Changing diets

[Jung]

Saw some really nice 4" blue diamonds at the LFS, the owner told me they are fed exclusively on bloodworms. If I were to buy them, would it be difficult to change their diets so they'll start eating flakes/pellets aswell?

[Cosmo]

Jung,

Hard to say but most likely it will be difficult but not impossible. Discus can be very fussy eaters and may possibly go for days or longer without eating if they don't get what they want. If you can outlast their stubbornnes, once one starts eating the new food the others usually follow... usually being the key word. Then again, they may eat it on your first attempt.. doubtful, but possible.. :D

Best bet is to introduce the new food in the morning feeding when they're the hungriest. Make sure you use quality flake or pellet food since these can foul the water pretty quickly if left in the tank uneaten. Some pellets, such as tetra bits are best presoaked so as not to swell up in the fish's stomach.

Most important thing is to make sure they get a good balanced diet by feeding a variety of foods.

Good luck :)

Jim

[ShinShin]

One thing to remember is that a discus will not starve itself to death. They will eat something new at some point. The problem is that people freak-out first and cave into the discus' desires.

Some discus, and blue diamonds are amongst those I've observed, have bloating problems with a diet consisting of Tetra Bits and frozen bloodworms.

Mat

[Cosmo]

Mat's right... I usually cave before they do :( lol Gotta be strong :D

[Jeff in NC]

Yes i agree feed new foods in the am .They will change if you dont give in. Remeber that a diet of diffrent foods is best

[Howie_W]

I've experienced the finicky fish problem before and have had best results by being patient.

A fish will easily go for weeks without eating before accepting something new. Also, sometimes through experimenting you will find the fish might be more willing to accept one type of new food over another.

As mentioned above, introducing new food in the morning when the fish is hungriest is a start...allow tank lights to come on, and then time for the fish to be up and swimming around for a while so their appetites are up.

Another trick is to get into the habit of feeding after water changes...if they know the food is coming you can try slipping in a small amount of a different food type with what they normally eat.


Howie

[bio new]

I've experienced the finicky fish problem before and have had best results by being patient.

Another trick is to get into the habit of feeding after water changes...if they know the food is coming you can try slipping in a small amount of a different food type with what they normally eat.

Howie

Plus increase 1 or 2 degrees of water temp will certainly help.

CHEERS!

[Carol_Roberts]

When you bring them home feed just the blood worms for the first week or two while they settle in. THEN start offering tetra bits or whatever for the morning feeding.