markwill
07-18-2005, 10:27 AM
Here's a question that I thought might be a FAQ - but I can't find an answer. Any help appreciated...
When have I fed "enough" food to my discus? Right now they eat like crazy - it's something of a frenzy when I feed them food which I assume is the proverbial "good thing". I feed them regular Tetra flakes (the "color bits" one or whatever it's called!), cichlid "granules" (the ones with the picture of the discus on the front - again, Tetra I think) and the occasional Hikari bloodworms. The flakes form the bulk of their diet (3 - 4 times a day) and I probably treat them to the granules or the bloodworm every other day on average. I'd say that they go for the flakes and the bloodworms most eagerly - but do like the granules too.
I have other fish in the tank (4 serpae tetras, 4 silver-tipped tetras and two albino catfish) and those get stuck in too!!! Sometimes they get a whole bunch of the bloodworm before the discus (which are more shy than the rest) get out from their hiding an actually find the bloodworm - which is a bummer!
My questions are:
How often should I feed them. I currently go with once in the morning, once at lunch time (my wife does this, since I am at work) and twice during the evening.
Do the foods above represent sufficient variety? I don't want to mix it up just for the sake of it - three different foods SEEMS reasonable to me. Agree?
How can I tell how much to give them each time? I have seen "as much as they can eat in 5 mins" but that's tricky to estimate because, quite honestly, they are constantly hunting around the tank looking for food on the bottom. Is that a bad sign?
I need to balance this all with a "showtank maintenence" schedule (also known as a) "I have a life" and b) "I want it to look good" :-)), which basically means 2-3 water changes per week.
Thanks in advance.
Mark
When have I fed "enough" food to my discus? Right now they eat like crazy - it's something of a frenzy when I feed them food which I assume is the proverbial "good thing". I feed them regular Tetra flakes (the "color bits" one or whatever it's called!), cichlid "granules" (the ones with the picture of the discus on the front - again, Tetra I think) and the occasional Hikari bloodworms. The flakes form the bulk of their diet (3 - 4 times a day) and I probably treat them to the granules or the bloodworm every other day on average. I'd say that they go for the flakes and the bloodworms most eagerly - but do like the granules too.
I have other fish in the tank (4 serpae tetras, 4 silver-tipped tetras and two albino catfish) and those get stuck in too!!! Sometimes they get a whole bunch of the bloodworm before the discus (which are more shy than the rest) get out from their hiding an actually find the bloodworm - which is a bummer!
My questions are:
How often should I feed them. I currently go with once in the morning, once at lunch time (my wife does this, since I am at work) and twice during the evening.
Do the foods above represent sufficient variety? I don't want to mix it up just for the sake of it - three different foods SEEMS reasonable to me. Agree?
How can I tell how much to give them each time? I have seen "as much as they can eat in 5 mins" but that's tricky to estimate because, quite honestly, they are constantly hunting around the tank looking for food on the bottom. Is that a bad sign?
I need to balance this all with a "showtank maintenence" schedule (also known as a) "I have a life" and b) "I want it to look good" :-)), which basically means 2-3 water changes per week.
Thanks in advance.
Mark