Convict fry as food?

[mattjm1121]

So has anyone dabbled with convict fry as discus food? I like fries so why shouldn't discus? lol
This is my first time keeping convicts and i know they breed easily and often so I'm hoping they can be used as a viable food source.

[Discus-n00b]

Personally speaking I've never had discus take another fish over the wiggler type stage, kinda like mosquito larva size and appearance. I've seen reports of them eating neons/cardinal tetras and smaller fish like that but don't have experience with that myself. I think one of the problems with doing this, is despite growing them yourself they are a freshwater fish and could carry parasites into the discus (Though one of the more experienced members can shed more light on this as I don't know if the parasites start from day 1 fry stage or what) that could eventually effect the discus. This is the reason so many people use seafood in their food mixes instead of freshwater fish which would be much cheaper.

While it would be a dream food factory given production rates I'd personally shy from it and stick to multiple other options out there for a protein rich diet like a beefheart mix or FDBW. Maybe it is being overly paranoid but it could save you headaches later.

[brewmaster15]

Most likely what would happen is your discus tank would become a convict factory!

al

[alron2]

If one trains the discus to eat convict fries do the discus then have to be teained to not eat discus fry. Pretty smart discus that can tell the difference.
Ron

[mattjm1121]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm pretty much grasping at straws here trying to get my discus interested in anything not worm related. A couple reluctantly pick at flakes once they hit the ground but that's about it. I've made both a seafood and seafood/beef heart mix but they're not keen on either. It would be awesome if the convict thing would work out.

[brewmaster15]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm pretty much grasping at straws here trying to get my discus interested in anything not worm related. A couple reluctantly pick at flakes once they hit the ground but that's about it. I've made both a seafood and seafood/beef heart mix but they're not keen on either. It would be awesome if the convict thing would work out.

What do they currently like? and what commercial feeds have you tried?

al

[mattjm1121]

What do they currently like? and what commercial feeds have you tried?

al

They'll eat bloodworms and blackworms (live and freeze dried). I've tried ocean nutrition discus flakes, prime reef flakes, and hikari bio gold discus pellets.

I also feed live daphnia occasionally

[SNap0283]

I was in the same boat getting some juvies off worm like foods. I made beefheart but they just pecked at it, I didn't have a good enough grinder to get them to eat it since the pieces were larger than the other foods they were used to. I ordered some beefheart from a sponsor on the forums. I figured it would be easier to get them eating a pros beefheart then they would be used to the food type and make the transition to homemade. It ended up working perfect and now they attack my homemade beefheart like piranhas. Maybe I was lucky but it seemed to work.

Getting them to eat it for me was a matter of leaving it in the tank. After it sat their in the morning and they were hungry with no other food choice a couple of the more brave/hungry ones started to peck at it. Over the course of an hour the 20 of them ate a piece only the size of a thumbnail. Not much but at least they had a taste for it. Then I fed them their normal FDBW so they got a full meal. Next morning did the same thing and they ate the thumbnail sized piece in 5-10 minutes. After 4-5 days they attacked the beef as soon as it hit the water and would eat until they looked like they swallowed a marble. Just don't be afraid to make them starve a little. A few hours in the morning of no other food choice should get them to sample just about anything. Others may have different ideas but this worked for me.