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discushobbies
03-29-2016, 05:17 PM
How long can subadult discus go without food?

I have a couple of 4"+ discus and am going on a 4 day trip? Can I leave them unfed for the trip?
pitdogg2
03-29-2016, 05:21 PM
yep.
Phillydubs
03-29-2016, 06:32 PM
Best way to do it! No feeding the day before you go. Huge water change and go have fun
DISCUS STU
03-30-2016, 11:19 AM
Shouldn't be an issue. Nature gears them for feast and famine situations.

It's people that need to eat all this food to maintain constant 98.6 body temp., so-called higher brain activity (lol), etc.
discushobbies
04-07-2016, 10:30 PM
How do I get them back in eating mode? They don't ferociously eat. I noticed some of them have shrinked since I got back, is this suppose to happen? After 4 days, the nitrates went up to 40ppm.
ksuyen
04-07-2016, 10:53 PM
Nitrates always goes up regardless due to plant matters or residual waste on filter media, but it will be significantly lower without feeding.
Akili
04-07-2016, 10:55 PM
How do I get them back in eating mode? They don't ferociously eat. I noticed some of them have shrinked since I got back, is this suppose to happen? After 4 days, the nitrates went up to 40ppm.Do a few large water changes and bring the nitrates below 5 ppm and increase the temperature as higher temperature increases metabolism and can many times get them to eat.If you increase the temperature increase aeration.
kirby
04-09-2016, 03:35 PM
I'm in the same boat. I had to leave my group of 6 discus from Kenny (~4") from last Saturday to Wednesday. I didn't feed them the day before I left and gave them a 90% WC (they're in a bare-bottom tank). Came back Wednesday to find them disinterested in every food I offered - FBW, FDBW & BH. The 3 largest fish are beginning to eat again today but the 3 smaller ones are ignoring everything. I've upped temperature to 84 and have performed 80% water changes every day. I'm wondering if the bullying and intimidating behavior is magnified when they're left without food for a few days? I'm considering separating the larger from the smaller fish for a few days to see if that helps...?
discushobbies
04-10-2016, 04:09 AM
How long does it take for them to get back to normal? Its been a week and they still aren't returning to their pre-trip behavior.
Akili
04-10-2016, 10:09 AM
Soak the food in a garlic mush for around an hour and fed it as first meal of the day.They should come around in a week to 10 days