food for discus?

[fishcrazed]

would it be ok to feed my discus only frozeen brine shrimp and black worms or should i try to get it to eat pellets? and as for pellets would omega 1 cichlid pellet work or should i get something else?

[Darrell Ward]

Brine shrimp is rather useless unless they are very small. Blackworms are great, but I've never used Omega 1. Hikari Discus Bio Gold would be a great choice as well.

[x2h]

I've tried Hikari Discus Bio Gold but my discus were not interested. if you were closeby I could have given you mine to see if your discus would be interested. Surprisingly, my discus likes the Tetra ColorPlus flakes. I soak them before feeding so the flakes will sink to the bottom. So I use that as their vitamin source, and feed worms/BH as high protein source. I have not tried Omega 1 yet but I don't think I would bother with that, since my discus are already taking flakes.

[Stag]

If you want to do brine shrimp I would use it as mroe of a treat not a staple.

BH and BWs are great but you should make sure they have a vitamin source.

The Tetra tropical flakes or granuals are time tested, cheap and easy to find.

[Lester55]

^^ agree

[fishcrazed]

ok so i got the tetra color flakes not the plus ones will this do? and also i picked up some Tetra Color Tropical Granules. will these works?

this is how i plan on feeding my discus:

flake
frozeen bloodworms
frozen beef heart
freezed dried brine shrimp
Granules

in that order from morning to night will this be ok? i plan on doin 90% water change after the freezed dried brine shrimp feeding. these discus are roughly 3-4 inches and there are 6 in a bare 55 with taped on black construction paper on the back, sides, and underneath. will this work? any advice/tips?

[TNT77]

You are better off replacing the brine shrimp with freeze dried blackworm or another flake feeding if you do not wish to spend money on the blackworm. Your fish will get more out of the flake than the brine shrimp and more out of the blackworm than either of the two. I always feed my beefheart last before my water changes so I can vaccum any uneatin beefheart out of the tank.

[fishcrazed]

what if i did:

flake
frozen bloodworm
granules
flakes
frozen bloodworms

would that be good? i give 1 cube per feeding for a gorup of 6 discus at around 4-5 inch each

[Stag]

That sounds about right. I'm sure your fish will enjoy the diet. If you need to you can just edit as you go.:)

[lipadj46]

I would lose the bloodworms

[fishcrazed]

I would lose the bloodworms

why should i ditch the bloodworm? i thought they love that and it was good for them

[TNT77]

why should i ditch the bloodworm? i thought they love that and it was good for them
They do love it but it is a bit lacking for a complete diet. You are better off replacing the bloodworm with beefheart and freeze dried blackworm (I believe Al one of the sponsors sells it). I use bloodworm as a treat not as a complete food.

[Darrell Ward]

Yes, Al sells freeze dried, and Dan of California Blackworm (also a sponser) sells frozen, freeze dried, and of course, live. Any of these are by far a better food source than bloodworms, and many flake foods as well.

[Wes]

why should i ditch the bloodworm? i thought they love that and it was good for themAlso alot of people are allergic or become allergic to blood worms. Not just from touching them when feeding. It gets in the air around the tank.

[fishcrazed]

what if i do:


frozen beefheart
granules
flakes
water change
frozen bloodworms

will this be better fr the discus? or should i change the frozen bloodworm into another flake feedin befor bed

[Wes]

Trade blackworms for bloodworms and you will be happier in the long run.

[fishcrazed]

cant fine black worm where i am =/ should i order the frozen ones since i can stick them in my freeze and thaw before feeding or should i buy freeze fried?

[Wes]

cant fine black worm where i am =/ should i order the frozen ones since i can stick them in my freeze and thaw before feeding or should i buy freeze fried? If you buy frozen don't thaw. Just break off a chunck and drop it in, at water temp it will thaw fast and rain down worms for your fish to eat. I haven't tried freeze dried yet but have read a lot of good things about them.

[lipadj46]

Also alot of people are allergic or become allergic to blood worms. Not just from touching them when feeding. It gets in the air around the tank.

If I forget to wash my hands after touching bloodworms and then rub my eyes, oh man feels like I've been pepper sprayed

[Wes]

If I forget to wash my hands after touching bloodworms and then rub my eyes, oh man feels like I've been pepper sprayed My stepson, a discus keeper also, found out he was allergic. He gave me all his bloodworms to use up. While I was still using them, he couldn't stay in my fish room for more than a minute or two before having a reaction. This was from just breathing the air in the room a day after I fed bloodworms. No more bloodworms for me even though I have no reaction to bloodworms other people in the house could.

[ericatdallas]

yeah i stopped usng bloodworms from all the stories. I also worry about my three small children bc its harder to figure out when they're sick and allergic to stuff as is. Several months ago my daughter somehow got into it and poured a container all over the floor but fortuantely was not allergic.l

[Discus PB]

I use to use Omega 1 flake foods. I was never very impressed with it. You can find better homemade flake food on here. I got a sample of Inland Empire Discus beef heart flake food. I put some in another tank and they ate it all up. I always have waste left over from the name brands. I did order some of Ken's homemade flake food for my non discus tank. He had a bunch of other kinds of flake food and pellets. Its not bad priced at all for the amount you get. With the shipping it will run you a few dollars more then Omega 1 but I just added some upgrades for my revamped discus tank to of set the price. Plus 99% of the other things he got is 50% to 75% cheaper then a LFS or the big box high priced pet stores.