What do you feed your fish ?

Haha its probably because we spoil them rotten with all the fancy mixes.

 

@BoelderBeestie .. these kids of our are more stuborn than 2 legged kids!!

2 years down the line, we still cant get Cesar's silver aro to eat pellets and if i stuff the pellets in the fish or prawn tails, she spits it out!!
She has just come out of over a month's self inflicted starvation because we had moved one of my big oscars into her tank and she didnt aprove of it so eventually 2 days ago we took the oscar out and even after this she wont take pellets!!

 

@MariaS yip my aro too. The pellets looks a bit like super worm so when I feed him worms I drop a skelm pellet and he goes for it but immediately spits is out.
@Reedfish Not worth it, they always win in the end anyway.

 

Howsit going everyone

I am planning on getting discus soon for the first time. Any advice on what to feed them as a beginner in discus keeping?
From all the conversations going on around here it seems like they are stubborn eaters haha.

I currently feed my other fish tropical bits so i would like to try that on the discus.

 

Discus are a bit different than other fish when it comes to feeding. You have to feed them a lot when they are growing out. You can't actually overfeed them. I fed mine 6 times a day but they are eating less now as they mature. They are a year old now. They easiest way is to get a frozen discus mix but variety is key. If you can't find any you can make your own.

Get some ostrich fillet and grate it fine. Mix in some flakes or granules that you crushed and add some fresh garlic. I also add a grated prawn tail or two and if I have some bloodworm. Put this in a ziplock bag, press flat and freeze it. You just snap a piece off and drop it in. They go crazy for it. Just remember that discus food fouls the water pretty quickly so you have to siphon out any left overs and feces every 24 hours. Theirs people that siphon after every feeding but I find this unnecessary as the fish will slowly graze and pick up every last bit anyway.

Also don't get less than 6. Even at this number the smaller ones takes a beating from the bigger ones but its manageable. The tropical bits won't grow them out unfortunately. They need a lot of fat in their diet.

Your first goal should be in selecting good fish to start with, this is critical. Avoid petshop fish as they are already stunted 99% of the time and will stay small and have and oval shape. You want round fish as the name discus implies. Will post a few google pics to show you the difference between good and bad selection.

 

Thanks for all the info @BoelderBeestie, i was considering only getting 3 at the moment due to my tank size(120L) and then once i get a bigger tank for them(before they get too big for the tank) then i want to add more discus.

 

Ok, I threw up in my mouth a little after googling stunted discus so will use my own fish as examples as the ones on google is moertoe.

Here's a petshop fish. Although she doesn't look that bad she is stunted and hasn't grown much.
You can clearly see the eye to head ratio is off. The eye is to big. In a strait line going up and down
you must be able to fit 3-4 eyes on top and below. She's not round either but a bit oval shaped.
This fish came from Malaysia and is a good example of color over shape.(Asians love color).

She was probably given hormones to color up so young too.


Here's a properly grown out juvie from a local guy. As you can see, small eye and a nice round shape. When these pics were
taken both fish where the same length


Here's a pic of him in November. He's a bit bigger now.


When looked at from the front they should also have a broad forehead like this, not pinched.



Will have to take some more recent pics again. Sorry for the long write up and yes I know I get carried away haha. Love em...

 

Nah its awesome i dont mind if you get carried away, its very good getting all this info(with pics) from someone who has discus and has some knowledge about them. So thanks for that. So what do you think about if i get 3 discus now and then in a few months another 3 once i get a bigger tank? The point of only getting about 3 for now is just to see how i cope with discus and if i can maintain them the way they should be. I dont want to spend a lot of money on 6 and then in the end lose all of them.

 

@WadeSmith adding later is going to be a nightmare, you HAVE to quarantine the new arrivals otherwise you run the risk of loosing all of them. They are so much work that you don't want that to happen ever. I did it like you want to and was extremely lucky. Would never risk it again. Tank size for juvies isn't important. It's actually easier from a maintenance point of view. You are taking water out daily anyway so volume isn't important. Get 6 and upgrade the tank later. Mine are still in a 250L and doing fine.

I spoke to prof Dirk about tank size and he also said that he isn't a fan of big tanks. One fish in this corner another fish in that corner isn't appealing. They group together nicely in a smaller tank.

 

Yeah i suppose that is also true hey. So you reckon i could get 6 discus and put them in a 120L tank as juvies for a few months and then upgrade them to a bigger tank later? I also have a 240L tank but it is currently stocked with all sorts of different fish. Maybe thinking of getting rid of those fish when the discus become a bit bigger in the 120L then move the discus over to the 240L. Will the 6 discus be able to live in the 240L, as you say yours are doing fine in your 250L?

 

@WadeSmith My logic was exactly the same haha. When you get them you are hooked. They are not hard to keep at all, it just takes discipline. If you keep the water clean they are not a hassle. I can do my tank in 15 minutes when time is a issue. Bare bottom maintenance is very quick. You just suck out the gunk and top up, goes quick, and after a week it's part of your routine. If you see you are having time constraints on maintenance you sell them. Their value always goes up if healthy and they sell fast. If you buy them at R150-200 each you'll be selling at R300-400 in a month or two.

My two big ones will sell retail for R1800-2000 if not more now, the rest at R1200-1400 and the two runts at R400-R600. Bought them at R150 each a year ago.

 

Yes 240L will do for 6 fish. My tank is a 250L but running at 220L to give some head room. Discus don't swim around much and if they do its a slow cruise. Clean water is the trick. I'll take a few pics of my setup when I get home and post it in my tank section and give a complete run down. It's not the most modern and awesome setup but it's working like a bomb and I've had no issues regarding health and spawning apart from the fish being a bit young to keep the eggs. They are getting closer every time.

So get 6 and give it a shot, 120L will be a breeze when cleaning. Get rid of the other randoms and put them in that 240L when the time comes. Keep the 120L for quarantine and breeding later.

In all honesty, when you get discus the "normal" random fish looses their appeal quickly. The only reason I keep oscars is because I like them for some reason.

 

I dont think i will have an issue with discipline with regards to sticking to the maintenance as i currently keep my 240L very well maintained and clean. I will always make time for maintenance as i really do care about the health of my fish so time is no issue, there is nothing better than seeing your fish happy and healthy. The problem im sitting with now is taking the blow of buying 6 discus at once, thats a lot of money haha. If i could get discus at R150 each i would be more than happy to take it but i can only find at R250+ each. Cool thats awesome, i will be waiting for that so i can see how your tank is setup.

 

Haha its actually going to be hard to get rid of my other fish. I currently have clown loaches, yoyo loaches, rainbow sharks, bala sharks, tiger barbs, leopard pleco and whiptail pleco. I would like to keep my clown loaches as i really like them alot. So i can get rid of the others but i also have something for my rainbow sharks so i dont really want to get rid of them either. So to make the decision of getting rid of the fish in my 240L is really hard.

 

It would just be much easier for me to buy another 250 - 300L tank for the discus, but it wont be easy on the pocket haha.

 

They are an investment yes. Well I started with 3 and they are still doing fine and laying eggs so if that's the only way for you to get into the hobby then do it. I had some aggression issues but they won't flat out kill each other. You can always add more at a later stage. It's not ideal but if its the only way so be it. But be warned it gets addictive hahaha.

 

Thanks for all your input, its much appreciated. I will give it some thought and see how i should do this. So when you added your second batch of discus, were they smaller than the discus you currently had? If so, did your current bigger discus bully the new smaller discus once you introduced them?

I would also one day like to witness the whole process of discus breeding. So good luck to you with that.

 

@Reedfish 550L for 12 discus is perfect. To begin with a small number like 6 a smaller tank like a 250 will be fine. My ideal size in my mind would be 1.5m for 6 when adults. 6 discus in my 1.8m 540L would look empty, 12 on the other hand, perfect. My 250 will be to small eventually. This is my first try and I've never had adults before so my opinion will most likely change as I go along. When I look at my tank size compared to fish size now, the two complement each other well. I also like pigeon bloods and will get them eventually but will keep them separate in a smaller tank rather than all my fish mixed in a big tank.

@WadeSmith The biggest ones will always pick on the smaller ones. That's why numbers are important. The bullying gets spread across more fish so damage is minimal, they are a socials species and have a very interesting hierarchy. Well with what I've seen so far is, if you keep it clean spawning just happens.