Adult Discus Feeding

[Clawhammer]

Hey everyone.

My discus are now adults and I am interested in everyone's thoughts on how to change their diet to best balance aquarium bioload with their adult nutritional needs.

Is it recommended to adjust the frequency of the feelings, the types of food that are fed, or both? Do you guys stop feeding messy beefheart to adult discuss? My discus currently love tetra color bits, which is quite affordable, would this provide adequate nutrition to adult discus, or would feeding this alone result in a loss of bulk?

I'm curious if anyone has firsthand experience to share.. I would love to reduce bioload and cost if possible. Thanks!

[Keith Perkins]

I personally feed beefheart throughout the course of a discus' life, but I do feed adults less often. Twice a day is all my adults get fed.

[brewmaster15]

I think feeding your discus a fair amount of food is over rated... I've been experimenting with Monthly feeding of my fish and I can you Eric it definitely lowers the costs and the bioload! ;) I don't think Discus should be so fat they can barely swim, they should be streamline and not be afraid to show alittle bone once in a while ...


I'm quite please with how mine are turning out..... thoughts?:evilgrin:



109649

[brewmaster15]

Jk ..seriously 2x a day feeding is fine for Adults... it won't harm them to get 1x day here and there either. Just be sure its a good quality food since its their only meal or two.


-al

[Clawhammer]

Lol Al, I bet that is some clean water though!

Don't worry Al, as you saw from my order today, I plan on continuing to feed my guys and gals quality chow ;)

But seriously, 1 x FDBW and 1 x Tetra Bits daily, with an occasional beefheart treat seem ok to maintain my discus' weight class?

[brewmaster15]

Lol Al, I bet that is some clean water though!

Don't worry Al, as you saw from my order today, I plan on continuing to feed my guys and gals quality chow ;)
:) saw that...actually shipped that already:)




But seriously, 1 x FDBW and 1 x Tetra Bits daily, with an occasional beefheart treat seem ok to maintain my discus' weight class?
It should be fine, just let them fill up on it. as an FYI. You should know that long term feeding the color bits may affect the color of your fish... not only does it have pigments but it has a red dye. Take a close look at the ingredients. If you are comfortable with thats fine..Many feed them no problem. When I bred and sold fish I used to feed them because many of my customers used them. color bits are not a terrible food. Theres better out there I am sure though. Price is always an issue though.



al

[Ryan925]

:) saw that...actually shipped that already:)




It should be fine, just let them fill up on it. as an FYI. You should know that long term feeding the color bits may affect the color of your fish... not only does it have pigments but it has a red dye. Take a close look at the ingredients. If you are comfortable with thats fine..Many feed them no problem. When I bred and sold fish I used to feed them because many of my customers used them. color bits are not a terrible food. Theres better out there I am sure though. Price is always an issue though.



al

Feeding tetra bits makes it easy to see those red logs on the bottom and vac them out;)

Eric have you tried Als bio gold? My fish finally took to it and now they fight each other off trying to have it all yo themselves

[Larry Bugg]

My two staples for my adults are Al's bio pigment fdbw and tetra color granules.

[Clawhammer]

My two staples for my adults are Al's bio pigment fdbw and tetra color granules.

Thats all the confirmation I need, thanks Larry!

[Clawhammer]

Feeding tetra bits makes it easy to see those red logs on the bottom and vac them out;)

Eric have you tried Als bio gold? My fish finally took to it and now they fight each other off trying to have it all yo themselves

I haven't tried the biogold, but I did include some of the new blackworm pellets in my order from Al today. I will continue to mix in new foods for variety, but its hard to beat the gigantic 1 liter container of Tetra Granules for $9.

[Ryan925]

I haven't tried the biogold, but I did include some of the new blackworm pellets in my order from Al today. I will continue to mix in new foods for variety, but its hard to beat the gigantic 1 liter container of Tetra Granules for $9.

Oh ya my fish love the fdbw pellets especially my picky alenquer. He will only bottom feed so it's a nice way to get him his dose of fdbw. Wish they came in a bigger bag

[Neptune]

I've actually been spending some time thinking about this.

Comparison???...
I sometimes feed the deer in bad winters. When the corn and hay pile is big everyone gets along. As the pile dwindles more and more aggression comes out. As the pile gets small there is lots of fighting and deer actually get very mean and kick, bite, break ribs, legs, etc!

On to fish, I have decreased my feedings somewhat and I have noticed more aggression in the tank. But I can't figure out if its food or; I have two fish that are spending a lot of time together in one end of the tank and picking at the filter tube. Pairing off? Is this is causing the increase in aggression.

So my thinking is...are well fed fish less aggressive. Nature tends to say so.

[Jenene]

I've actually been spending some time thinking about this.

Comparison???...
I sometimes feed the deer in bad winters. When the corn and hay pile is big everyone gets along. As the pile dwindles more and more aggression comes out. As the pile gets small there is lots of fighting and deer actually get very mean and kick, bite, break ribs, legs, etc!

On to fish, I have decreased my feedings somewhat and I have noticed more aggression in the tank. But I can't figure out if its food or; I have two fish that are spending a lot of time together in one end of the tank and picking at the filter tube. Pairing off? Is this is causing the increase in aggression.

So my thinking is...are well fed fish less aggressive. Nature tends to say so.

Eric, thanks for this thread. The timing is perfect as I have backed off my home made messy foods as well. My discus should be about one year by now and they are nice and big. My basic foods at 2x a day have been Al's chow and the FDBW. Thanks Al for supplying us with these great foods. I throw in some others once in awhile to keep them guessing. It is kind of nice to have the cleaner water and not have the hassle of all the vacuuming and feeding.

Neptune, I am seeing exactly what you are with the aggression. It will be interesting to hear more chime in on it. I had been feeding 3x a day up until recently and we had a short 4 day trip out of town where the discus were not fed. Upon return I had one that was not eating. Kenny helped me figure out the issue and treat him and he is almost ready to return to the big tank. We think we must have been bullied and the stress resulted in illness since all other things in the tank were normal. Since then I have seen more aggression and thought it was because I created a vacuum when I took out the one fish and now the pecking order had to be reset. However, I had never seen aggression to this level. I had four fish going after my once dominant Blue Diamond and he was in pretty bad shape. Obvious bite marks on both sides of him and he was cornered for hours. I searched the forum for archived posts and tried the temp drop, the mirror and low lighting and they all calmed down. Now everything is normal. It passed on like a raging thunderstorm and the calm has returned. I am wondering if I should up the feedings again when the QT'd guy gets tossed back in the fray. Guess it couldn't hurt. If anything it would be a distraction.

Good observation! We need a more scientific study on this!