How're you guys hand feed your discus?

[PaulD]

Hi all.

I had purchase 7 sub adults from Kenny more then two weeks. But seen like they more shy and afraid of me when they see me. Every time they see me they ran away and hide behide the driftwood or plants.
How to train or what to do to make them not afraid of me? Any advice thanks in advance

Paul

[Teshi]

Hi Paul, I got fish from Kenny about 3wks ago too. And I had DW in the tank and thats what they did, hid behind it and wouldn't come out. I called Kenny and he had me pull the DW out. He said it would be temporary. It worked. They come right to the top of the tank now. When i walk by the tank they are right to the corner I'm at wanting food. As soon as I stick my hand on the tank top they are smacking the top of the water wanting something to eat. I'm going to add one of the smaller pieces back today.

[PaulD]

Hi Paul, I got fish from Kenny about 3wks ago too. And I had DW in the tank and thats what they did, hid behind it and wouldn't come out. I called Kenny and he had me pull the DW out. He said it would be temporary. It worked. They come right to the top of the tank now. When i walk by the tank they are right to the corner I'm at wanting food. As soon as I stick my hand on the tank top they are smacking the top of the water wanting something to eat. I'm going to add one of the smaller pieces back today.

Hi Margaret

If it worked for you I'll take my DW out too hope it's work for me. I'll let you if it work.
Thanks for the input.

Paul

[Teshi]

Do you use sponge filters? If so he had me put mine in the middle of the tank. Also.. its going to take a few days now for them to get use to the new setup. What were you feeding? He also had me feed only Frozen Bloodworms for a couple days because that is what he was feeding and they love them like candy. Then start switching up after they learned to come to the top for those BW. I'm trying to remember all he had me do. He isn't kidding when he says to call for ANYTHING!

[zchauvin]

You don't have to move anything around?!?! It's simple, they are fish and once they learn you are there food supply you will get aggravated that everytime you move they run to glass. Just relax and be patient

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[strungout]

+1 zchauvin, especially Kenny's discus r prime and will readily accept. How is your water quality though, the better n greater the more comfortable they seem to feel.

[Teshi]

Call Kenny. Thats what I did when I was having issues with them. He is full of knowledge and very helpful.

[Mep1127]

This sounds OD but when i first got my discus i fed them quickly and watched them, but from a distance so they know who feeds them. It took a few weeks to be honest but it did work. They recognized my hand when i was doing some water changes with a python hose. Eventually when I fed them some blackworms they swam to eat of my hands which was unexpected lol. So IME feed them, watch them for a bit at a distance and the best hand feeding food are freeze died blackworm cubes. Stick those on the side of the glass and eventually they'll peck your fingers off LOL

[PaulD]

Do you use sponge filters? If so he had me put mine in the middle of the tank. Also.. its going to take a few days now for them to get use to the new setup. What were you feeding? He also had me feed only Frozen Bloodworms for a couple days because that is what he was feeding and they love them like candy. Then start switching up after they learned to come to the top for those BW. I'm trying to remember all he had me do. He isn't kidding when he says to call for ANYTHING!

Margaret I don't have a sponge filter I would get one if I have to. I fed them F blood worm, fdbw, brine shrimp and some time beaf heart.

Yep you're right Kenny is very nice I had have talked to him a couple time.

Paul

[PaulD]

You don't have to move anything around?!?! It's simple, they are fish and once they learn you are there food supply you will get aggravated that everytime you move they run to glass. Just relax and be patient

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My fish the first few days when I got them I could get closed and took pictures but now if get close to the tank they swam away some time very fast. I was told to be patient but seen they getting worst compare to the first few days.

Thanks for the input

Paul

[PaulD]

+1 zchauvin, especially Kenny's discus r prime and will readily accept. How is your water quality though, the better n greater the more comfortable they seem to feel.

My water not a problem I wc 3-4 times a week aged
Ph 8-8.2
Ammonia o
Nitrite o
Nitrate .5
Thanks
Paul

[Teshi]

Oh you don't "have" to have a sponge filter. I use a HOB and a sponge. Kenny asked me what I had in my tank, and he instructed me in what to do. It worked. I just got done hand feeding them cubes of Al's FDBW, after I'd already put back in a piece of the DW.

Kenny told me to only feed the Frozen Bloodworms until they start feeding from my fingers. He even asked if I had BW allergies, if you do wear gloves.

I actually put in the sponge filter just in case I ever need to start a QT tank, I'll already have a cycled sponge.

I just thought I'd share what worked for me with Kenny's fish.

[PaulD]

+1 zchauvin, especially Kenny's discus r prime and will readily accept. How is your water quality though, the better n greater the more comfortable they seem to feel.

My water not a problem I wc 3-4 times a week aged
Ph 8-8.2
Ammonia o
Nitrite o
Nitrate .5
Thanks
Paul

[Darrell Ward]

I have wild discus that eat from my fingers, wild angels too. It just takes time for them to learn you are the one feeding them, and not a threat.

[PaulD]

This sounds OD but when i first got my discus i fed them quickly and watched them, but from a distance so they know who feeds them. It took a few weeks to be honest but it did work. They recognized my hand when i was doing some water changes with a python hose. Eventually when I fed them some blackworms they swam to eat of my hands which was unexpected lol. So IME feed them, watch them for a bit at a distance and the best hand feeding food are freeze died blackworm cubes. Stick those on the side of the glass and eventually they'll peck your fingers off LOL

Mario you gave some of good advice. Thanks

Paul

[PaulD]

Oh you don't "have" to have a sponge filter. I use a HOB and a sponge. Kenny asked me what I had in my tank, and he instructed me in what to do. It worked. I just got done hand feeding them cubes of Al's FDBW, after I'd already put back in a piece of the DW.

Kenny told me to only feed the Frozen Bloodworms until they start feeding from my fingers. He even asked if I had BW allergies, if you do wear gloves.

I actually put in the sponge filter just in case I ever need to start a QT tank, I'll already have a cycled sponge.

I just thought I'd share what worked for me with Kenny's fish.

Margaret I planed to get a sponge filter anyway to replace a airstone which more benefit for the water and the fishes

[PaulD]

I have wild discus that eat from my fingers, wild angels too. It just takes time for them to learn you are the one feeding them, and not a threat.

Darrel thanks for the input.

Paul

[PaulD]

Margaret I think we got the fishes from Kenny the same day on Friday some time the end of April if I don't remember wrong some of the old posted. And now you could feed your discus with your hand but not me I'm jealous lol

[Trier20]

It just takes time. It took me a while to be able to hand feed mine. I started by dropping a little into the tank to get them going and then held the food in with my fingers. Hope this may help.


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[Teshi]

Margaret I think we got the fishes from Kenny the same day on Friday some time the end of April if I don't remember wrong some of the old posted. And now you could feed your discus with your hand but not me I'm jealous lol We did. And they weren't eating from my hands the next day like most people get so I called Kenny and he instructed me what to do. It worked! They nibble on my fingers even when I'm cleaning the tank.

[pennex1]

I have bought discus from other vendors here and I bought my first batch of discus from Kenny last month. I can not be any happier with Kenny's discus. His discus just has no issues. Kenny's discus are just different! They were never shy to hands. Kenny's discus are like a a group of hand tamed parrots except, Kenny's discus bites fingers. They would of eaten out of my fingers the first night if i allowed it. They are constantly swimming in front of the tank waiting for me to feed them. As soon as i put my hands in the tank, they are biting away at my hands, even if my hands are empty. The first 3 days, they did not like it when i was siphoning the water out of the tank, but now, they even bite the siphoning tube. I believe that was because they were not use to such short amount of lights for the first 3 days. I follow Kenny's instruction of leaving the lights off for for 24 hours and after that, i gradually increased the time of the tank lights. They are fed 5 times a day. They eat till their bellies are beyond full and take a huge dump right after.
keeping good water quality is still a rule of thumb though. Check your water parameters. I only change the water once a day. My TDS is between 61-75, PH is right around 7. I purchased 15 discus sizes from 4-2.5in. They are all kept in a 75 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump.

What food are you feeding your discus? Kenny's discus will jump out of the tank for Al's FDBW. If i feed them all the food at once, they would eat FDBW first, home made beefhearts, FBW, and OE prime reef. Try the FDBW. They even tried picking at the red letters i wrote on the tank thinking it was bloodworms. ;)
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x205/pennex2112/IMAG0534.jpg
I did have a big sponge filter in the middle of the tank for 10 days. The sponge filter was removed a few days ago for cleaning and i just never put it back in the tank. More room for them.

[PaulD]

Pennex1 I fed my with fdbw beaf heart brine shrimp and blood worm they loved them all. They're healthy and very active when no body around they just too shy. I have 7 discus in 125g with a lot plants and a large piece of malaysian driftwood which for them easy to hide. I think it just take time like most of the sd member said. I have 2 flavul 405 filters my water normal as mention above. I just wonder and some advice how to train them be friendly faster.
I also have 10 small discus about 1.5" in grow out tank they eat out of my hand they will come to the glass everytime I aproached maybe they're baby always hungry.
Btw you have beautiful fishes. Thanks for the input.

Paul

[PaulD]

Bradon thanks

Paul

[pennex1]

How big are the 7 discus? 125g for 7 4in discus is too big in my opinion. They are lost in there. Under the advice of Kenny, i kept all 15 discus in a 75 gallon. I have no plans to move them to my big tank till they are at least 4.5 to 5in. Keep them together in a smaller tank seem to keep them more active. They ALL attack the food the minute i put my hand in the tank.

In the past, i did do exactly what you did. 15 3.5in discus in a 125g and i had the same problem. They acted the same way. I ended up keeping a divider in the big tank till the discus grew to larger size. Something happens to them when they have too much space to roam. The food goes all over the place too. They have to kind of find the food. The way Kenny suggested to me using this method make a night and day difference in feeding and food waste. I have almost no food waste at all. The water stays cleaner too.

[PaulD]

Pennex1
I have 7 most of them 4.5". I think you're right the tank litle too big for them. I planed get more put in it

[pennex1]

It is not too big for them once they are 6in or bigger. I have 14 discus that are 6in+ in a 125, they attack the food the same as the 2.5-3in i bought from Kenny last month. I went through the same exact problem you have when i first started. Never figured out why they just scatter they don't eat the food as fast, always cleaning up left over food. Now i learn from this new batch i got. Buy 10 more that size and put them in that tank. I think the bigger the group the better they do.

[PaulD]

Pennex1
Thanks for the advice made me felt a lot better what to do. This forum is awesome it help newbie like a lot with out this forum I never known how to keep discus. Thanks every body and thanks pennex1.

Paul