New discus not eating. Help!

[mrtorts]

I bought 5 adult discus on Saturday and they are not eating yet, and this is Tuesday. These are my first discus.
They were raised on black worms, but I don't want to use live food, so I bought 4 kinds of Hakari freeze dried food as recommended by the breeder. Zero interest.
Is this normal? Will they start eating? What should I do? Thanks.
By the way, this is an established, densly planted tank, pH 6.5, temp. 85, with no signigficant other fish that would bother the discus. The tank was set up for these guys, and ready for months.

[Ryan]

How do the fish act? Do they attempt eating the food?

IMO, an adult discus who has not been raised on a variety of foods will not always readily accept a variety of foods. Meaning, if they've only been fed blackworms their whole life, why would they expect or want anything else? Did the person who raised them feed them anything else?

Also, were these fish raised in a bare-bottom tank? Going from something like that to a densely planted tank may be a little stressful to the fish at first. It's a new environment to adjust to. It may take them a few days to come around.

Did you buy frozen food or freeze-dried food? If you cannot feed blackworms I would suggest trying to get them on Hikari Frozen Bloodworms (in the freezer at Petsmart or LFS). It's the only other thing my fish will readily eat, even the picky ones. I have some adult discus here and 1 of the 6 refuses to touch anything but bloodworms or blackworms, even after months of having it in my tank. She won't even attempt to go after dried stuff.

Ryan

mrtorts, When quarentining , I recommend a bare tank. Raise the temperature to 88-90 degrees and add abit extra aeration. It may take them awhile to accept a n unfamiliar food. Joe

[mrtorts]

Ryan, they were raised in bare bottom tanks, solely on live California black worms.
How long can I wait before I give in to them and give them what they're used to?

[Ryan]

Like Joe mentioned, high heat usually raises their metabolism and gets them interested in food. But you may not want to do all this in the planted tank. Not sure if plants and the other fish will like high heat?

Also, a lot of people when they get new discus add salt for the first few days. This is probably best if the fish are in a bare-bottom tank too.

Do they attempt eating? Are they acting pretty normal so far?

Ryan

[mrtorts]

They act normal, but do not attempt eating at all.

mrtorts, My recommendation is to get them acclimated to the change by using the blackworms to avoid any further undue stress. Once you get them used to the new environment, try feeding them new foods in the mornings when they are at their hungriest. Be patient--the larger the fish--the longer the acclimation period.

When importing fish from Malaysia, it takes sometimes two weeks to accept other foods than the beefheart mix and frozen bloodworm they are accustomed to. I get them to eat tetra colr bits, flake and mysis shrimp so that it is easier for customers to pick up on.

pop a cap on a cold one and enjoy the fish, Joe

[fcdiscus]

I am with Joe. Get them a half pound of CBW, and bring them along slowly. I even agree with the cold one theory! Frank

Hi mrtorts

Welcome to Simply Discus

Joe has given you some Great Advice here ...... I'd do the same as well.

Beth

Hi Mrtorts, Welcome to Simply. Do like me get your best flay knife and a bottle of lemon juice and sit down beside your tank and have a long talk with your fish. This will normally bring them around....no seriously Take Joe's advice. If they have been fed nothing but black worms their entire life you will have to wean them off the blackworms slowly onto other food. Randy

WELCOME TO SIMPLY ;D

JUST GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT!
http://aquaticfoods.com/worms.html


;D ;D ;D

[RichieE]

I have two big fat Snakeskins from Cary that will let flakes and pellets sit on the bottom of the tank till I get home tonight and give them their black worms.
Ill bet you give in before they do. ;D Rich