How to judge amount of food and types of food to build condition?

[tannin]

I have 6 juvenile discus, average 3". They are all healthy and eating but are a bit on the lean side as purchased from lfs. I want to build up their body mass a bit, and of course want them to grow.

So, I am feeding flake food, frozen discus "dinner", and occasionally, frozen bloodworms. I try to feed 3 times a day - always at least 2 feeds. Not having kept discus before, can anyone guide me as to how much food. I know the usual guide is only as much as they can eat in a few minutes, but they don't eat it all at once, as a percentage escapes to the gravel and far corners of the tank, and they hunt that out over the time between feedings. Hard to say if they get it all...

Taking flake food as an example, is one teaspoon-full too much or too little for one feeding with these 6 3" fish?

[strawberryblonde]

It's really hard to describe exactly how much to feed.

I'll give you an example of my own discus and hopefully that will help?

For 3" discus that you purchase straight from the breeder, you are aiming for about a inch of growth during the first month, and then 1/2" for the next two months. After that they'll grow much more slowly, but should grow another inch over a few months time to reach about 6" by one year of age. (You probably don't know how old they are, so this is just the approximate growth rates)

Ok, so for my 4" discus that I purchased last year I fed them 1 frozen beefcube at a feeding, about 2 large pinches of flake food per feeding, and one freeze dried blackworm cube per feeding. They didn't like pellet food, but when I tried it, I gave them about 1/2 tsp.

They ate 5-6 times per day. Flake food would be consumed in about 10 minutes. A frozen beefcube would be totally gone in less than 20 minutes. Same for the freeze dried blackworm cubes. Never did get them to eat any of the pellet food.

That's it for any feeding help I can offer.

On to my next worry, ready? Many times the discus sold in LFS's aren't well cared for at the store and that's why they look very skinny and/or have ragged fins and big eyes. If yours are really skinny they may have been neglected at the store. If they were, they may need deworming and other treatments in order to correct any diseases that they picked up during their "confinement".

If those things worry you at all, please please please take time to post either here or in the disease/sickness section in order to get help with diagnosing what might be causing them to be so thin.

Welcome to the SD boards! I'm looking forward to your posts. =)

[zimmjeff]

watch them eat and whatever they don't eat in five or min cut back a little until they are finishing most of the food. Most feed fish this size up to 6 times a day. the more you feed the more you need to clean. Do yourself a favor and take out the gravel. You can't imagine how much stuff gets hidden in there. Good luck with your fish.

[tannin]

It's really hard to describe exactly how much to feed.

I'll give you an example of my own discus and hopefully that will help?

For 3" discus that you purchase straight from the breeder, you are aiming for about a inch of growth during the first month, and then 1/2" for the next two months. After that they'll grow much more slowly, but should grow another inch over a few months time to reach about 6" by one year of age. (You probably don't know how old they are, so this is just the approximate growth rates)

Ok, so for my 4" discus that I purchased last year I fed them 1 frozen beefcube at a feeding, about 2 large pinches of flake food per feeding, and one freeze dried blackworm cube per feeding. They didn't like pellet food, but when I tried it, I gave them about 1/2 tsp.

They ate 5-6 times per day. Flake food would be consumed in about 10 minutes. A frozen beefcube would be totally gone in less than 20 minutes. Same for the freeze dried blackworm cubes. Never did get them to eat any of the pellet food.

That's it for any feeding help I can offer.

On to my next worry, ready? Many times the discus sold in LFS's aren't well cared for at the store and that's why they look very skinny and/or have ragged fins and big eyes. If yours are really skinny they may have been neglected at the store. If they were, they may need deworming and other treatments in order to correct any diseases that they picked up during their "confinement".

If those things worry you at all, please please please take time to post either here or in the disease/sickness section in order to get help with diagnosing what might be causing them to be so thin.

Welcome to the SD boards! I'm looking forward to your posts. =)


Thanks for the advice. I don't think you mentioned how many 4" discus you are feeding that amount of food - is it 6 like mine?

Also, thanks for mentioning deworming. I did wonder if I should do that to new fish. I will do it soon.

[tannin]

watch them eat and whatever they don't eat in five or min cut back a little until they are finishing most of the food. Most feed fish this size up to 6 times a day. the more you feed the more you need to clean. Do yourself a favor and take out the gravel. You can't imagine how much stuff gets hidden in there. Good luck with your fish.

I am afraid I don't like bare-bottomed tanks. Seems far too unnatural to me. Anyway, my tank is fairly heavily planted and I want to keep a planted aquarium. I do vacuum the gravel as I water change, and the gravel is only a thin layer except for the built up corners where most of the deep rooted plants are.

I will try to feed more often. 6 small feeds would be better in terms of left over food as well.

[strawberryblonde]

Oh sorry, forgot to mention how many fish I had, huh? =)

Yep, I had 6 originally, though one died within the first 2 weeks, so then it was five 4" discus, which would probably eat about the same amount as yours.

Definitely more frequent, smaller feedings is better for these guys. They like to graze practically all day while they are growing out.

[Skip]

I am afraid I don't like bare-bottomed tanks. Seems far too unnatural to me. Anyway, my tank is fairly heavily planted and I want to keep a planted aquarium. I do vacuum the gravel as I water change, and the gravel is only a thin layer except for the built up corners where most of the deep rooted plants are.

I will try to feed more often. 6 small feeds would be better in terms of left over food as well.

if you want a planted tank. JUVIES are not recommend for growth.. ADULTS are best..

[Larry Bugg]

I am afraid I don't like bare-bottomed tanks. Seems far too unnatural to me. Anyway, my tank is fairly heavily planted and I want to keep a planted aquarium. I do vacuum the gravel as I water change, and the gravel is only a thin layer except for the built up corners where most of the deep rooted plants are.

I will try to feed more often. 6 small feeds would be better in terms of left over food as well.

Actually, planted tanks are unnatural for discus. In the Amazon there are few to no plants where they live. That said there are many people that prefer planted tanks. The problem is trying to grow out juvie discus in an planted tank. It is very difficult to do! Juvie discus need very clean water to grow properly and this is hard to acheive in a planted tank. At 3" I do 75% water changes in a BB tank to maintain the water quality necessary to grow them out. I know this wasn't what you asked about but felt it worth mentioning as several others did also. We want to see you succeed.

Discus like to graze so I don't worry so much about whether or not they can eat the food in 5 or 10 minutes. Since my juvies get daily water changes (very small - twice a day) whatever is left over is removed at that time.

[nabilbb]

Hi Everyone,

One unrelated question, I have been feeding my Discus Bllod Worms, Frozen Shrimp, and sometimes Flakes, Do you think these food contain the neccessary amount of Protine that they need? How about beef heart? where can i buy that? does it have good protine value?

Thank you,

[Skip]

Hi Everyone,

One unrelated question, I have been feeding my Discus Bllod Worms, Frozen Shrimp, and sometimes Flakes, Do you think these food contain the neccessary amount of Protine that they need? How about beef heart? where can i buy that? does it have good protine value?

Thank you,

It is bad manners to hijack someone elses thread that is looking their own answers...

U should start ur own thread so u can get answers u seek

[nabilbb]

i am sorry, i am new here i don't know how to start new thread

[Skip]

i am sorry, i am new here i don't know how to start new thread

now you do.. :)

[nabilbb]

I still don't know, can you tell me how. please?

[Skip]

I still don't know, can you tell me how. please?

yes young padawan..

go to TOP and CLICK DISCUS BASICS FOR BEGINNERS..

in the next screen.. click POST NEW THREAD..

put in your title..

type in the box.. the info you request...
click PREVIEW POST if you want to PREVIEW IT..

or SUBMIT NEW THREAD!

BAM!! DONE!

stand back and let the info come in..

[Eddie]

Feed'em til they're fat! LOL Gotta watch it though, some dry foods will expand in the fish and you'll get the occasional bobber. Used to have one fish that would eat way too many pellets so I couldn't feed pellets until they got larger.

[tannin]

Actually, planted tanks are unnatural for discus. In the Amazon there are few to no plants where they live. That said there are many people that prefer planted tanks. The problem is trying to grow out juvie discus in an planted tank. It is very difficult to do! Juvie discus need very clean water to grow properly and this is hard to acheive in a planted tank. At 3" I do 75% water changes in a BB tank to maintain the water quality necessary to grow them out. I know this wasn't what you asked about but felt it worth mentioning as several others did also. We want to see you succeed.

Discus like to graze so I don't worry so much about whether or not they can eat the food in 5 or 10 minutes. Since my juvies get daily water changes (very small - twice a day) whatever is left over is removed at that time.


Well, to clarify, I meant that bare-bottomed tanks seem unnatural. The Amazon does not have a shiny glass bottom, and I know it doesn't have so many plants. I only have a thin layer of gravel over 75% of the bottom of the tank. It's only deeper where I have plants and that is terraced, and held back by rocks. In that way, it's more like the plants are in pots. I also have arranged the water flow so the main dead spot is at the front of the tank in a large area of thin gravel that can be most easily vacuumed at each water change. I guess I have always believed in more natural systems, so I like to have large natural ways of handling water quality, and plants are a large part of that. Coupled with a larger than necessary canister filter, there is a lot of biofiltering going on.

I don't feed beef heart, because it is messy, and because it isn't exactly a natural food. Even though not everything in prepared foods is natural anyway, I try to keep it to at least food from water sources. Anyway, with less messy foods, water changes are more effective. I regard water changes as a necessary evil ;) because if the bio-filtering was complete, all you'd need to do is supplement loss of minerals etc, and water changes could be minimised. I have observed the continuous grazing you mention, and that is, I presume, the natural way juveniles feed and grow. Overfeeding is just a way for us to try to compensate, I know. That's also why I avoid messy foods that pollute water faster.

It's an interesting discussion!

[krislewis3]

How often you do a 75% wc....daily? weekly?

[tannin]

How often you do a 75% wc....daily? weekly?

Why 75%? Is that some magic number? Let me quote you from ctdiscus.com

"Discus aficionados are notably fanatical about their fish tank’s water. There is great variability though in exactly what is defined as clean water. On one end of the spectrum is the discus keeper that maintains their fish in planted display tank with substrate bottom and changes small percentages weekly. On the other end of the spectrum is the keeper that maintains their discus in completely bare tanks, and does 30% or more water changes a day. "

Suffice to say, I am somewhere in between ;) and I am confident my water is very clean.