Food Mix

[ctmpwrdcamry]

Hello everyone,

I am just getting into discus. I have been keeping tanks for years now and i would love to get some of these fish. I know they have to be feed multiple times a day when they are smaller, but i am generally at work long before the lights come on. (i leave 7-8 and the lights come on around 10). I would think its not the best to put some beef heart or bloodworm's before the lights come on. Could i feed juvies two or three meals of flake food via an eheim feeder and one meal of blood worms or beef heart at night?

Thanks,

Sean

[RyanH]

Hi Sean,

Lots of people do it this way and it usually works out fine for them. I keep auto feeders on all of my juvenile tanks and then feed them the good stuff when I'm home. This will also train them to associate me with the good things in life. :)

Usually your fish will be most hungry in the morning so whatever you put in there will usually not stick around too long. That said, I would still save the beefheart for evenings right before you change their water. Bloodworms should be fine.

hth
-Ryan

[Moon]

Sean
Why not reset your timer to come on earlier so that you can feed before you leave for work. My fishroom lights come on at 7:00. I feed them flake before leave for work and beef hart when I get home at 6:00 and a bed time snack of Mysis or bloodworms at 10:00. The lights go off at 11:00. Works well for me.

[ctmpwrdcamry]

Moon,

Generally you do not want you lights on for longer than 10-12 hours in a planted tank. I know BB is generally the way to go for discus, but it appears people have great results with planted too. I know it will be more work, and i am prepared for that, but having that long of a photo period would create havoc in the tank with algae.

Ryan,

I like you thinking on associating me with the good stuff. Aside from the occasional trip(one or twice a year) i will be able to feed them every day myself. Hopefully i can talk one of my good friends to feed them the good stuff while I am away, i just hope the fish don't like them better. :p

[AADiscus]

BBS is good until a certain age. You could feed them flakes before you go to work, beefheart at dinner and then a late evening snack. How old are your discus though? It really depends on the age of your discus.

[ctmpwrdcamry]

Right now my discus are non existent. I am going to check out Great Lakes Discus and Cincinnati discus over the next month or so. The tank isn't even set up yet...it is still at my friends house with his discus in it. :D

I was just asking about the food because i want to make sure i order everything before they get here, so everything is ready. I also am about to order my filter and want to get the feeder at the same time, if they were a good idea.

However, to answer your question, i think its going to be young discus, like 2.5 inch or so.

[Mughal]

I had a question for the experts along this line too. I feed my discus 4 times a day. They are 2-5" -3" right now, and are in a BB 80.

*7:00 am RIse And Shine!

Morning 8:00 am Tetra Bits
Noontime 12:00 Krill or Blackworms (Frozen)
Afternoon 4:00 pm Mysis Shrimp (Frozen)
Evening 8:00 pm Blood Worms (Frozen)

*9:00 pm turn off the lights

Is this good for the discus? I dont' really want to feed Beefheart because I know it almost has higher concentrations of steroids than Arnold S's own heart, is there anything else that you would recommend? Do people who feed their discus 5 times daily see much better growth than when feeding them 4 times?:confused:

[Carol_Roberts]

Everything looks good - except the frozen black worms. ARe you sure they are black worms? I think they turn to mush if frozen

[Mughal]

Ah...sorry about that, the black worms are live, and the krill is frozen. Before I feed the frozen stuff to the fish I thaw it out in a cup of tank water...I'm not sure if this is necessary, any comments?

[candyl70]

Ben,
That is how i feed my frozen food. I swirl it around in the cup with tank water, and when it is thawed i slowly pour the water/food into the tank. It has to be better thank pecking at a frozen cube. It's funny, they know when they are getting the goods because they recognize the cup. They come rushing to the front of the tank.

Also i heard that BW can carry alot of pathogens, im not sure though, but something you might want to look into.


Candy

[Mughal]

I'll look into it, I heard tubifex carries them too, that's why I don't feed them tubifex:o

[candyl70]

Thats what i heard too Ben, about the Tubiflex. I have fed them before and my fish never ate them. :p just had to syphon them out. How are your new fish doing? Any pics?? :)



Candy

[Mughal]

CANDY! You couldn't have asked how my fish are doing at a worse time! I have 1 that has 'bloat!' It's crazy! I've kept many types of fish and never had any of them get bloat, but this morning I found fish floating near the top (not dead) breathing regularly, and it has a large round 'thingy' (for lack of a better word) I knew it was the dreaded bloat! I immediately scooped it and 5 gallons of water out of the tank and added MgSO4 (Epsom Salt) It's still in the quarantine tank (which is has no other inhabitants at the moment), and not dead, but not showing signs of recovery!!!! :( :( :( :( :(

I would take a picture, but then hereafter some would title me "The Discus Bloater" or something similar. :o

[candyl70]

Ben,
I think i read that it takes about 4hrs, and then they start showing improvement. I'm sorry to hear that though :( Do you feed flake? i heard that it should be soaked for a few minutes before going into the tank, but i have never done that. I put it on top of the water and then it sinks. Don't worry, you are donig the right thing. He'll get better.


Candy



p.s. lol!! discus bloater?!

[Mughal]

I don't feed flake, I do feed tetra bits (I soak them in a little tank water before I feed them. I did just start feeding the TertaBits a couple days ago, maybe the change of food from 100% frozen --> frozen and Bits? I so hope it's ok, it's been in with the Epsom Salt for about 2 hours now...I can't take my eyes off it!:p

[candyl70]

I don't know Ben. It doesn't seem like that would give them bloat. Maybe though.. Maybe to be safe you should soak the bits a little longer? Good luck, let me know how he is ok? Maybe then you can post a pic ;)


Candy

[Mughal]

Well, The poor little guy has been in the Epsom Salt Water almost all day, and has pooped wuite abit into the bottom of the tank. The problem is, he still needs a net to keep him below water, and from drying out.

[candyl70]

Oh no Ben!! Try pm'ing some of the admins and see if they can help you figure this out. And post in the sicknesses section. Good luck!

[Carol_Roberts]

In the future it's better if you do not net them and put them in a different tank to treat bloat. Epsom salt will not hurt the other fish, plants or filter bed. If the problem has not cleared in 24 hours I would suspect it's more than just bloat . . .

[RLJSlick]

One of the things my babies seem to love is this Spectrum Grow by New Life, small little green pellets they seem to love. Seem like I can't feed them enough of the stuff. It's high in Krill and fish meal proteins. That and Jack Wattley Discus Formula and they seem good to go. I'm still trying to figure out how often to feed them though. I'm at 3 times a day now.