Beef Heart and Discus......Where did it all begin ???

[Jazz]

My question is:
Who is the first breeder that decided to give beefheart to his Discus?
Who woke-up one morning saying to himself, gee I'll try giving some beef heart to my discus and see if they like it ??
Everyone knows that in the wild, discus do not eat meat........



I woke-up tis morning asking myself this question......

Thanks, Jazz

[brewmaster15]

Jazz,
It actually began long before Discus were raised in captivity..

In the old old aquaculture days...organ meat was routinely used as a cheap fish food... that just carried over to other fish species...such as discus.

-al

[guille2007]

What would be the best no cheap no live fish food?, salmon, shrimp?

[brewmaster15]

That depends on where you live....

I think a better way to look it is... whats the best combination of food I can afford to feed.:)

-al

[guille2007]

For me it is easier to get shrimps than salmon, so so for beefheart and easier for pig heart, would be shrimp better food than beefheart?

[tonymaccs]

One aspect I haven't seen mentioned in the beefheart debate is it's origin and what extras are in it. There are plenty farmers using growth enhancers (hormones etc) and medication cocktails especially in the developing production markets that are less regulated.
With so many other choices these days I prefer not to use.

[Jason]

variety is the spice of life IMO

[Jazz]

One aspect I haven't seen mentioned in the beefheart debate is it's origin and what extras are in it. There are plenty farmers using growth enhancers (hormones etc) and medication cocktails especially in the developing production markets that are less regulated.
With so many other choices these days I prefer not to use.

I agree with Tonymaccs reply and this is why I do not give beef heart to my Discus anymore.
I feed them pellets, bloodworms and shrimp.

Jazz

[Ed13]

Everyone knows that in the wild, discus do not eat meat........

Ok, this may be a little out of topic from what was the original question, but.....

I may not have ever been to the Amazon and I'm not Heiko Bleher but I beleive that this statement is not entirely true.
The Amazon and its tributaries create such a vast area, with so much biodiversity in and around the water that is impossible to know what animals precisely eat day in and day out. While cow hearts may not be swimming in the Amazonian waters, there are plenty of reptiles, insects birds, fruits and other mammals that do, especially during the rainy season. There is always something that swims or falls in the river creating oportunities for predation and the bits an pieces floating in the water along with with the remaining carcuss are eaten by others. So its very safe to say that discus have had the oportunity at least to feast on meat , wheter they got to it first or even liked it I don't know. We thought of discus as stricly carnivores yet Heiko Bleher found berries and fruits in their stomch contents. This all changes with location and season but fish in general are oportunistic so letting go a meal uneaten is not an option until its dangerous eating!

Personally I've seen many videos where lots of tetras, including cards rummies and bleeding hearts are in the middle of predation by Pirahnas or caiman and the tetras are eating the scraps of meat from birds and monkeys, and even Angels picking the remains

[Jazz]

Thanks for your very interesting replies.

Jazz

[alpine]

Ed, thank you...pretty interesting post.

roberto.

Still waiting for my Harley T Shirt from PR..

[FishLover888]

variety is the spice of life IMO

Wish I can use that line to my girlfriend :)

Anyway, meat is a high pack of enegery food that no fish in the wild could afford to pass, carnivores or not. The problem is if we feed the fish these high enegery packed food all the time, they get fat quickly just like us. Too fat is not good for us and neither it is good for discus.

Keep in mind that in the wild, the meat food don't come that often and for sure not everyday 2 to 3 times a day (maybe more for young discus).

It all goes back to the quote from Jason. You need to provide different types of food for the discus, sometimes viggie types too. I rotate at least 5 to 6 kinds of flakes, then BW, b shrimps and mysis shrimps and some fish meat for my discus. Even carnivores need some viggie too. Every time I take my dogs out for walking, they always eating the grass. Dogs are carnivores for sure yet they want some grass from time to time to help them too. I can only image that the same will be true for discus or any other carnivore fish.