How to get my juveniles to eat more beefheart?

[Russ]

Hi,
I have six 3.5inch juvenile's and feed them Gabe's beefheart mix, freeze dried black worms and I am going to add some flake food to their diet, I don't want to feed anything live. My problem is that they love the FDBW's so much that they are not eating too much beefheart anymore. I feed beefheart in the morning which they reluctantly eat, so I'm left leaving it in the tank while I'm at work and it is usually gone by the time I get home. While I'm at work they get fed loose FDBW's twice, 3 hours apart with an automatic feeder. When I get home I put some more beefheart in the tank which they eat only a little so I leave it in the tank for several hours in which they pick at and eat less then half, 3 hours later I take out the uneaten beefheart and feed a cube of FDBW's which they attack like piranha's, I then do a WC before bed. I would really like them to eat more beeheart does anyone have any suggestions how to get them to eat it? I did order some Nori powder from Forrest to add to the bh mix, will this help at all?

Here is a video of them attacking the FDBW's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzAz-3mTuzE

Thanks,
Russ

[Kal-El]

The only way I've gotten mines to eat more beef hear mix is to feed only the mix for a week or more. Eventually they'll take on the mix as much as they do the FDBW.

[Chicago Discus]

Hi,
I have six 3.5inch juvenile's and feed them Gabe's beefheart mix, freeze dried black worms and I am going to add some flake food to their diet, I don't want to feed anything live. My problem is that they love the FDBW's so much that they are not eating too much beefheart anymore. I feed beefheart in the morning which they reluctantly eat, so I'm left leaving it in the tank while I'm at work and it is usually gone by the time I get home. While I'm at work they get fed loose FDBW's twice, 3 hours apart with an automatic feeder. When I get home I put some more beefheart in the tank which they eat only a little so I leave it in the tank for several hours in which they pick at and eat less then half, 3 hours later I take out the uneaten beefheart and feed a cube of FDBW's which they attack like piranha's, I then do a WC before bed. I would really like them to eat more beeheart does anyone have any suggestions how to get them to eat it? I did order some Nori powder from Forrest to add to the bh mix, will this help at all?

Thanks,
Russ

Hello Russ you could try some garlic powder in the beef-heart mix and grate it with a cheese grater.......Hope this helps .......Josie

[Russ]

Thanks, I would try only feeding BH mix but I like to feed them around 5 times a day and I have to use an auto feeder while I'm at work, and I have to admit I have grown addicted to watching them attack the FDBW cubes at night.

My BH mix has 6 cloves of garlic in it, I might try buying a cheese grater like you suggested and grate it though, has that worked well for you?

[Chicago Discus]

Thanks, I would try only feeding BH mix but I like to feed them around 5 times a day and I have to use an auto feeder while I'm at work, and I have to admit I have grown addicted to watching them attack the FDBW cubes at night.

My BH mix has 6 cloves of garlic in it, I might try buying a cheese grater like you suggested and grate it though, has that worked well for you?
very well

[MaiaDee]

Hi Russ,

I'll second Josie on the cheese grater. My discus didn't seem all that into beef heart either, then I read on another thread about Josie grating the food. Works great! My discus go after it with much more enthusiasm now.

Can't hurt to give it a shot, and Josie, thanks for the idea!

[Russ]

I bought a handheld grater today and tried grating the BH but it made a mess going everywhere and I have a gravel bottom so I had to do an immediate WC, what kind of grater are you guys using, the only type my supermarket had was the hand held one with little holes.

[Trier20]

I bought a handheld grater today and tried grating the BH but it made a mess going everywhere and I have a gravel bottom so I had to do an immediate WC, what kind of grater are you guys using, the only type my supermarket had was the hand held one with little holes.

It's called a box grater. It has four sides and each side has a different size grater/slicer. Use the largest one to grate the frozen BH mix.

[timmy82]

I feed FDBW am and beef heart mix PM and have an auto feeder with growth granuals for the younger ones so they get minimum 4 feeds a day. The feeds are set up 1 hour after water change as the water change will induce them to poo and there for they will be empty and hungry. I would stop the FDBW for a week or two and just use the beef heart as you can and a high prtien dry food and maybe do the last water change early before you feed and get an Ehime quick vac?? The new fish take a while to get into any different foods and I leave mine in small bits and don't grate and they learn to pick off the small blocks.

[Bill63SG]

I bought a handheld grater today and tried grating the BH but it made a mess going everywhere and I have a gravel bottom so I had to do an immediate WC, what kind of grater are you guys using, the only type my supermarket had was the hand held one with little holes.

Your next problem is the gravel.Especially when growing out,not that it cant be done,the best way to go is bare bottom.Easier to clean up leftovers,less places for waste to hide.I shave my BH with a razor knife for juvies until they get used to eating it.

[discus6628]

i feed my frys with bh flake, tetra color, spectrum and fdbw. the spectrum they don't eat. so i end up feed them bh flake, tetra color fdbw. feed about 4-5 times a day. fdbw at the end of the day. i am wonder does anyone know if any such discus food pack in cube like fdbw cube? when they eat in cube they are completing with each other and more likely eat more.

Everytime i walk close to the tank, they always come toward me and look for food. Did not want to feed them fdbw more than one a day. therefore, I end up only drop tetra color. does anyone have any suggestion on what other food to feed them. some suggest frozen bh, i don't mix my food. where can I get frozen bh and other discus food in cube?

[Russ]

I have been feeding BH only for the last 5 days and every day they are eating more and more, thanks for the advice. Once they are eating it in full force I am going to add the cubed FDBW's back to their diet but stop the loose FDBW's in the auto feeders, I am going to use a good flake instead. Hopefully this way they won't get hooked on the FDBW's and stop eating the BH.
I know bb tanks are best, but the tank is a show tank and I really like the gravel, I only use a very thin layer and do big water changes and have alway had great success in the past. I think I am going to purchase an Eheim gravel vac though, it looks a lot better then what I am using now.

[Fangoria510]

Eheim gravel vac is great...I love your discus!..:o

[Russ]

I decided to change the color of my gravel yesterday from brown to black and today the discus starting eatiing the bh heart at full force with no left lovers, I guess the brown gravel may have been a factor in the reason they weren't eating much bh, they may have had trouble seeing the small peices, the colors were very similar. What ever the reason I was real happy to see them chow down and want some more.