Can you feed them too much?

[MarkGSmith]

I only ask because the LFS says I'm feeding too much! I have 6 Discus all about 3.5 inches. I feed 4 one inch cubes, mixed one each of Bloodworm, Beefheart+omega3, Beefheart+Spirulina and Brineshrimp+garlic. I put this in a beaker of tank water to defrost a bit and I think these fish are clever, they more or less attack me when feeding. LOL. They get this morning, noon and night and sometimes some flake or NLS grow in between aswell.
I know the general advice is clean up after 5-10 mins but I leave it half hour and then its gone!
Thing is I was thinking to up the feed a bit, I want good growth and water params are good, I do 75% at least once a day, thrice sometimes and could do more. When I get a bigger ageing tank I'll do 95%.
Now the expert LFS has me worried because I have zero experience of Discus....well that is true but I think if theyre loving eating the stuff I'll keep right on! Guess I'm just looking for reassurance really or pointing out the error of my ways. Either is good! Thanks.

[Willie]

No. If they eat everything, then you're fine. The younger the discus, the more frequently they'll eat. Just keep hammering the water changes and they'll grow fast!

Willie

[MarkGSmith]

Thanks Willie.

[Filip]

I feed mine 3-4-5 inchers as much and as often as they can eat . its ussualy 5 times a day with filters off for half an hour during meal times .
I even go further fulling them to eat more by giving them a sip of their favorite food , after they are all stuffed up with their lees favorite meals .
My opinion is you can't have too much feeding if your water is changed frequently enough to meet their water quallity requirements.

[Keith Perkins]

You already got the correct answers, so not much to add. Most LFS "experts" no squat about proper care of discus, that's perhaps the one thing I can say yet again.

[MarkGSmith]

Thanks for the replies, no I don't much trust LFS but he threw me a bit by talking me out of buying things!

[Clawhammer]

You already got great advice from the pros, but I will add my two cents because I am off of work and don't have much else to do

Its only too much food if there is some leftover that mucks up your water. However, there are some interesting threads on simplydiscus that discus how much nutrition can actually be absorbed by the discus' short digestive track, its worth are search. Another tip you see often is to focus on limiting the "fast period" overnight by feeding early in the morning and right before bedtime. I feed at 6am, noon, 6pm, and 10pm

I think the best bet, unless you have been working with discus for years and have an innate understanding of their needs, is to feed them as much as possible and change as much water as possible until they are at least 5"

[MarkGSmith]

Yeah all the advice is good and I am doing just as advised. I did read about them needing longer to extract nutrients so do an early morning and late night feed. I have been keeping fish for 30+ and always fancied Discus but was unable to devote enough time to enjoy until now. i'd say devote energy too but I use none of that as I made the system so easy. Opening and closing 2 taps is a water change! Thought I detected a hint of ammonia 10 mins ago but maybe just my eyes (I have to do one from the tap at the same time so I have a comparison). Anyway thats a 230L wc whilst sipping my tea. Love it.

[DISCUS STU]

Sometimes the people at the LFS's could do with some actual Discus experience as opposed to just making it up or pulling it from various parts of their anatomy, sorry but this is an old story that goes back to the time when I first started to get into Discus back in the 80's. Sometimes much of their advice is based on vague opinions and not actual first hand knowledge.

As in the above posts, if they're eating and you're doing your maintenance then I think that pretty soon may be able to give advice to the LFS.