discus dinners

[wotsupdoc]

hi all, i have a discus fish in my community set up he/she`s been in about a week, my prob is that after the feeding frenzy what little is left he/she seems to spit back out what it little it gets!! i`ve tried all kinds of food that has been suggested to me but i was recently told a fish never goes hungry in a tank!!
can anybody give me a suggestion that i may not of tried???

 

[bugsy66]

What about trying some frozen brineshrimp or bloodworms. It should go for that with not hesitation. Do you notice the belly being full?

Sometimes in these LFS they feed live foods and nothing else, so when we buy these fish they won't eat anything else. Your fish won't starve, but keep trying the flakes and the frozen foods.

good luck...bugsy

 

[David]

hi all, i have a discus fish in my community set up he/she`s been in about a week, my prob is that after the feeding frenzy what little is left he/she seems to spit back out what it little it gets!! i`ve tried all kinds of food that has been suggested to me but i was recently told a fish never goes hungry in a tank!!
can anybody give me a suggestion that i may not of tried???

This is exactly what happened with my discus. It never even gave a second glance to flakes, sometimes it picked at the sinking pellets, but it pigged out when I fed frozen brine shrimp. (It also used to spit it out at first). It just takes some getting used to. Also IME discus are grazers, they like to cruise aroudn the tank during the tank and pick at random spots on the gravel and in the tank that have bits of leftover food on it. They do eat, they just do it differently than other fish.

 

[Tropjunky]

have u tried live foods. I had that problem wit my tropical fish and my barbs are still very shy even at feeding time.

Keep feeding it regular and unchangeing fook like flake flake flake. and it will soon learn that it's food and if he dosen't want it then they'll go hungery. fish are scavengers and animals so they think wit their appitie. jus be pataint.

 

[David]

have u tried live foods. I had that problem wit my tropical fish and my barbs are still very shy even at feeding time.

Keep feeding it regular and unchangeing fook like flake flake flake. and it will soon learn that it's food and if he dosen't want it then they'll go hungery. fish are scavengers and animals so they think wit their appitie. jus be pataint.

'Tis true. beggars can't be choosers, so if you feed them nothing but flakes they will learn that they must either eat or starve.

 

[Sorrell]

have u tried live foods. I had that problem wit my tropical fish and my barbs are still very shy even at feeding time.

Keep feeding it regular and unchangeing fook like flake flake flake. and it will soon learn that it's food and if he dosen't want it then they'll go hungery. fish are scavengers and animals so they think wit their appitie. jus be pataint.

'Tis true. beggars can't be choosers, so if you feed them nothing but flakes they will learn that they must either eat or starve.

Not true with discus If you choose to keep these fish all decisions in the tank need to be made around the discus. Frozen foods, discus formula, formula I, all of these should work well. They'll cost you a little more, but that's how it goes with discus.

Also how old is your fish? Juvie's do best in groups and in bare tanks. If you have a young one, it may not be doing well if it's alone.

 

[elgecko]

Is he dark in color? Have you noticed your discus relieve himself?
If it has White, stringy, muscus-like feces, then it might have Hexamit. There is a medication called Hexamit which is used to cure the disease.
It seems that new discus are very likely to get a disease when first introduced to a new enviroment. Once you get them cleaned up they are rather tough fish. It's just getting them settled in first that's the tricky part.

 

[David]

have u tried live foods. I had that problem wit my tropical fish and my barbs are still very shy even at feeding time.

Keep feeding it regular and unchangeing fook like flake flake flake. and it will soon learn that it's food and if he dosen't want it then they'll go hungery. fish are scavengers and animals so they think wit their appitie. jus be pataint.

'Tis true. beggars can't be choosers, so if you feed them nothing but flakes they will learn that they must either eat or starve.

Not true with discus If you choose to keep these fish all decisions in the tank need to be made around the discus. Frozen foods, discus formula, formula I, all of these should work well. They'll cost you a little more, but that's how it goes with discus.

Also how old is your fish? Juvie's do best in groups and in bare tanks. If you have a young one, it may not be doing well if it's alone.

Of course I am not suggesting that he do that. If you want quality fish, you always have to supplement their diet with frozen or live foods, no matter what the species. I'm just saying that flakes are the bare minimum, and that if that's all he has, then... well actually if that's all he has, he shouldn't have discus at all.

 

[bugsy66]

I don't think we asked what size of tank do you have this discus in?

What other fish are with it?

bugsy

 

[wotsupdoc]

I don't think we asked what size of tank do you have this discus in?

What other fish are with it?

bugsy

my discus is about 3inches in a 37 gallon set up,ive got
5 plattys
2 lace gouramis
1 dwarf gourami
2 dutch rams
5 neon tetra`s
1 male fighter
1 female fighter

the water is checked daily and is fine, i have a fluval 204 filter and it is also partially planted.she never gets picked on and only dropped her colour when i did a partial water change...maybe i should get he/she a companoin but i`m led to believe these fish get quite big(7 inch) and all the other fish have some growing to do and dont want to end up overstocked!!

 

[Cian McLiam]

5 plattys >>>>> >>>>Not good, they like cooler water
2 lace gouramis >>>>> Notorious for harassing Discus
1 dwarf gourami >>>> Can work, rarely though, watch for fin nipping
2 dutch rams >>>>>> Usually do well in same tank as Discus
5 neon tetra`s >>>>> They like cooler water, wont last more than a few months in Discus water
1 male fighter >>>>> Will be ok with the heat but another notorious fin nipper
1 female fighter >>>> Shouldbe ok. Maybe.

Basically thats a bad mix for Discus, Discus need temperatures above 29C or 84F to do really well. They are not community fish as you can gather from the replies above.

A single 3" fish will be miserable and shy on its own. It may eventually retreat to the back of the tank and stay there. If its not feeding now, thats a bad sign, they will go on hunger strike if they aren't happy. Have you noticed any of the symptoms elgecko described?

Many Discus are fed tubifex worms at the hatcheries and so wont recognise flakes and pellets as fod, they may take frozen bloodworm and brineshrimp, but you should try and wean them off it as its not a balanced diet. After a while they will realise that the flakes etc are food from watching the other fish.

Top priority now is to get the little guy a friend or three of the same size, I would try and bring the platties, gouramis and neons to the shop to see if you can get a trade (but ask before bagging the fish!) or buy a second tank, 25-30G would be plenty for them.

They can get over 10" if you use RO water with the right additives so be warned!

Ken

 

[wotsupdoc]

cheers ken, i have allready returned one of my lace gouramis to my lfs and think the other one`s going the same way within the next day or two...when i was sold them i was told they were "very peaceful"... hmmmmmm
after much trial and error on the food front i`ve found my discus fish will nibble at some algae tablets on the bottom of the tank as for the other fish in the tank i find them all very peaceful and seem to get along
there`s no sign of any symptoms elgeko described but i`ll keep a watchful eye on the situation!

john

 

[David]

5 plattys >>>>> >>>>Not good, they like cooler water
2 lace gouramis >>>>> Notorious for harassing Discus
1 dwarf gourami >>>> Can work, rarely though, watch for fin nipping
2 dutch rams >>>>>> Usually do well in same tank as Discus
5 neon tetra`s >>>>> They like cooler water, wont last more than a few months in Discus water
1 male fighter >>>>> Will be ok with the heat but another notorious fin nipper
1 female fighter >>>> Shouldbe ok. Maybe.

Basically thats a bad mix for Discus, Discus need temperatures above 29C or 84F to do really well. They are not community fish as you can gather from the replies above.

A single 3" fish will be miserable and shy on its own. It may eventually retreat to the back of the tank and stay there. If its not feeding now, thats a bad sign, they will go on hunger strike if they aren't happy. Have you noticed any of the symptoms elgecko described?

Many Discus are fed tubifex worms at the hatcheries and so wont recognise flakes and pellets as fod, they may take frozen bloodworm and brineshrimp, but you should try and wean them off it as its not a balanced diet. After a while they will realise that the flakes etc are food from watching the other fish.

Top priority now is to get the little guy a friend or three of the same size, I would try and bring the platties, gouramis and neons to the shop to see if you can get a trade (but ask before bagging the fish!) or buy a second tank, 25-30G would be plenty for them.

They can get over 10" if you use RO water with the right additives so be warned!

Ken

I respectfully disagree with you on a couple of points. It is perfectly ok, IME to keep platies with discus. I have 2 discus and 2 platies in my tank and I keep the temp at a constant 82. Both the discus and platies are doing great, in fact the platies have mated and the female is pregnant so there can't be anything wrong. I agree about the gouramis, they tend to be aggressive towards fish with long fins. I don't know about the neons, but i do know that cardinals are often kept with discus and aren't those two very closely realted? About the betta, those can also be kept with discus IME, mine completely ignores them. In fact he is more likely to chase the platies on occasion if they get too close to him during feeding time. One thing I woudl not recommend is that you keep male and female bettas together, isn't that dangerous?

 

[wotsupdoc]

I was advised to keep a female fighter if i had a male....in what little contact they have had with each other they are perfectly placid, at first i was very unsure about getting the male given there "reputation" but he just hovers around minding his own business wether the female is around or not.
I`ve turned the temp up slightly in my tank to accomodate the discus at around 28C, since i have traded off my lace gourami`s the discus would have appeared to found its appetite

 

[wotsupdoc]

One thing I forgot to add given that I have turned up the temp to around 28C...will my dwarf gourami and 2 dutch rams be OK with this change?