best startup food for juvy discus

[wsylim]

Hi everyone, Im new here and have just purchased seven new juvy discus 2 days ago. My question is what is the best food to feed that will make them eat normally as soon as possible? I currently tried tetrabits but so far they just seem to peck it once or twice before igoring it. since they are only about 2 inches in length, do you think its because the tetrabit size may be too big? do i need to crush them a bit before so it would fit into theirs mouths? They are currently in my 50 gallon lightly planted tank.

[pcsb23]

Welcome to Simply. I would try and find out what the breeder was feeding them and start from there. Most likely a beefheart mix will get them going, if they are a bit finicky then I find frozen blood worm an excellent food.

hth,

[Alight]

I'm assuming you have gravel in your tank. You are facing one of the problems that you would not have if your tank was bare bottom.

Discus, like to "sample" their food, taking it in and spitting it out repeatedly before swallowing. This is especially true of food that is too large to swallow. They gradually hone it down to size by taking it in and spitting it out repeatedly until they swallow it.

They will try to do this in a graveled tank, but as the bits git to be the size they can swallow, a lot will get lost in the gravel. This will decrease your water quality and decrease the amount of food they can get from a single feeding.

Frozen Blood worms are less of a problem in this regard, so I suggest you start feeding these, at this point.

Tetra Color Bits are a great food, and you can crush them down a bit, and presoak them in tank water, so the fish can find more bits the right size to swallow, without all the spitting and such.

My juvies also love Mysis Shrimp, but you will have the same problem as tetra bits with these, as these are too large to swallow whole when 2 inches, so they pick at them a bunch before they swallow them, and lots will be lost in the gravel. I never had any luck with mysis shrimp in my planted tank for this reason.

[rsawest@yahoo.com]

Many folks will recommend a beefheart mix. There are a lot of BH recipes out there. I know some experienced breeders use very lean ground beef and a fish mixture with success. I've also tried using Ocean Nutrition Formula One frozen cubes with success.

HTH,

Linda

[billeagan]

Live blackworms should get them going immediately. ONce you have them eating feed a well rounded diet... I like to feed a little different every day...
flake, live black worm, beef heart, frozen brine, live brine, granuals, frozen blood worm, frozen daphnia and live daphnia...

[wsylim]

thanks for all of your resposes.

Unfortunately, Ive already spent a small fortune on plants before I discovered simplydiscus. Had i known keeping discus in planted tank would be hard, I would definitely go BB.
To make the best of my situation,I guess I may have to do daily w/c, buy frozen blood worms as main feed and hope for the best.
Billegans suggestion make me wonder, would feeding them live foods (black worms/daphnia/brine shrimp etc.) make my water cleaner/easier to maintain since they dont sink into the substrate?

[thebluyak]

you can keep discus in a planted tank, some of the most beautiful aquariums are planted D tanks. I am doing it with plants and 4 discus's once i move into my apartment. you just have to moniter their food and make sure they eat it all and adjust your portions accordingly. I also have overfiltration, a XP3 on a 55 gallon tank so that will assist in keeping the water A+ clean.

[yeomans]

If at all posible you should find out what they were fed at the place where you purchased the fish, they are more likely to accept a food that they are use to, on the other hand from my experiance my juveniles will even try to eat my finger when i'm putting food in the tank, most fish will gradually except whatever food is used in a daily feeding schedule. If you give them something in the morning that is not their preferred food, they have no option but to eat it,then feed their favorite food in the second feeding. I also notice that my fish will scan the bottom of my tank for food when it has settled , this is harder for fish to do in a planted tank with gravel, but in no way impossible, planted tanks are a great way to showcase the species. I also would recomend tetra bits or frozen blood worms my juveniles go nuts for it.

[kdazzel]

Here's a dumb question

Should I be rinsing my frozen food, ie beefheart, blood worms, brine shrimp before putting it in the tank?

[bennyblanco]

i rinse everything but the bh!! i rinse it and then i put a couple vitamin drops and let it chill for a few minutes.