Best food for discus?

[jeff12]

Best food for discus for growth and color? Live or frozen? Flake or pellets?

[Akili]

Best food for discus for growth and color? Live or frozen? Flake or pellets?

It all depends where you are and what is avaliable to you, what may work for you may not work for some one else My Discus diet is beef heart mix, Hikari frozen blood worms, Hikari frozen brine shrimps, Freeze Dried Australian Black worms and Hikari Discus Bio-Gold pellets.In the past when I had some pairs they some times got live white worms.

[briztoon]

As Akili said, a varied diet and everyone will have their own preference.

Personally I feed;
Adults and older juveniles:
Live Blackworms
Freeze dried biopigment plus blackworms
Ocean Nutrition frozen discus mix
Ocean Nutrition (Very High Protein) frozen food
Ocean Nutrition frozen cultivated bloodworms
Ocean Nutrition frozen brine shrimp
Ocean Nutrition discus pellets
Ocean Nutrition discus flakes
Tropical Discus Gran D-50 Plus
TROPICAL Discus Gram Wild

Newly hatched fry:
Live baby brine shrimp

Older fry and young juveniles:
Live Blackworms
Freeze dried Biopigment Plus Blackworms
Ocean Nutrition frozen Cultivated Bloodworms
Ocean Nutrition frozen Brine Shrimp
Ocean Nutrition frozen Brine Shrimp Plus
New Life Spectrum (NLS) Grow Formula
Tropical Discus Gran D-50 Plus

[jeff12]

I am just asking to find something cheap but is also filled with nutrition that works well based on previous experience. I don't really know where to start because there seems to be so many varieties.

[Akili]

I am just asking to find something cheap but is also filled with nutrition that works well based on previous experience. I don't really know where to start because there seems to be so many varieties.

In terms of cheap, one would have go with beef heart and beef heart mixes.Beef heart Mix can be fortified with vitamins and minerals supplements.White worms and Earthworms(red wigglers) can be cultured with minimal costs.Since red wigglers culture is fed with vegetable scraps they are rich in vitamins and minerals.

[ericNH]

I use 97% lean ground beef two times a day, and flakes another 2 times a day. For the beef i just drop tiny bits of it into the tank - my discus love it. Very easy.

[jeff12]

I use 97% lean ground beef two times a day, and flakes another 2 times a day. For the beef i just drop tiny bits of it into the tank - my discus love it. Very easy.

LOL wow. Can any raw meat be discus food? Do they eat the fat?

[ericNH]

yea, they eat just about all of it. There is the rare spit-out but really they leave almost nothing behind. The bits i drop in the tank are small enough for them to suck right up in one gulp. I found that bits that are too large will be messy because they will spit out and then suck it back up a few times - so the key for me is really small bits. There is very little fat in 97% lean ground beef but whatever tiny bits fat there are get sucked right up with the red meat.

Found the stuff in my supermarket about 6 months ago. I can't imagine any use for it in cooking stuff I would eat, but my discus love it, they really do.

Can't say whether or not *any* lean meat would do, but i would guess that probably most really lean meat would be fine. But I am no expert, just sharing my experiences.

[dprais1]

I use 96% lean ground beef in my mix. Obviously I add other stuff since it is a mix but the base is "extra-lean ground beef". I have also fed the beef straight but the mix is easier for me.

ericNH, IMO, has a good system. The beef has good quality easily digestible protein to 'bulk' them up. The flakes provide all the other ingredients like vitamins, minerals, fats and roughage the discus need.

[John_Nicholson]

Just my homemade beefheart mix. Been basically the only thing mine have been fed for the last 20 years or so.

-john

[jeff12]

Has anyone used Ken's Flakes or Omega One products?

[Jack L]

i mix kens flakes with beef heart,makes a delicious aroma, especially when it heats up in the blender

[Akili]

I have used Omega One Discus Pellets in past but have switched to Hikari Discus Bio-Gold pellets.

[banks2]

John, whats your mix...
Dave

[Akili]

John, whats your mix...
Dave

John's Recipe http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...art&highlight=