feeding??i'm new at this

[CN]

i have 2 discus at 1 and 1/2 inches. what kind of food should i feed them. they are so small.

cn

[ValorG]

blackworms

[M0oN]

I wouldn't recommend live foods, especially if you're new to discus.

Visit the Foods and Nutrition forum on this page and look up different beef heart recipes. At that size they should be able to peck at peices of beef heart.

You should be feeding them around 5-6 times a day.

If you can't afford the beef heart route then a combination of ocean nutrition formula 1 and ocean nutrition formula 2 flake foods is an excellent alternative.

[susankay1]

For discus that small I like Golden Pearls and Omega One flakes. Beefheart is good, long as you vacuum the tank after they eat. Good luck with your babies!!!

[CN]

wat about live bloodworm? or brine shrimp?

[M0oN]

wat about live bloodworm? or brine shrimp?


The problems with live foods is they leave your fish wide open to disease. You'll need a good supplier of california black worms (blood worms are thought to cause intestinal blockage) that are clean to start with and you'll have to rinse them once daily, twice would be better.

On top of this once your discus have tasted live food odds are they won't be too happy when you're plopping pellets and beef heart into the tank.

This is why I recommended that you start with dry or dead foods, since you're relatively new to discus and they're prone to internal parasites, especially youngsters.

Frozen brine shrimp will make your fish jump for joy but they're basically just a bunch of tasty water, no nutritional value for your fish.

If you're going to feed live foods I would recommend hikari frozen foods to start with, they have added nutrients. But I would still recommend you go with flake and the beef heart mix listed on the foods and nutrition page.

Here's how I make my beef heart:
1 pound beef heart, trimmed of all fat, cubed
3 pounds of raw shelled shrimp
1 cup of ocean nutrition formula 1 flake
1 cup of ocean nutrition formula 2 flake
1 women's multivitamin, crushed

Throw em' all in a food processor and blend until they're pureed, then roll them into small balls, about a weeks worth of food and wrap the individual balls in suran wrap.

Take a ball out each week to use for feeding, keep it refridgerated. Leave the rest in the freezer.

[Carol_Roberts]

Always feed new discus what they are used to eating. Ask what they have been eating.

With only two juvenile discus you are going to have a hard time getting them to eat anything. They may spend most of their time hiding and being scared.

Good quality, healthy, live black worms are the best food to get picky discus eating.

[alex_m]

(blood worms are thought to cause intestinal blockage


No way.

No way growing juveniles on flake.

alex

[M0oN]

(blood worms are thought to cause intestinal blockage


No way.

No way growing juveniles on flake.

alex


I've gotten good growth rates out of juvenilles on a balanced varied diet including flake foods daily.

[alex_m]

Hello Moon,

tell me how big are your discus at 8 weeks?

Varied diet means different flakes or feeding meat as a staple and flake as a supplement?

I hope it is the latter.

alex

[M0oN]

Hello Moon,

tell me how big are your discus at 8 weeks?

Varied diet means different flakes or feeding meat as a staple and flake as a supplement?

I hope it is the latter.

alex


Alex, I couldn't tell you as I've never known the exact age of my discus.

I was referring to the later, flake's once or twice daily, the rest of the feedings meat based foods.

[steve s]

CBW from Dan, some good grade flacks or tetra bits,
beefheart if you clean up right after.

[CN]

my baby don't eat the red colorbit but they eat only BH.. is it ok if i feed them only BH? BH 6 times a day? how could i make them eat the colorbit? since live blood worm might cause intestinal blockage...can i feed them once a week as a treat? i want them to have a variety of food...

cn

CN: If your discus eat BH. That's great. As long as you can keep the water clean with good filtration and parameters stable. There is no harm feeding them 6 times a day. You can introduce new food to your fish by mixing it in your beefheart. There may be some left over at the bottom of the tank at the very beginning. They will be eatern later. If they like the taste of it at the first bite. You will see their bellies swell up within a minute. Introduce any new food by mixing it with the regular food and they should have no problem eating it when fed separately after a while. Blood worms are good medium for new food introuction as well as medication application. HTH
Jimmy.