first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

[brewmaster15]

I don't object to the worms but i have none available - i might start a culture in a few months but i don't have time to muck with it right now. They refuse to eat the salmon (again) today; which means a day without eating. I'll try again tomorrow and maybe tuesday after which i will revert to the freeze dried worms which they will eat.

These are adult fish. They can easily go a week without feeding. Don't give in too soon or you will never get them to eat anything else,

[anewbie]

Are you in the States? If so, I'll be happy to send you a good size culture free as long as you pay the shipping cost. For best results they should best kept in a wine cooler..

Let me get back to you - i don't have anything like a wine-cooler - just a fridge for my regular stuff - i could get a little fridge for the fish room - i had gotten a little freezer down there for frozen foods and bbs eggs; i'll have to look around - dont' really want to run both - waste of current. Also i want to read up on how to care for white worms - how to keep the culture going. Right now i'm preparing for a new set of fishes taht I'm suppose to receive in 3 weeks - some more dwarf cichild that require a dedicated blackwater aquarium. I gotta learn to say no to these things but i've been looking for them for 3 years so it was hard to pass up.

[brewmaster15]

I gotta learn to say no to these things but i've been looking for them for 3 years so it was hard to pass up.

I can relate 100%

[LizStreithorst]

I understand. just get back to me when you're ready and I'll help you out.

[danotaylor]

I understand. just get back to me when you're ready and I'll help you out.

You’re a kind soul Liz!!

[anewbie]

You’re a kind soul Liz!!

Is liz the person on fishlore that used to breed rams ?

[LizStreithorst]

Yes, that's me.

[anewbie]

Just a short update; i gave up on the salmon after 6 days; the only one who would eat it was the largest discus which was already quite well. The new freeze dried worms i received are 'softer' in that when i soak them in water they fall apart faster; this results in the fishes eating a lot more so i'm now feeding them 5 cubes a feeding twice a day and the smallest ones seem to be putting on weight even if not a very healthy diet. In about 4 weeks i'll try to feed them live worms if i can get the culture going.

[brewmaster15]

Just a short update; i gave up on the salmon after 6 days; the only one who would eat it was the largest discus which was already quite well. The new freeze dried worms i received are 'softer' in that when i soak them in water they fall apart faster; this results in the fishes eating a lot more so i'm now feeding them 5 cubes a feeding twice a day and the smallest ones seem to be putting on weight even if not a very healthy diet. In about 4 weeks i'll try to feed them live worms if i can get the culture going.

There is absolutely nothing unhealthy about feeding freeze dried Blackworms, If you are feeding tubifex thats a grey and variable area. But Blackworms are hard to beat nutritionally. I've raised enough adults from fry on them to say that with confidence.

[anewbie]

There is absolutely nothing unhealthy about feeding freeze dried Blackworms, If you are feeding tubifex thats a grey and variable area. But Blackworms are hard to beat nutritionally. I've raised enough adults from fry on them to say that with confidence.

It was my crude understanding that by the time they reach the size i have they should be eating a fair amount of greens in their diet; and so my concern is by stuffing themselves with the worms they are not getting so much greens. Perhaps i am mistaken?

[fljones3]

You can always get FDBW with spinach.

[brewmaster15]

It was my crude understanding that by the time they reach the size i have they should be eating a fair amount of greens in their diet; and so my concern is by stuffing themselves with the worms they are not getting so much greens. Perhaps i am mistaken?

Unfortunately, Discus nutritional needs aren't studied to any serious degree as are fish raised in Aquaculture for human consumption or lab experiments . What we are left with is stomach content analysis of wild fish to determine what wild discus were eating at collection time. This is where your information comes from. But its not really "greens" like we think of..from what I have read its more a complex mix of algaes, plants, molluscs and other invertebrates. Its often called perphyton as a general term .Not something we can really duplicate

Luckily we also have tried and true information about what kinds of food we have access to that work with the discus physiological needs. How do we know they these foods work? Discus are successfully raised on foods to adult from fry.Thye grow well on these foods with no deformities indicating nutritional needs being met. They mature to adult and can live years on these foods breed and reproduce.

Lastly we know that genetically wild discus and domestic discus are not really different physiologically. Therefore the foods we feed one are useable as a food to the other. People may disagree on just how similar wilds and domestics are but those "differences" tend to be based on behavior and coloring that is common in most wild fish to domestic fish comparisons.

Back to Blackworms. They are a food you can use to successfully raise both Domestic and wild discus to adult on. The discus raised on them grow well.. reproduce well and live years and years. This has been repeatedly shown by myself and others. Short of scientific testing and analysis foods that meet these parameters are good diet items to me. If I could duplicate periphyton here I would love to add it.. but I can't.

Hope that makes sense. Ultimately theres alot of foods you can feed.

[anewbie]

Ok - well they are eating nearly one cube each per feeding (i feed twice a day). They are finicky and prefer to eat from my hand. I do put in some algae max and pellets for them to munch on during the day and i know that they do look around the substrate for such food but can't say how much they actually eat. However they are definitely pretty bright these days and i presume they would turn dark if stressed. There is a bit more aggression among them and I think they are gaining weight. I will take a photo in a couple of months to compare with the others posted. They continue to get really mad if the temp drops below 82 or when i do water change. They don't mind the refilling but they hate it when i use the python to siphon water out...

Anyway thanks for the information. When i get the worm culture from LIz i'll mix in some white worms (not sure if these are as good as blackworms) and see if they will eat them.

[brewmaster15]

The white worms are a great addition.. especially if trying to put weight on them. I look forward to your updates!

[jwcarlson]

There was a ripple of people acting like discus are herbivores based on a very small sample size at one specific time of the season. You can find wild animals with all sorts of weird stuff in their stomachs depending on the time of year. That doesn't mean it's optimal or even healthy for them.
Glad your fish are eating more!