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Hi all,
I am a new member to the discus group. I just bought a great pair of wild discus for my 55 gal tank. I was trying to figure out the diet for them. Is it any different for them vs. the raised discus. What would you guys recommend?
Thanks for your advise
Chris
Hi Chris,
What kind of wilds did you get?
The easiest transition for the fish would probably be to use live food and the main live food used by discus keepers would be live blackworms. Frozen bloodworms would be a close second if you don't have access to live food. You want to work towards offering a variety of foods though such as flakes, pellets, shrimp, beefheart, etc.
Hi Ralph,
I got a pair of wild greens witch seems like they are adapting well to their new home. I just bought some live blackworms today and they really enjoyed that. I also bought some color bits to mix with it but they have not touched that yet. I have had discus in the past but they were all raised in my nieghbors tank. This is my first set of wilds.
Do you have any wilds?
Sounds like you did well.
I only have wilds. Currently 14 fish (8 heckels [red and blue-faced], 3 greens, 3 browns). They are all together now in a 150gal, but as they were arriving (over the last 2-3 years), they have been in pairs, trios or foursomes in smaller tanks.
Special considerations regarding foods ??? none. I have been able to have them eat from day 2 (I don't feed on day one) by just elevating the temperature to 88F. Some of they eat ravenously from the beginning, some just nibble and get better as I have "clean" them from obvious mistreatment/disease. Today, they eat anything and everything I throw in the tank, and they eat it quick.
I would not start by feeding one food exclusively at the beginning. They will not die of starvation unless they were seriously parasitized, which does not seem to be the case.
Good luck. Keep us posted. Cheers, Francisco.
Hi Chris,
I have Alenquer and Santarem Reds, they are wild strains but mine were captive bred so I didn't have to go through any transitions other than the shipping. Our LFS has some greens but they are mostly yellow in color, I want the ones that really look green. I don't have enough tanks anyways (isn't that always the case).
Francisco, what do your Heckels look like, there seems to be a lot of variation with them also?
Ralph, I will try to post pictures soon. I owe pictures to everybody, as I talk about my fish but no show. I am way overdue at getting better at photo editing and so forth.
Coming up.... Francisco.
I've got a digital camera on my Christmas list and hope to be posting soon too.
Thanks for the replies everyone. My temp is currently at 82. Should I raise it to help with the transition to the new tank and any disease? They seem like they are doing ok. The female turns black a lot and sometimes does not use one of her pec fins? They both seem to be eating ok though. They were just fine when I bought them, so I hope I am doing everything right?
Thanks for the replies everyone. My temp is currently at 82. Should I raise it to help with the transition to the new tank and any disease? They seem like they are doing ok. The female turns black a lot and sometimes does not use one of her pec fins? They both seem to be eating ok though. They were just fine when I bought them, so I hope I am doing everything right?
Hopefully you will get more responses, but this is what I would do if it were my fish:
1- yes, I would increase the temp. I would raise it to about 88 over a couple of days.
2- regarding the darkening and pectoral fin, I would add salt, starting inmediately, at about 4 tablespoons/10 gallons. During the next few days, I would change at least 30% of the water daily, and add the same amount of salt after the change (4 tbs/10 gal), so salt conc will increase. I would do this for at least 4-5 days. Then I would keep the temp up for a few more days, then lower it to 85 or so.
3- Each day, at water changes I would vacuum/wipe the bottom, and clean the prefilter in the filter (if it is a powerfilter), or the sponge filter. This is because they are eating little and much food is sticking there.
4- Observation will tell what to do next, if anything.
Look for gelatinous/clear/whitish feces. I would keep in quarentene for several weeks. I often do 2-3 months.
Good luck & cheers, Francisco.
Thanks for the info once again Francisco! My heater will only get the tank to 85 though it says it will go to 92 >:( I hate bad quality heaters...looks like back to the Ebo. 4 tablespoons of salt for 10 gallons of water? Really? I have been adding 1 tablespoon for ever 10 gal right now. Doing water changes everyday. I have a Filstar Xp2 filter, an another hang on power filter and 3 biowheels. They have been eating well so I don't think I need to clean the filters right?
Observation this morning showed a little better appearance for the female, but I also noticed this whitish film on their bodies. Could this be from the food I have been giving them? (live blackworms)
They are still very active fish and are swimming a lot so i'm happy about that at this time.
Speaking of digi cams I will have to take some pics of my guys for you too although they are sick