The Best Food For Discus

[32Bit_Fish]

Hi All,

I just wonder whether the beef heart mix is still good for growing discus. The beef heart recipes has been around for so many years now. Are there any DIY food better than beef heart mix? I have two adult discus and I have been feeding them frozen BS and BW. One of the larger one is new (6.5") and not a fan of frozen BS and BW. I ordered a meat grinder and planning to make some good food myself.

There are so much discus food ideas on the internet. Some said we should feed discus frozen BS, BW and white worms as they are considered more natural food for discus.

What do you think?

Thanks

[Willie]

I've fed beef heart to my discus for 30+ years and consistently produced 6" adults. The largest discus I ever grew with beef heart reached 7.5" (it's my avatar). I've made my own beef heart mix in the past and tried, and discarded, all these recipes. People say that these additives provide additional nutrients that beef heart is lacking. When I asked them exactly what nutrients are missing with beef heart, no one has an answer. I've know local breeders that have produced 5 generations of discus raised solely on beef heart, so beef heart by itself provides all the ingredients discus will need to grow and breed.

My current batch of discus are fed pure beef heart with no additives and dried pellets as their entire diet, 1 - 2 feedings of dried food (I favor VibraBites) and 1 feeding of beef heart daily. When I go on vacation, they get dried food from the auto-feeder.

Every scientist will tell you that the term "natural" is incredibly non-scientific. Discus don't run into cows in the Amazon. Nor do they encounter brine shrimp or black worms. Their diet is primarily insects, large ones - not the blackfly larva available in commercial food preparations. But they're not swimming in the Amazon either. We grow discus in rather small glass boxes and they thrive on high protein diets.

[brewmaster15]

Dieter Untergasser's book " Discus Health" is probably one of the best books out there that covers Discus Nutrition. It dedicates almost 70 pages to it. It is an excellent read if you want a good over view of "Healthy Nutrition" I highly recommend it.

I'm not as die hard an advocate to Beef Heart as Willie is.. I am admittedly a blackworm proponent.. Freeze dried of course, I have made way more of Beefheart than I care to remember. What he posts is correct on its uses in the hobby....Its not just discus, Many fish species will take it greedily...especially young growing fish. Much like my teenage self loved scoffing down hamburgers at McDs after high school sports games. back then the burgers were cheap too. .. Beefheart was a cheap food source that did what it was supposed to do when it was first used as a feed.. It still does, but its not so cheap anymore.. Where I am in CT it costs close to $5 per pound..,pre trimming. and its not sold much in stores.. Then I have freeze it and it takes up space in my freezer. Thats not for me any more.

Beefheart is one food of many that people can feed.. Its all about quality protein and good nutrition, and today we have many choices of as to what to feed, more so than in the past.

jmo,
Al

[Neptune]

I'm not a pro at this but have never fed beef heart.
I rotate between Freeze dried blackworms soaked in vitamins, Vibra Bites, Cool Mysis Flakes and Cool Garlic.

[32Bit_Fish]

I had to call three meat marketplace to find the beef heart. The third place I called has it and it is $5.99/lb. A heart would cost over $6.
I will mix it with some very lean ground beef, shrimp, tilapia, mussel, etc. I hope they will like it. The only concern is I would need to do more w/c with that diet.

[seanyuki]

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[jimmyjoe]

We don't have any butcher shops near me, so I have to drive about 50 miles for a butcher shop in Amish country. Your right about the price about $5.00 pre-trimmed, it is a lot of trouble and I hate having to make it. Have never made a fish based diet maybe I'll try it someday, until then I do Brew's blackworms and frozen brine shrimp maybe a frozen bloodworm when I can find them. Jim in Ohio

[Willie]

For those of you who are interested, I found beef heart by calling the meat department at the major supermarket chain in town. It turns out that beef heart is a holiday dish for many German families.

[brady]

Is there another cut of low fat meat for discus. One without all the trouble of trimming bh?
Jay

[brewmaster15]

Is there another cut of low fat meat for discus. One without all the trouble of trimming bh?
Jay

Eye of round is used by some... Honestly though if you can grow large discus without beefheart and there is absolutely no need for beefheart...why go crazy feeding it and trying to find beefheart or substitute another meat for beefheart. If you are lucky and can buy it cheap where you are and want to use ..go for it. If not find a good quality food and feed that. Its perfectly doable raising big healthy discus on many foods. Not knocking beefheart but I think the pedelstal its been on is a little wobbly these days as more food options have become available .

[Willie]

I think frozen mysis and FDBW are equally as good for raising discus as beef heart. Beef heart, however, is the cheapest food.

I've also tried lean chicken and turkey breast. The turkey breast was so lean it had the texture of concrete, so I toss the entire prep. The problem with chicken is Salmonella contamination. It's dangerous to the hobbyist to work with raw chicken - so definitely not worth it. I've had success with lean ground beef - which is available with 7% fat maximum.

[SuspiciousAnswer314]

For those of you who are interested, I found beef heart by calling the meat department at the major supermarket chain in town. It turns out that beef heart is a holiday dish for many German families.

Which chain?

[Willie]

Which chain?

I use to buy it from the Cub Foods on Nicollet and 59th.

[SuspiciousAnswer314]

I use to buy it from the Cub Foods on Nicollet and 59th.

Thanks, I'll check the one nearest me!

[32Bit_Fish]

What do you guys think of Ken's Fish Food? I am trying feed my fish some high quality dry food (i.e., flakes and pellets). I made some beef heart mix and they started liking it.