Advice on Feeding Discus in Community Tank

[Hamsnacks]

First time owner here, and first time on the website.
Extremely excited as I have finally ventured into the Discus world.

I have purchased 6 Discus, 2 of which are in my tank and the rest still at the Store as I wanted to make sure they'd do fine first in my tank.

Tank info:

225 Gallon Planted Tank
50 Cardinals and 50 Rummynose
2 BristleNose Plecos and 10 Ottos.
ph: 7.8 but consistent, did not want to lower it cause I was worried it would keep fluctuating with every water change.

They seem to be doing really well but I'm having issues with feeding, they are extremely slow!

Any advice or tips on how you get them to eat with other tankmates?
They are roughly 4.5"-5" the plan is to feed them twice a day, once in the morning and in the evening.
I am not used to feeding fish often, I typically feed my fish once every 2-3 days so definitely different for me.

I'm thinking flakes in the morning and some sort of worm or shrimp in the evening, but I'm concerned they aren't eating enough. Currently putting food on one end of the tank for the rest of the fish and food on top of the Discus.

Any other tips, I wish I could hand feed them haha.
Also is a 30% water change enough per week, as it's a large tank with lots of plants to keep the water quality clean and a very strong sump system.

Thank you in advance and sorry for the long post!

[cooper666]

How big are your discus and how long have they been in your tank? It can take a couple of days for them to get over themselves and settle in.

They will feel more comfortable once the whole group is in there, they like company even though they are not nice to each other. A good old fashion temp boost is pretty good for getting them feeding well, 31 degrees celcius was enough to get one of my stubborn ones feeding. Once they are going, they are not timid. In fact they are some of the greediest fish that I have kept. They are particular fond of dried blood worms, but will take on almost anything that goes in the tank.

Id suggest much more frequent water changes while the fish are settling in, perhaps 30% every day or every other day.

I can hand feed my discus, they are not shy about biting fingers and tugging at arm hairs.

[Milaz]

Just my five cents on frequency of feeding - in nature they search for food all day long - have short intestines so it is much more natural for them to have smaller portions more frequently rather than one or two large feeds per day.....good combination with auto-feeder dosing dry food - like Tetra Discus granules 4x per day - and you can enjoy feeding them live or frozen food in the morning and evening...,

Good luck!

[Mando]

Just my five cents on frequency of feeding - in nature they search for food all day long - have short intestines so it is much more natural for them to have smaller portions more frequently rather than one or two large feeds per day.....good combination with auto-feeder dosing dry food - like Tetra Discus granules 4x per day - and you can enjoy feeding them live or frozen food in the morning and evening...,

Good luck!

exactly what I do.

To the OP. keep in mind that you have 100 tetras in the tank and only two discus. Discus are a school fish and unless you have 6 or more, they may not be courageous enough to go out and eat with the tetras. Also, if they are newly added, it could take them a few days to start eating. Ask your supplier what he was feeding them and see if you they can give you some of their food until you could either ween them off or continue to feed the same as your supplier.

Flakes, did not do so well for me because it's a messy food but you have tetras and Ottos so it might work for your tank. On the other hand, Al's FDBWs are amazing. I have 13 discus and I feed 3 cubes of Al's every afternoon and I do 4 cubes of frozen blood worms in the morning. Lastly, I feed small portions of tetra granules, 3 to 4 times a day.

As far as water changes, the more the better. I was doing 2x 30% a week but I have increased mine to 3x 50% a week since I'm feeding more. I also noticed that this change has caused all my fish to get into breeding mode. I have about 4 pairs forming.

[Hamsnacks]

Thank you all for the responses, extremely informative and helpful.

I guess I'm just not used to feeding fish so much haha, I always felt fish were overfed most of the time, but I guess with Discus it's a whole nother ball game. I have a sump, so its real annoying to have to constantly turn off the pump and turn it back on or else everything would just go down to the filters.

But much appreciated, adjusting and learning!

[Mando]

Thank you all for the responses, extremely informative and helpful.

I guess I'm just not used to feeding fish so much haha, I always felt fish were overfed most of the time, but I guess with Discus it's a whole nother ball game. I have a sump, so its real annoying to have to constantly turn off the pump and turn it back on or else everything would just go down to the filters.

But much appreciated, adjusting and learning!

The sump issue is why I stopped feeding pellets, but then I added a canister filter. With the outflow from the sump pump and the canister filter I was able to create a little vortex on the surface that does not let the food go down the skimmer. I was going to setup a feeding schedule through my apex system, but this was just easier.