Tank transformed by switching off filter at feeding time

[Artyharry]

Well I sadly lost my sick Jaguar Pigeon but I am pretty convinced it was a case of stress rather than actual sickness. I did an autopsy and found no signs of worms, thank goodness.

I did some more hunting around in the posts here on this great forum and realised it was worth trying feeding with the filter off. Partly because it was heartbreaking to see all that expensive food being sucked into the filter.

What a transformation! My little stunted Red Melons are eating for the first time in forever and my big aggressive Jaguar Pigeons that have grown to about three times their size are allowing them to feed! The tank is so calm now during feeding that I feel like my wee Melons have now finally got a chance.

So thank you for the advice I found. One happy Discus owner, despite the first loss of one of my ten.

[Filip]

I always turn off my canister using a 10 -20 minute manual timer during feedings because discus are slow eaters and like to slowly eat the food from the ground .
Having rotting food on the filter is also a very bad scenario that can lead to many discus ailments .
Another good practice for the cause of better water quality would be to use Prefilter sponge on your intake to prevent dirt debris and food rotting in your filter and fouling the water . You will wash the Prefilter couple of times a week to prevent flow restriction but your filter materials will be very clean even after many months without filter maintenance .

[Artyharry]

Thanks Filip. I’ll look into getting a prefilter. Sounds like great advice.