Question of numbers....

[Harriett]

Hi, all. I have been a dedicated 'lurker' for months but I'm getting heat from Cary to come out from under my rock so here I am! Just wanted to add 2 cents; I have a 6 x 2 x 2 tank and started doing discus at the beginning of this summer. I have a pretty similar planted tank, and was concerned about fouling the tank faster with uneaten food, so here's what I did and it works beautifully: when my dsicus were still in QT, I trained them to eat from one of those 2 dollar feeding cones you can buy at the lfs (with the suction cup that attaches it to the tank wall). I enlarged the holes in the bottom 25% of the cone quite a bit and feed exclusively from them--when I put the discus into the 180g tank, I put another one in there and they automatically go to it when I feed (or when they are begging). Because it's at the top and they feed at their own pace, the food sort of stays in it until they knock it out...discus feed at the top, and the SAEs, cories, etc hang out below them and get the rest--heirarchy of discus decides who feeds right off the cone and who is hanging just under it for the extra. It ends up with everybody fed and NO food left to ro or end up in the filter system...if anything gets to the gravel, it's quickly eaten because it stays in a finite area and the cories just wait to clean up...very polite. I hung the feeder in a corner with the lowest 'current' in the tank. Too many fish? I just hung another one about 10 inches away and everybody goes to where there's the least competition--so the bullies don't keep the smaller or less dominant fish from getting their fill also.
Best regards,
Harriett in Chicago
There, now I've made the leap!

[Don_Lee]

Good to see you Harriett, keep on posting!

Don ;D

[Ralph]

Hi Harriett,
Good problem solving skills! What kind of foods do you use in the feeders? I actually have one already that I haven't used yet.
I use a similar method. I only feed floating or slowly sinking foods. My fish are in four layers, hatchets at the top, discus, rummy nose tetras, and then cories on the bottom. I've never had a blackworm hit the gravel.
What kind of cories do you have?

[b3dlam]

Thanks harriett... ;D

Very good idea.

I am using the feeder cone for frozen food but never thought about using it for the dried stuff!! I will certainly try it out.

The discus are starting to eat now....tetrabits and frozen foods...woo hooo!!! ;D They dont know what to make of the feeder cone...i think they are scared of it. Though I am sure they will get used to it.

I know I did bad by not having a quarantine tank : ......but they are the only discus have/will I put in there.... knock on wood...

Thanks again!
;D

[ChloroPhil]

Wow b3dlam that's a great tank, I bet your fish love you! I'm getting all sorts of inspiration looking at the pics.

Aside from those insanely long water changes how's maintenance on that monster?

[b3dlam]

Hey Bio,

Those discus better love me....lol....conditional love...lol

*cough*
ok...
Maintenance....hmm.... The discus are eating a lot: 4 frozen cubes and tetrabits (this is about 2.5 times the amount i used to feed the fishes).... I have been trying to feed them 4 times a day. I am hoping this will be ok, and that their growth won't be stunted too much. The amount of faeces is not yet noticeable. I will do my first waterchange this Saturday (10%). Might repeat again on Sunday.
Just looking for a plastic water drum (25% of tank vol) so I can age my water. Time will tell if this will get too much.... :

[ZaPPPa]

Harriett,

I do something similar, just more natural.

I put a cube of frozen food on top of my drift plant (ceratoptheris thalictroides, narrow leaf). When is slowly defrosts, parts of the food will start to sink and the discus move in and eat it. When they are really hungry they'll start head-butting the drift plant and more food will come down. Kind of like a natural food-dispenser isn't it 8) ?.

It works beautifully for mosquito-larvea and even beef-heart pieces.