New Here :) I have a question.

[EmilyP]

Hello! I really hope I'm posting in the right place, please forgive if I'm not.

My husband was really into discus a couple years ago. He was a very active member here, actually. Unfortunately about a year or so ago he started losing interest, the water quality suffered, he lost 4 of the 7 fish in the tank, and I officially gained "custody" of the group of 3 a few months ago. I keep fancy goldfish (obviously in separate tanks). I know that sounds lame but I adore my goldfish. I feed them goldfish Repashy Soilent Green gel food.

I've been feeding the discus mostly frozen bloodworms and freeze dried blackworms. I buy the frozen bloodworms in large flat packs and it's a huge pain in the rear to break apart. I know you can buy them in cubes but it's more expensive and I've noticed there is a lot of frozen water in the cubes and fewer bloodworms.

Anyway, now for my question :) I love the ease of the gel food I feed my goldfish. Before I discovered Repashy, I made my own food with Knox gelatin. Do people make gel food for discus or is that just unheard of?

Thanks for reading!

[DonMD]

Some people will use gelatin when preparing beef heart or salmon mix, as a binder. You could try feeding the Repashy (whatever that is) to your fish and see if they like it.

My concern with your discus diet is that there doesn't appear to be any nutrients such as vitamins or minerals. You could get that in a flake food, which is easy to feed. For my discus I feed beef heart flake (from a sponsor on this site, it has vitamins added) a few times during the day from an auto feeder, FDBWs in the morning before I go to work, and a beef heart mix I made at night. Obviously water quality is a main concern, so I change water every day, or every other day.

Good luck.

[EmilyP]

Thank you for the fast response :) They don't have any interest in the Repashy. I would give you a link but I can't yet... so I suppose if you're curious you could Google it.

Can you link me to the flake food?

I do a 50-60% water change every other day.

[Larry Bugg]

I've used the Repashy for my discus but I used the Meat Pie.

[EmilyP]

I've been really happy with the Soilent Green. I saw the Meat Pie so I was thinking of trying the 4 oz to see if they like it.

Oh, hi Larry :)

[Orange Crush]

I've been really happy with the Soilent Green. I saw the Meat Pie so I was thinking of trying the 4 oz to see if they like it.

Oh, hi Larry :)
SG is mostly vege, discus need to have some food with high protein content. You can find recepies on here for beef heart mix. Also suppliment with something like tetra color bits or prime reef flakes.

[EmilyP]

I'll check out the beef heart recipes. I remember the husband making it. He would make huge amounts and freeze it. I would rather make small batches of something once a week and keep it in the fridge if possible. I've almost cut off my fingers trying to cut frozen pieces apart, lol. Thanks again for the responses :) It's greatly appreciated.

[Larry Bugg]

I've been really happy with the Soilent Green. I saw the Meat Pie so I was thinking of trying the 4 oz to see if they like it.

Oh, hi Larry :)

I know who this is now lol. HI!! Have had several ask about that husband of yours. Tell him we've missed him and hope all is well.

[EmilyP]

I know who this is now lol. HI!! Have had several ask about that husband of yours. Tell him we've missed him and hope all is well.

Hello! I know he kinda dropped off the face of the discus earth. I'm very sorry about that. After he lost his breeding pair I think the flame sort of went out :( I don't plan on buying any more discus or breeding them or anything of the sort, I just want to keep these guys happy and healthy until they go to the big pond in the sky lol :)

[EmilyP]

Oh! And I hope you're doing well too :) I've missed coming to the meetings.

[DonMD]

Can you link me to the flake food?



http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?95869-SUPER-BEEF-HEART-WITH-PRO-GROWTH-ON-SALE&highlight=beef+heart+flake

[bogia99]

I'll check out the beef heart recipes. I remember the husband making it. He would make huge amounts and freeze it. I would rather make small batches of something once a week and keep it in the fridge if possible. I've almost cut off my fingers trying to cut frozen pieces apart, lol. Thanks again for the responses :) It's greatly appreciated.

I would leave the whole 16oz pack outside for about 10-15min , let it soften up a bit and then cut it into cubes (still inside the original bag) with a big heavy knife. You can then use ziplock sandwich bag to save it (several bags). Good luck.

[EmilyP]

Thanks for the info and suggestions :) I received the Repashy Meat Pie a couple days ago and the discus really seem to like it. For anyone who is familiar with the product, would it be alright to feed mostly the Repashy and supplement with bloodworms every now and then?

[DiscusDrew]

variety is key, and obviously high protein which we have addressed. SO, I would feed the flake maybe twice a day or so, with other foods making up the remainder of the feedings. As I do not know how large your fish are but I assume they are relatively old, so around 3-4 feedings a day should be more than sufficient but I would deffinitely try to diversify. It will keep them interested, void of health problems, and well balanced in nutrition. Maybe make the "meat pie" your primary food to a certain degree, feed something else with high protein (BH mix, freeze dried BLACK worms) at least one time a day. And then your frozen blood worms, or blood worms in general can just be a treat once a week or a few times a week, you dont want them getting stuck on blood worms. Also try to pick up even a small package of mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, something of the sort with a chitinous shell.... Feed that at least once or twice a week as well, this chitinous layer is greatly beneficial to the fish's digestive tract but should never be a main food. It will keep them good and loose so to speak :) Good Luck!!

[pcsb23]

I'm guessing that these fish are well into adulthood, if that is the case then there is absolutely no need to feed more than twice a day and they really do not need high protein diets as adults. You can of course feed more often if you want to, but twice a day is fine.

Provided there is some protein content they will be fine. As the OP has implied they have no desire to do anything other than look after these discus then a maintenance diet will be fine. There is no need to feed beefheart if you don't want to, and therefore no need to make any (I hate the smell btw so I buy it!) and the profile of the repashy food looks fine, combine that with a decent flak and/or granular food and you are good to go.

Frozen blood worms are fine fed in moderation ... I don't try and cut the frozen slabs (beefheart and when I fed bloodworms), I basically hit them with a hammer (a small ball pein hammer, using the pein) and feed the fragments - not subtle but works ;)

[shawnhu]

I'm guessing that these fish are well into adulthood, if that is the case then there is absolutely no need to feed more than twice a day and they really do not need high protein diets as adults. You can of course feed more often if you want to, but twice a day is fine.

Provided there is some protein content they will be fine. As the OP has implied they have no desire to do anything other than look after these discus then a maintenance diet will be fine. There is no need to feed beefheart if you don't want to, and therefore no need to make any (I hate the smell btw so I buy it!) and the profile of the repashy food looks fine, combine that with a decent flak and/or granular food and you are good to go.

Frozen blood worms are fine fed in moderation ... I don't try and cut the frozen slabs (beefheart and when I fed bloodworms), I basically hit them with a hammer (a small ball pein hammer, using the pein) and feed the fragments - not subtle but works ;)

Great post Paul! I too slam my 16oz packs against something hard and feed the fragments. Works for me.