Food recommendations needed

[fishy_jim]

I plan in the next few weeks to purchasing my discus and have been reading the forum about foods for them and am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the choices. My take away is I don't want to go the beef heart route due to all the mess I have read about. I would like to go the dry or freeze dried as well as a good frozen food. What would be 3 good foods to start off with staying in those parameters? I'm looking for tried and true options to start off with. Here are my thoughts so far:

Hikari Vibra Bites
Freeze Dried Black Worms
Frozen Mysis

Would this be a good start or am I off base, should I add a flake to the mix, which is recommended if so?

Thanks in advance !!

[brewmaster15]

Jim what size Discus did you settle on and is this a bare or planted tank?

Al

[brewmaster15]

I see here...
https://forum.simplydiscus.com/showt...-Journal/page3

Bare bottom which is good..it allows you to feed more food types..

The fdbw(disclaimer..I sell them) are a great choice for a food. A good quality pellet (no experience with hikari vibrabites) compliments them well.

Frozen mysis is an excellent food but not suited for small discus and its not always taken by adults well initially.

[fishy_jim]

Hi Al - Im wanting to get 4" - 4.5" discus. I plan to get 8 I think (80 gallon tank). Which pellet would you recommend? Besides Mysis, as it sounds like it may be a challenge to get them to eat are there any other frozen foods I can give that they might not be as picky about?

[brewmaster15]

Hikari Frozen bloodworms are commonly fed Jim and out of all the bloodworm brands are probably the best quality.. just watch out for an allergic response...I cant touch them or even be in a room when they are fed.

For pellets I use my own brands here but in the past I have used ocean nutrition formula one pellets..1mm marine. they are ok nutritionally but not perfect.

One of our sponsors ,Ping, sells Forrests Pellets which alot of people seem to like.. Willie uses vibrabites so maybe he can chime in on those..

Al

[Charlyc11]

My big Stendker Marlboro Discus loves vibra bites and it shows in his color but all others don't care for them. He has grown to a 7 plus inches on them. But he also loves freeze dried worms and the tetra granules.

20231226_112620.jpg

[fishy_jim]

That Marlboro is awesome !!

[Willie]

....

Hikari Vibra Bites
Freeze Dried Black Worms
Frozen Mysis

...

Other than beef heart, these are exactly my best preferences for feeding discus - and I use all of them.

I want to point out though that while some foods are better for discus, good water quality represents 80% of the reason some people have beautiful fish and others don't. I visited a fellow hobbyist once with beautiful adult discus, who raised them on 100% flake food. Back when I was spawning a lot, a fellow hobbyist did all the raising and he produced perfect young discus also on 100% flake food. The one commonality between the two was that both made large, frequent water changes.

The way to get ready for keeping discus is to prepare your water changing system so that it can be easily and quickly. If it's not easy and quick, you're not going to be able to sustain it.

Good luck.

[fishy_jim]

Hikari Frozen bloodworms are commonly fed Jim and out of all the bloodworm brands are probably the best quality.. just watch out for an allergic response...I cant touch them or even be in a room when they are fed.

For pellets I use my own brands here but in the past I have used ocean nutrition formula one pellets..1mm marine. they are ok nutritionally but not perfect.

One of our sponsors ,Ping, sells Forrests Pellets which alot of people seem to like.. Willie uses vibrabites so maybe he can chime in on those..

Al

Al - your FDBW you have, why would one choose cubed v loose ? What would be good for a discus newbie?

[brewmaster15]

Jim,
Cubes are great to start with as you can do this..





or you can submerge them and press them to the glass so the fish can easily find them. The process also forces out air and helps hydrate the worms. The loose work really good for mixed species tanks and tanks where there are aggressive eaters that hog the food. Loose are not great for tanks with over flows as they float initially.


al

[Iminit]

The thing with the loose is to soak them first. I use a cup and soak for about 5 min. Then when you spill them in they go deep into the tank. I’ve found the loose stops the aggression. The food goes everywhere soho one fish can control it. I also feed cubes but these I hold and let the fish eat out of my hand. So I’m controlling who’s getting food. Next Al’s discus chow is very good.

[fishy_jim]

Thanks guys !! I appreciate the insight/advice !!

[fishy_jim]

I see here...
https://forum.simplydiscus.com/showt...-Journal/page3

Bare bottom which is good..it allows you to feed more food types..

The fdbw(disclaimer..I sell them) are a great choice for a food. A good quality pellet (no experience with hikari vibrabites) compliments them well.

Frozen mysis is an excellent food but not suited for small discus and its not always taken by adults well initially.

Order placed, thanks Al !!

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Jim!