal blockage. What I've also been noticing is that the tetrabits in the bottom of the canister are all crushed. Feeding crushed terabits makes the bottom of the tank a mess and binds to the sponges readily. There has also been "some" additional coloration. All in all a VERY GOOD product and will continue to use it readily

Azoo Red Colorbits - I like this stuff because of the fact that the granules are small and can be fed straight to your discus without soaking. They are tiny! ! ! :o The manufacture of the Azoo bits promotes that this product will intensify the red color of your discus. Personally I haven't seen anything. I see more coloration with the Tetrabits than the Azoo colorbits. Also reading the ingredients the main color additive to enhance coloration is - Paprika. My discus readily take the Azoo colorbits and does not show any mess within my BB tanks. Overall a GOOD product.

Spectrum Discus Pellets - My discus readily eat this without no hesitation. Reading the ingredients label it's jammed packed with nutrients and essential vitamins. The problem that I see in this product is the coloration of the Specrum Pellets - BROWN :o. The spectrum pellets are little brown pellets resembling KOI food. When placed in the BB discus tank I have found a layer of brown gew on the bottom of the tank. Time and time again I have found myself constantly wiping the bottom of the tanks after feeding (I might as well fed my beef heart mix). No coloration noticed. Overall a FAIR product.

This is just my opinion as my analysis was to target my needs:

1. Proper Nutrition
2. Color
3. Cleanliness of the tank.

I do 80-100% water changes daily. Before I leave for work I feed all my discus dry food granules. Once I get home I feed them another round of dry food granules. Once I see that they are done I do three - four rounds of frozen foods and then beefheart mix. After the feedings I then do my water changes with a total wipe down of the tanks. Then I go to sleep. ::)

With this routine that's why I target those top three needs in my feeding to my discus.

My next experiment I'm going to combine all three and feed them over a 1 month period. Currently DHDiscusMan (Dan your the man! ! ! ;)) is doing this and I will colaborate our finding in feeding a mixture of dry granules to our discus.

Thanks.

A-