Introducing New Foods?

[RedestWing]

OK, I have a diet of only 3 foods and I am tired of my Discus not having ANY interest in other foods. What is a good way to get them to eat other things without starvation? I currently feed, Jack Watley Beef heart mix, Blood Worms, and Brine Shrimp.

I have tried Flakes, color Bits when they were younger but they look at me in disgust and they aint stupid, they know I will scoop it out and give in to them. Any Ideas are welcomed ::)

[Ryan]

Brine shrimp are of little nutritional value to larger fish. About all they're good for is fry. The bloodworms and beefheart are a good start.

The best way to get them to eat pellets or flakes would be to fast them for a day, then feed them in the morning. My fish always seem to eat most greedily in the morning after they wake up, so I always try to introduce new or different foods then. They seem really hungry and accepting then.

If you have larger fish, fasting them for a few days won't hurt. Discus will eat when they're hungry. Kind of like kids... sometimes they *think* they don't like something, but after they give it a couple tries they realize it's not so bad and they end up eating it as part of their diet.

As a side note, I think it's a good idea to get discus to learn to eat dried foods -- if you ever go on vacation, someone can feed a few pinches of this to your fish daily (or you can get an auto feeder) and then you don't have to worry so much about water spoilage from stuff like beefheart, or that your fish are starving for a week while you're gone.

Ryan

[RedestWing]

Great Advice Ryan :thumbsup: I will be trying that! I did not know if this was a lost cause or not. My fish seem to be getting alot more picky here with age and as I said before I have tried diff ways and they seem to have no interest. Thanx again!