wild discus food preparation

[Discus Origins]

Hi All,

I know this is usually a secret for all discus keepers but after not keeping these fish for the past few years I have lost a long treasured recipe and if any of you would care to share your own frozen food recipes that would be great. I don't really trust the commercially available foods out there, at least what I make myself wont be full of unhealthy fillers.

I would prefer any recipes that keep beef/turkey heart to a minimum, my old recipe's main protein was shrimp and it was mixed with spirulina powder, bananas, krill, vitamins, and some more items that I have forgotten. I would like to add more vegetables/fruit sources to the food.

If you would prefer not to share the recipe on public forum please PM it to me. Thanks in advance for any help.

[dalejordan]

Here are two food mixes I HIGHLY recommend:

Seafood mix...EXCELLENT

3 parts Salmon ( doesn't have to be fancy, I used Atlantic )
1 part cheap shrimp
1 part " mussels

Pass all the above through meat grinder on finest blade, TWICE

For every 5lbs of the above ground meat add: ( the below is put into a food processor and pureed)

1 bunch Spinach
5 lrg blanched carrots
1 fist sized blanched broccoli
3 pears
3 apples
5 cloves garlic....VERY important
handful of Nutra-rose ( ASTAXANTHIN ) and spirulina powder


Beefheart mix :

3 parts heart ( cleaned well, pass through meat grinder , twice on finest
blade. rinse in warm water using a flour sifter / screen colander...handful
by handful. Push out as much moisture as possible ) Pain in the butt, but
very important !!!

1.5 part salmon ( meat grinder )
1 part shrimp " "

For every 5lbs of the above ground meat add: ( the below is put into a food processor and pureed)

1 bunch Spinach
5 lrg blanched carrots
1 fist sized blanched broccoli
3 pears
3 apples
5 cloves garlic....VERY important
handful of Nutria-rose ( ASTAXANTHIN ) and spirulina powder


FOR BOTH above, you have the consistency good for adults. I will additionally puree finished mix for babies


any questions...just ask :-)

[Discus Origins]

Dale,

You are the best!! Thanks for the recipe, you are always so ready to help! I will definitely try out your version.

[Eddie]

Made a batch last night, using a combination of ingredients recommended by Dale and my own mix and my fry going BANANAS over it!

Thanks Dale! ;)


Eddie

[dalejordan]

No problem guys :-)

THANK YOU

[ashaysathe]

My fish eat better food than me :) :)

[Alok]

LOL Ashay! :D That is one of the description fitting the statement "You know you are a fishhead if....." :)

Good meeting you yesterday.:)

[Eddie]

My fish eat better food than me :) :)

So do mine! Nice seafood medley with a bit of veggies. ;)

http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss289/extremeist/seafood%20mix/7%20Mar/IMG_8126.jpg
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss289/extremeist/seafood%20mix/7%20Mar/IMG_8128.jpg

[Discus-Hans]

I don't think many make a secret about their food, at least we don't lol

This is what we use, we just changed the ground beef in the beef eye round, easy to clean and we can control the fat content.

Why no beef heart, to much work to clean.

Now we probably use a little more as most of you, to get an idea I add some pictures, we make 2 bowls every run about a 100+lbs what last us 7 to 10 days.

3 lbs. beef eye round, take the fat off (Grind 2x)
1/2 lb. cod (skinless)
1/2 lb. shrimp (peeled)
2 table spoons peas (from a can)
Everything raw, I put it through a meat grinder and then in the mixer.

In the bowl add:
25% flake food (by volume)
1 ounce of Red Paprika powder
+ vitamins (7 tablets)
and 2 table spoons Oatmeal.

Vitamins I use human A to Zinc from Centrum, put them in a coffee grinder
and mix in the food.
But you can use anything they sell in the fish shop.

We freeze it in cans of 5 to 6 lbs (1 feeding lol)
You can freeze it in ziplock bags (fish bags work too) freeze it and thaw
what you need the next day.

The pictures are still with the ground beef,

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/Hans-Discus/Food/100_3195.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/Hans-Discus/Food/100_3212.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/Hans-Discus/Food/100_3218.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/Hans-Discus/Food/100_3220.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/Hans-Discus/Food/100_3229.jpg

Hans

[Discus Origins]

Thanks for sharing your recipe too Hans, we hobbyists sure appreciate all the help we can get.

As for why no beefheart....for me I believe it may work well with the domestic strains but not so sure about wild strains. As some have cleverly said in the past, we don't see any discus jumping out of rivers to latch onto a grazing cow to get to its heart/meat for protein. Invertebrates (small shrimps, worms, mosq larvae, daphnia, etc)and some forms of nuts make up the protein portion of their natural diet with fruits/plant sources making up the rest according to Bleher.

I guess its just a personal preference, but shrimp and fish appear to be a more natural form of protein than beef or turkey.

[Discus-Hans]

Thanks for sharing your recipe too Hans, we hobbyists sure appreciate all the help we can get.

As for why no beefheart....for me I believe it may work well with the domestic strains but not so sure about wild strains. As some have cleverly said in the past, we don't see any discus jumping out of rivers to latch onto a grazing cow to get to its heart/meat for protein. Invertebrates (small shrimps, worms, mosq larvae, daphnia, etc)and some forms of nuts make up the protein portion of their natural diet with fruits/plant sources making up the rest according to Bleher.

I guess its just a personal preference, but shrimp and fish appear to be a more natural form of protein than beef or turkey.

I've never seen a Discus with a nut cracker to lol You know we never can feed them what they get in the wild, or...... you must have a relation there who ships you everything caught from the Amazon daily in. Everybody feeds were they have the best results with, I think,

Hans

[tbone007]

Dale,

For your seafood mix are any of you proteins( Fish , shimp, mussels cooked/heated of are they all push throw the grinder raw... veggies added then frozen. It looks like a new food I would like to try just trying to get it right.

Tim

[dalejordan]

All the fish/seafood I use is fresh ( not cooked or heated ) and passed through a meat grinder.

In terms of the Vegy's and Fruit, I also use as fresh as possible. The only food I "quickly" blanch are the carrots and broccoli. With the blender/food processor I have, I couldn't puree them down fine enough, so the blanching would help. As I'm writing this I'm realizing ....steaming would be even better ( wish I would of thought of that twenty five years ago ...duhh. Time to start makin my own mix with extra Gingko :-)

Yes, everything is combined and frozen in large zip lock freezer bags ( about 3-4lb squares )

[ockyra215]

Wow fish keepers/breeders and gourmet chefs to you guys got it all covered I am going to try these recipies...:D

[tbone007]

Dale thanks,

Two more questions first no binder i.e. gelatin? Second the fruit is pureed skin, core and all. First time making food just trying to do it right and give my fish something else to eat. Thanks again.

Tim

[dalejordan]

Dale thanks,

Two more questions first no binder i.e. gelatin? Second the fruit is pureed skin, core and all. First time making food just trying to do it right and give my fish something else to eat. Thanks again.

Tim

NO BINDERS !! I always believed in spreading the food out across the bottom. If your feeding young and you have one chunk, you always get one or two little piggys that will sit over that chunk. He will get the proper food and the others do not. By spreading it out, you get a more evened growth rate. This also applies to adults, the more aggressive eats while the others wait ! Also, I find gelatin will eventually cause a slim in your tanks that you ALWAYS be cleaning....no need for it !!

Yes, I puree everything except the core and seeds :-)

Hope that helps ??

good luck