Another batch - This time fed only Forrest aquabits from free swimming (no bbs)

So far so good. I fed aquabits (DF1) from day 1 of attachment. It was mixed in a bit of tank water and shot at the fry by the sides of the parents for the first few days, then just sprinkled on the top of the water after that. The fry chased it floating in the water and the results were good. Not a single fry lost. They attached on 21 July and are about quarter size now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqFc...4egryIly6zwerA

They look great Len. Nice job with these guys. :D

Forrest seems to know his stuff. It must make rearing a little easier I suppose?

quite a bit easier. The water doesn't seem to foul nearly as fast either.

Looking good Len.:)

Really great to see batches grown out on aquabits

nice!! thanks for the Update!!

With the Aquabits, I have been experimenting too, feeding it to baby discus, as you have, as well as to other size discus, up through large 2+ year olds, comparing results with other foods of different makes. In addition to what you have learned, I also found that ALL discus seem love the flavor of Aquabits, or are otherwise strongly attracted to it for whatever reasons. In appearance, the Aquabits seem very well made; of high quality too.

I do feed it to my adults too and they all take it eagerly.

Len, So is the growth rate of these discus compariable to the ones you started with brine, now that they are 3+ months old?

They seem to be growing well, but to be honest I've nit measured them. I'll measure a few and compare the results. I will say the fish look healthy and to date I've only lost 1 of the fry.

Lens, i have couple questions, hope you don't mind. how often and how much did you feed them at beginning? Does it break down into water quick?

Thank you in advance,

Tony

I don't mind at all tony. At first, when the fry were attached to the parents, I started from day 1 by mixing the aquabites with tank water and then squirting them at the sides of the parents where the fry were. I used the df1 for this and did it several times a day. I used enough to create a cloud of food like you'd have feeding heavy bbs. It didn't break down in the water quickly, but eventually settles on the bottom of the tank just like bbs would so you have to keep on top of cleaning just the same. This is the part I find the most tedious because while being careful not to siphon any stray fry I also try to be careful to avoid the parents because mine tend to get very aggressive during this time and attack anything that goes in the tank including my hands and I don't want to agitate them to the point they start eating the fry. After a few days I just started sprinkling it on the surface of the water and it slowly starts to circulate in the water for awhile before settling. When they got a bit bigger I started using the df4 and just crushed it with my fingers (until I got DF2) and it worked fine. Now I just give them a bit of DF4 twice a day and they pick it from the bottom of the tank.

I measured them last night and they are mostly in the 2 inch range so they are growing more slowly than the last batch that were at 2.5 inches by 2 months, but I also didn't feed these guys nearly as often. I'm fine with that though because they look healthy and seem to be consistently growing and it's been far far less work.

any picture updates? i might grow out my next batch entirely on this with beefheart right before the water changes only ! love seeing your experiment here :)

be nice to see the photos now

Thank you Lens. That's awesome, I'll give it a go.