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Thread: Varied diet question/suggestions

  1. #1
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    Default Varied diet question/suggestions

    Hi Everyone! I’m a relatively new discus keeper, I’m still learning and recently I just introduced ocean nutrition prime reef flakes to my discus. I’m trying to establish a varied diet for my group of red eagle discus. Here is my schedule:

    6am - Tetra color bits
    12pm - Frozen blood worms
    4pm - Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef
    9pm - Tetra Color Bits

    My question is should I just feed frozen bloodworms at night? Also I’m interested in feeding live black worms, but I only want to try a little is there anyway to get small portions like samples? And my last question is: Is it worth it to feed commercial frozen beef heart to my discus? I would try to make my own but in my area there aren’t any butchers that serve cow heart
    Many Thanks,
    Jay

  2. #2
    Homesteader Filip's Avatar
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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Jay , by your frequent feeding regime , I guess you are raising juvies discus .
    Beef heart is the cheapest protein power food for raising discus , that's probably why many of us use it regularly. Other than its price and efficiency , there is no any rule that says you must use it .

    frozen bloodworms and especially live blackworms are notorious for harbouring pathogens . If you are not 100% sure about their source and quality, try to avoid them .
    FDBW are very good protein source and they keep the water clean but they are more pricy than rest of the foods you feed. I would recomend them if you are willing to spent extra money for your hobby and your discus.
    If your discus devour the tetra bits and reef flakes I would stick with just that and ditch the FBW at this point IIWY .
    Last edited by Filip; 08-03-2018 at 05:26 AM.

  3. #3
    Homesteader Adam S's Avatar
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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    I wouldn't stress about variety. Probably not worth the expense in your case.

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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by Filip View Post
    Jay , by your frequent feeding regime , I guess you are raising juvies discus .
    Beef heart is the cheapest protein power food for raising discus , that's probably why many of us use it regularly. Other than its price and efficiency , there is no any rule that says you must use it .

    frozen bloodworms and especially live blackworms are notorious for harbouring pathogens . If you are not 100% sure about their source and quality, try to avoid them .
    FDBW are very good protein source and they keep the water clean but they are more pricy than rest of the foods you feed. I would recomend them if you are willing to spent extra money for your hobby and your discus.
    If your discus devour the tetra bits and reef flakes I would stick with just that and ditch the FBW at this point IIWY .
    Hi Filip,
    Thank you very much for the advice! I think I will ditch the bloodworms and try to buy one of the frozen beef hearts available near my lfs. Do you have any experience with the San Francisco’s Bay Brand beef heart? That’s the only one in my fish store. Also I guess I’ll just buy some freeze dried blackworms from Dan.
    Thanks,
    Jay

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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by Adam S View Post
    I wouldn't stress about variety. Probably not worth the expense in your case.
    Hi Adam,
    Thanks, most of the time my discus just eat the tetra bits. I recently just got the flakes, by any chance do you know how long it takes for discus to get used to new foods? Thanks!
    Jay

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    Platinum Member fljones3's Avatar
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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Hi Jay. I feed my discus mainly Al's FBBW. I do vary with frozen BW or flakes. The question, how long does it take, cannot really be answered. Sometimes, discus take to it immediately, sometimes a week, sometimes never. I have one finicky eater that has taken about 10 days to begin eating a new food. I would decide what one/two foods you might want to feed them regularly and then rest with that. I do not feed beefheart but others that I have read cautioned about doing anything with that food except make your own. You can search the website for more info.

    Clean water is their best food.

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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by fljones3 View Post
    Hi Jay. I feed my discus mainly Al's FBBW. I do vary with frozen BW or flakes. The question, how long does it take, cannot really be answered. Sometimes, discus take to it immediately, sometimes a week, sometimes never. I have one finicky eater that has taken about 10 days to begin eating a new food. I would decide what one/two foods you might want to feed them regularly and then rest with that. I do not feed beefheart but others that I have read cautioned about doing anything with that food except make your own. You can search the website for more info.

    Clean water is their best food.
    Hi Frank
    Thank you very much for your input should I just feed the flakes only in the morning and siphon out what they don’t eat? Also thank you very much for the idea of searching the forums for the beef heart I found out some important information about it. I guess I’ll try to make my own first or something
    Thanks
    Jay

  8. #8
    Platinum Member fljones3's Avatar
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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by Jay’s Discus View Post
    Hi Frank
    Thank you very much for your input should I just feed the flakes only in the morning and siphon out what they don’t eat? Also thank you very much for the idea of searching the forums for the beef heart I found out some important information about it. I guess I’ll try to make my own first or something
    I usually try new foods first thing in the morning. They are the most hungry then.

    Tell us something about your tank. Size and number of your discus. Etc.

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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by fljones3 View Post
    I usually try new foods first thing in the morning. They are the most hungry then.

    Tell us something about your tank. Size and number of your discus. Etc.
    Will do thanks
    My tank size is: 55 gallons with five 4.5in discus (my biggest discus is 4.5 but most are at 3-4in) and I do x2 50% water changes a week and one 75% water change on the weekends

  10. #10
    Registered Member Pices's Avatar
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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Hi Jay,
    You didn’t mention if you have substrate or a bare bottom tank. If you have substrate, you might want to avoid beefheart as it can muck up your water if you have sand or gravel. I don’t use live black worms because there’s a risk of introducing pathogens into your tank. I use Al’s freeze dried black worms instead. My fish love them and they’re very nutritious.
    Patty
    If the discus are happy, I’m happy

  11. #11
    Homesteader Filip's Avatar
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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by Jay’s Discus View Post
    Also I guess I’ll just buy some freeze dried blackworms from Dan.
    Thanks,
    Jay
    By buying Al's FDBW you support this forum .
    Please consider this too before you make your buyers decision .

    And about discus accepting new food I agree with Frank .It can vary and take from day one to never .
    A funny fact in my tank is that from 9 discus only 1 discus refuses to eat tetra bits almost 1 year to this day. I have to feed beef heart or salmon 2-3 times a week exclusively for him or the stubborn "jackasss " will starve it self to death

    BTW . You don't have to mix or prepare recipes for BH and salmon if you feel unconfidend or don't want to do that . I just grind pieces of BH , shrimps or salmon with a hand grater and feed directly .
    Last edited by Filip; 08-06-2018 at 04:55 AM.

  12. #12
    Homesteader Paul Sabucchi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    +1 on the advice above regarding just grating frozen fish, the kind of grater used to shred carrots works just fine. If you are going to do it often use fish species that have very low thiaminase such as salmon or cod. +1 on Al's FDBW

  13. #13
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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by Filip View Post
    By buying Al's FDBW you support this forum .
    Please consider this too before you make your buyers decision .

    And about discus accepting new food I agree with Frank .It can vary and take from day one to never .
    A funny fact in my tank is that from 9 discus only 1 discus refuses to eat tetra bits almost 1 year to this day. I have to feed beef heart or salmon 2-3 times a week exclusively for him or the stubborn "jackasss " will starve it self to death

    BTW . You don't have to mix or prepare recipes for BH and salmon if you feel unconfidend or don't want to do that . I just grind pieces of BH , shrimps or salmon with a hand grater and feed directly .
    Ah I see, thanks for the info I haven’t purchased the blackworms yet so I’ll check Al’s FDBW I also recently purchased some San Francisco’s Bay frozen beef heart tot try out yesterday. This morning I placed one of the cubes in most of the discus didn’t have any interest in it sadly They all looked at it and took a little bite, spit it out and swam away Does this mean they don’t like it? It might also be that they don’t like this type of beef heart, so I’ll try to make my own sometime next week. For now I’ll up the temp from 84 to 88 and not feed tomorrow then I’ll try the beef heart again.

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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by Pices View Post
    Hi Jay,
    You didn’t mention if you have substrate or a bare bottom tank. If you have substrate, you might want to avoid beefheart as it can muck up your water if you have sand or gravel. I don’t use live black worms because there’s a risk of introducing pathogens into your tank. I use Al’s freeze dried black worms instead. My fish love them and they’re very nutritious.
    Patty
    Hi Patty,
    Sorry I forgot to mention that, I do have a small layer of fine sand that I vac every time I do a water change, is this going to be a problem in the long run? It’s not much sand and I can remove it if needed
    Jay

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    Default Re: Varied diet question/suggestions

    Quote Originally Posted by Paul Sabucchi View Post
    +1 on the advice above regarding just grating frozen fish, the kind of grater used to shred carrots works just fine. If you are going to do it often use fish species that have very low thiaminase such as salmon or cod. +1 on Al's FDBW
    Thank you very much on the confirmation I’ll use a cheese grater when I try to make my mix next week

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