Pros vs Cons of beefheart

[ltdx21]

remember this was in the early 90's when food wasnt like it is now and also there was no such thing as internet fourms for me to get any info from and most stores in my area at the time were into the reef tanks which were 1st coming out which i also had and the store really didnt have much info on discus most of the stores i went to didnt even sell freshwater fish and if they did they knew very little about them most the stores were drivin towards salt water fish which in my area was what most people bought i was 5 minutes from the beach and inlet so most people in my area wanted saltwater they could care less about freshwater because the freashwater fish at the time didnt have the colors they do now remember this is over 20 years ago

Some fish keepers dont know how lucky they are that fourms like this exsist , im one who knows how important to fish keeping these fourms are and to discus keepers

[Jack L]

good point. i forgot how hard it was to get info then!

now everyone with a keyboard is an expert...ugg.

one of the reason i like this forum, some actual experienced folks here.

[Jack L]

maybe consider supporting the forum if you find it to remain a valuable asset. i chose to as i wanted to see it continue. IMHO it is one the the better sources on the web for Discus

[ltdx21]

good point. i forgot how hard it was to get info then!

now everyone with a keyboard is an expert...ugg.

one of the reason i like this forum, some actual experienced folks here.

Yes you are correct about anybody with a keyboard. I seen a presentation on the diy youtube channel by the founder of this site and was very impressed. This is the only place ill go for info and are looking for sellers of fish. Im gettin my discus now from local asian store keepers and getting tired of hearing there lies just to get you to purchase there discus .

[Poppa Ryno]

I was under the impression beefheart was put into a heavier use because of its ease of access vs. price to the inland states. Its high proteins made it a suitable substitute food for bulking young fish. As shrimp, salmon and such were not cheap or easy to get a hold of inland in the 1930's.

That being said with the ease of access now to many less fatty/oily ingredients ive seen a lot of breeders in the states switch to the "mix". Mist containing greens, garlic, vits, etc with a less BH heavy %. You can still hit those protein marks with less wasted food. Even the eaten food, as your fish will digest more with a seafood protein based mix, because their system will break more down upon consumption. Yet BH has still remained in most recipes yo some degree. Which in my mind speaks to its benefits.

[Patrick@1]

just call you local Publix grocery store and order it. I down in Macon Ga.

[Quintin]

Beef heart is tops but one connot just mince and feed on its own lol. Imo the nice thing of beef heart is you can add what is needed.veggies, roughage, amino acids, vitamins, garlic. Salmon is a great additive as is prawns , spirulina and multivitamins. I love it. That being said their is the debate that cows being fed steroids can cause discus to become sterile so dnt know how true this is but I steer clear of steroid beef. I do however still feed ocean nutrition discus flakes, Tetra bits, hikari , benkers discus royal, bs bits and high vitamin black bits. I believe variety is key but that's just me��

[Willie]

There's a lot of common misconceptions about beefheart. These hearts come from cattle or dairy cows. They support a 1,600 lb animal. In the case of dairy, they support an animal capable of producing 10,000 lb of milk every year. Are they healthy? Of course they would have to be to work this hard. Do they lack nutrients? If they did, they could not support a 1,600 lb animal or produce 10,000 lb of milk.

Do they contain steroids? No, they don't. Animal feed is highly regulated by both federal and state agencies. And if these things had steroids, we have much bigger problems than raising discus.

Are cow proteins more difficult to digest than fish protein? There is no evidence of that either. Discus do not eat cows in the Amazon, but they do not eat fish either. Both types of proteins are made of the exactly same set of 20 amino acids. Beef is fattier than fish, so we use the leanest part - beef heart.

I have known many breeders that have produce generations of discus feeding 100% beef heart. So there are no missing nutrients. Now this is a hobby, so people can feed their fish whatever they want. But to be clear, there is zero evidence that fish, prawns, flakes, etc. produce any additional benefits over lean beef. There is no science that these things provide any particular nutrients important for discus growth. (I used to feed a mix of pollack, beefheart and spinach, until I found that my discus preferred the beef to the fish.)

Why do commercial sources of beefheart mix contain other stuff? It has nothing to do with nutrition. We call them "fillers".

Willie

[Poppa Ryno]

Good stuff, willie. I come from cattle country, and have a friend that has a dairy farm. I am curious abt the NO to steroids though. Some farms do use them. They just have to make it known for buyer, consumer, & usda. Is it still a no, because its the heart. Trying to learn something here, lol.

[Willie]

Valid point, there's always going to be violators. All types of food have the potential for contamination. If anyone sees how Spirulina is harvested from ponds in China, they probably would reconsider feeding it to their pets - and Spirulina is a component of all flake foods. Dairy farms use BST, which is a hormone that boosts milk production. BST is not a steroid, nor does it persist in the animal. If it did, farmers wouldn't have to keep using it

USDA runs checks on food production, but there's no 100% guarantee on anything. Note that there is no food safety inspection system for fish. The point is that we eat beef and we feed it to our kids.

Willie

[MendoMan]

Beef heart is tops but one connot just mince and feed on its own lol. Imo the nice thing of beef heart is you can add what is needed.veggies, roughage, amino acids, vitamins, garlic. Salmon is a great additive as is prawns , spirulina and multivitamins. I love it. That being said their is the debate that cows being fed steroids can cause discus to become sterile so dnt know how true this is but I steer clear of steroid beef. I do however still feed ocean nutrition discus flakes, Tetra bits, hikari , benkers discus royal, bs bits and high vitamin black bits. I believe variety is key but that's just me��

Not really a fact. I recently read an article about one of the top Asian breeders and his choose of food was beef heart,period, nothing else. Freshly ground and fed directly to his grow out tanks with no additives.