feeding question

[fish_r]

as i'm new to discus i would like some advise on feeding please ?
only had my discus for about a week now and all they seem to eat is the live black worms. i have a few other fish in there "mainly tetra's" and feed them spirulina, tetramin tropical flakes and tetra colour but the discus dont seem interested in that at all. also got some new life spectrum discus formula pellets but they wont eat them either and they just sink into my substrate.
i also got some live brine shrimp the other day, do i just tip some into the tank with the water they come in "sorry if thats a silly question" but iv'e never used them b4 ? i also have frozen bloodworms frozen brine shrimp, and beef heart but havn't tried it yet "should i"
thanks for ur help
Rob...

[marg]

Rob,

With the live Brine Shrimp just get a small strainer and strain some out of the pouch then put them in the tank. I have used them in the past but am not a big fan of them as they seem to die too quickly in those little pouches (maybe that's the fault of my local Fish Shop, I'm not sure).

When you are introducing new Foods try to offer them for breakfast - my theory is that they will have gone all night without a meal and that will be when they are at their hungriest. All the Foods that you have should agree with them.

The reason that they are reluctant to eat at the moment is most likely because you have only had them for a week and they are a bit disoriented at the moment. This often happens wqhen you add new Fish to your tank but give them a little time and they will settle in.

Your next post will most likely be how come they are hungry all the time (because Discus are real "hungry guts" once they settle in, and will rush to the front of the tank seemingly saying "Feed me") :D :D :D .

Once you have had them for a while and have got them feeding, why not try some of the homemade Beefheart recipes on the Forum - the initial outlay is a bit rough, but you'd be amazed how much you get out of the mix and how long it lasts - very economical in the long run.

I'd steer clear of the blackworms though - don't like them personally, though other peoples opinions may differ.

Marg.

[k9outfit]

I just recently got my shipment of 20 Discus, which were apparently eating only bloodworms & flake food. I started them off on bloodworms 3x/day, then when they were devouring those, I substituted the bloodworms with Mysis in the morning and evening, but fed them a light meal of bloodworms for lunch. (I introduced the new foods in the morning, since as Marg stated, I also figured they must be hungry after fasting all night.) Then once they were eating the Mysis eagerly, I introduced the next food item in the same fashion. By the 3rd food item, they just took it completely in stride and within 2.5 weeks, they're all happily eating Mysis, brine shrimp, bloodworms, glass worms, white worms, and Hikari Discus pellets. I keep mixing up the foods, so they don't get too used to only 1 type. They hated the NLS though; still refuse to eat it... :roll:
HTH

[fish_r]

thx for the replies guys
helps me a lot :)
i tried with fozen blood worm this morning and it got eaten, will try brine shrimp tonight and c how i go...

[Phlipper]

Never found a fish that refuses Brine Shrimp yet 8-) ....but I am also one who dislikes live blackworms, nasty disease carrying things :( 8-)

[samir]

me too (dislike blackworms), try frozen bloodworms,

[fish_r]

ok i'll give the live worms a miss.
so far they have eaten blood worms and brine shrimp, both frozen, so will keep em on that and some beefheart
till i can make a mix of ladyreds, mixture up "1/2 or quarter batch that is" i dont have the freezer space for more, they dont seem keen on the discus pellets @ all and my tetras wont touch em either.

[Phlipper]

The beefheart recipes are great, they will love it, and so will your other fish.........do the quarter mix, it lasts a long time, but you will need a blender or mincer that will blend it all up fine enough. I am at the moment using an old fashioned mincer, but some bits get through as chunks and just foul the water. I dont feed the beefheart mix everyday, but about twice a week, I like to give my fish as much variety as possible. I also find that once they have tasted live or meaty foods they will turn their noses up at dry food, I let 'em go hungry for a day and that makes eat it, and it also helps clear out digestive tracts.