Dry food only....

[MiamiDan]

After years of struggling with beefheart, frozen bloodworms, live blackworms, shrimp, etc....I decided to make my life comfortable.

I got a 180 gal aquarium, automated 15% daily water changes, 2 automatic feeders. I wanted to make sure this would go as planned, so the tank is understocked with only 13 discus, young adults to adults, misc blue rams, corydoras and yes,,, angelfish, around 6.

I feed them the following: Tetra Colorbits, Azoo dried bloodworms and Tetramin Tropical Crisps. They've been on this diet exclusively for about 2 months. At the beginning they were so-so about the food diet, but now they accept it readily & are eagerly waiting for the next meal. One thing I did notice is that there seems to be no more fighting with diseases, etc. There is no loss of fish, no loss of weight & seem to be growing nicely. I feed 3 times a day.

I know all the benefits about frozen/live food...been there, done that; but it is my decision to keep it this way now, so I don't care about a debate now. I just want to know if anybody can recommend me additional dry food to supplement what I'm feeding now. Thanks.:) Dan

[billeagan]

Dan,

The choice of food is a personal choice. You need to experiment with all of it and decide yourself and obviously you have=)

I like the fact that you are feeding a large variety of different stuff. IMO, variety is key.

Personally, I use OSI flake, Sera Discus Granuals (I use the regular stuff on my stock but they have blue and Red too), Boyd's vitachem food, and Sera O-nip on the dry food list.

I guess of the list I would like to see you try the Boyd's stuff since it has vita chem directly in it. I'm big fan of their liquid product and now you are saved the trouble of soaking the food in it yourself.

HTH
Bill

[brewmaster15]

If they'll eat it...New life spectrum and Ocean nutrition pellets are a good addition...

I use both of these as well as many other foods.

-al

[poconogal]

In addition to the Sera foods that Bill mentioned (which I got from Bill :D ) and OSI Discus Flakes, I also feed Omega One Color, Vegetable and First Flake, all three seem to have lots of good stuff in them like fresh salmon, etc., and the First Flake has an even higher protein content. Also, Earthworm flakes on occasion, but they stink :p yuck!

[LizStreithorst]

My guy's favorite dry foods are earthworm sticks (aquatic ecosystems) and Salmon pellets (aquabid).

[kaceyo]

Sounds like you've been given a few very good ideas so all I'd add is to make sure to include some algea/veg based food like spirolina flakes or O.N. #2 flakes or pellets.
~Al, do you feel the O.N. pellets are a better choice than the flakes or are they equal nutritionaly?

Kacey

[MiamiDan]

Thank you guys!....I knew I could count on you. So far, counting what I've already feed them, we have mentioned 14 different types of food! Great!

I believe that things like salmon pellets, freeze-dried bloodworms, earthworm sticks are akin to beef jerky that our indian anscestors used to live from...nothing wrong with it, just de-hydrated and a lot easier to work with.

So off to Dr's Fosters' I go...:D

[billeagan]

Sounds like you've been given a few very good ideas so all I'd add is to make sure to include some algea/veg based food like spirolina flakes or O.N. #2 flakes or pellets.
~Al, do you feel the O.N. pellets are a better choice than the flakes or are they equal nutritionaly?

Kacey

Kacey,

Great point... Spirulina is very beneficial. I know Sera has Spirulina in just about everything which is a very expensive ingredient.

I think its important to not only check the protein content, but the actual ingredient list.

Bill

[poconogal]

All the Omega One flakes have Spirulina as well, but their Vegetable flake has a higher percentage of it.

[diamond_discus]

Jehmco.com sells Spirulina Tablets (http://www.jehmco.com/PRODUCTS_/FISH_FOODS_/Pellet_Foods/pellet_foods.html). Is this food good for discus ?

What about their HBH Angel/Discus Flake and HBH Meat Lovers Flake ? (http://www.jehmco.com/PRODUCTS_/FISH_FOODS_/HBH_Brand_/hbh_brand_.html)

[sleonard]

My discus love Hikari Tropical Discus pellets.

Scott

[kaceyo]

Diamond,
I havn't used the tablets but they are usually intended for bottom feeders like pleco's and other cats.
I like to feed at least one meal a day of something thats a vegie based food rather than something that just has a some vegies in it. For me thats either spirolina flakes or O.N.#2.

kacey

[brewmaster15]

Hi Kacey,

~Al, do you feel the O.N. pellets are a better choice than the flakes or are they equal nutritionaly?

I think they are both good, depending on the flake.. I use flakes too!! I like HBH brand...theres several I use.

hth,
al

[GrillMaster]

If they'll eat it...New life spectrum and Ocean nutrition pellets are a good addition...

I use both of these as well as many other foods.

-al

Hey Al, I have just about used up the stuff ya gave me.. Do you have a link where I can order this stuff? They just love it!:thumbsup:

[brewmaster15]

HI Mark,
ocean nutrition formula one pellets... small size..
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=8126&N=2004+6125

I need a new supplier for the New life spectrum...Drsfostersmith doesn't carry the NLS discus formula.

-al

[kaceyo]

hey Al,
I meant the ON#2 pellets compared to the ON#2 flakes. I should have said it more clearly. I find my fish like flakes better than pellets so was wondering if you had a reason for choosing their pellets over their flakes.

Kacey

[brewmaster15]

Hi Kacey,
I guess my main reason was the pellets don't seem as messy or get sucked up into the prefilters...


Out of the bag...most discus I get take to flakes well....The ONF pellets take some work...but Most of my fish take them as well as any other food ..

hth,
al

[MiamiDan]

Hi Kacey,
I guess my main reason was the pellets don't seem as messy or get sucked up into the prefilters...


Out of the bag...most discus I get take to flakes well....The ONF pellets take some work...but Most of my fish take them as well as any other food ..

hth,
al

Good point...I also had problems with flakes getting quickly sucked by filters. I switched to crisps, which slowly sink to the bottom and are a lot easier to digest by discus, instead of pellets. Whatever is leftover, my apple snails will make a quick meal out of them...lol

[kaceyo]

Thanks Al,
Sorry, didn't mean to drag you thru all these replies just to ask why you used their pellets instead of their flakes, lol

Kacey

[AquaticRay]

Try www.mreed.com Mike was the original Editor of TFH magazine. He has always had a passion for nutrient for fish. He started his fish food company years ago when he started selling a frozen food he made for his fish. It was so good and the discus and angel people who used it named it "Miracle Food". I highly reccomend you check out his dry foods. I;ve used them in the autofeeders on my customer's tanks and my own tanks for years.


Another good source of dry foods is www.brineshrimpdirect.com

I agree use a mixture of foods. I carry around 12-15 different foods at all times and rotate what I put in my autofeeders.

[Kap]

Brew, try petsolutions.com for NLSpectrum discus formula. Their service is great and I have never had a problem getting what I need when I need it.

I really like the convenience of dry foods--NLSpectrum products, Tetra Bits, ON Formula One flakes, and some OSI flakes and my tanks are doing great. While the fish may not grow as fast over the months, they do continue growing.