Jewels

Hello all Discus keepers,
Does anybody have any hints apart from shooing away those greedy Angels as I hold a block of frozen Discus food in my hand? I want to help a little baby Discus catch up to the other 3 in size. I'm wondering whether extra spinach, flake food, sprinkles, Brine Shrimp (etc) would also help............He is getting very tame, but still a bit shy around the bigger Angel 'Brutus'......well, about all I can say is; "what a guts Brutus is!".......Any hints would be appreciated. Cheers Jewels

capekate

Hi Jewels...
As far as getting your little Discus to grow you can always add some protein like bloodworms and beefheart to its diet. If it isnt already stunted when you bought it, the additional foods should really help it along. I only mention stunted because I had a few stunted Discus and they just never appeared to grow, poor lil things.. Once stunted.. its very hard for them to grow bigger.
If your little one really is getting pushed away at meal times, it may be necessary to get it its own little tank for awhile where you can concentrate on giving it some quality foods more often.
Since the frozen cubes of food are so very cold, its not a good idea to let them eat it til its been thawed in some tank water in a bowl. Then you can use a little plastic syringe like the ones they sell at the grocery stores for baby meds. The cold food is not good for their tummies.
If you thaw it first you can disperse the food across the whole tank and your little one should be sure to get some.
Other than that.. how are your Discus doing these days? Havent seen you in the forum lately or I have missed your posts!

Jewels

Hi Kate,
Sorry I haven't had a chance to get online for a week or two as I've had a heap of other things keeping me busy. Fortunately I don't think lil Delta is stunted, as he is growing, and Epsilon is his buddy and protector! It's just that he's so pretty that I'd like him to grow WAY bigger....
Beta is in luv with Alpha! I'm sure! The way that the 2 sneak off into corners where they shimmer their fins at each other and change colours! Or am I wrong?
The crossbreed two are sort of more interesting to watch than the two purebred Cobalts, I think (Blue Snakeskin x Turquoise).....Beta is fast becoming the biggest, even though I've had Alpha way longer and they were about the same size when I bought them....I like the way that they sometimes go blue squiggly and then kind purplish around the edges at other times!
Epsilon is my hero! He sorted out my 2 bullies! And Promptly....Brutus the Angel and Snarkey the Redtailed Shark were both needing to be put back in their place, and little Delta needed a friend:
Ergo/ along came Epsilon!..... and now everybody is happy together.....To the extent that I'm holding off on getting a replacement catfish in case it upsets the pecking order again! Later, I'm thinking........Thanx for the feeding advice, I think I might invest in some beefheart, and I didn't realise that they shouldn't eat it cold because they take it from my fingers so readily. Tastier than flake food, I guess....I'll warm every time in future.......Will be in touch again soon...Cheers Jewels

capekate

Hi Jewel
Glad to hear that your Discus are doing so well! Its funny how they have their growth spurts. One of mine was very small when I got it, and I watched it grow much faster than some of the others that were older.
I think that it may have a lot to do with the breeder care they received. If they were fed good foods and have a healthy start like that, they can grow pretty fast. Im glad to hear that your little one is not stunted. As I mentioned before I had two stunted Discus who never seem to grow, just the eyes got bigger and bigger. They were like that when I bought them. You know a good healthy Discus when you bring it home small and watch it grow quickly and double their size in no time at all.
I dont know if you have a bare bottom for your Discus, but if you do or not, just remember to vacuum the tank after feeding them the beefheart. It will foul up the water quickly. If I am due a water change, I usually feed them the beefheart the night before.
Good luck with your guys... any new photos of them you can add? Id love to see how they are doing!

Butterfly

Along with all that protein absolute pristine water will help your babies grow to their fullest potential, so keep the water changes up Have we seen pics of them yet?
Carol

Marc

If possible, removing them to a seperate tank is a good but usually unlikely option. Then you can power feed them without worrying about the other fish getting bloat or eating it all first. Small feedings throughout the day (think of them as very young children) should help, and if you find what food the Angels like best, and if it's something different than what the Discus like best, feed them at different sides of the tank. If you aren't so lucky, try spreading the food out so that they all have a chance to get some.

When I hand feed, I usually don't thaw it out unless it's gelatin based. I have a beefheart mix and some bloodworms, and I usually just give them the bloodworms straight from the frozen sheet. I'll swirl it around in the water before they eat it though, so it's a little softer. I've never had any problems from it, and they eat so little in one bite that the temperature difference isn't great.

Jewels

Hi All,
I've tried the beefheart, and fast found that the way to go was to cut it into little blocks the same size as the frozen discus food and put it into an old frozen discus food tray in the freezer, so it isn't too much....That way it hasn't fouled the water as long as I'm careful to squash the frozen block (which is what I now also do with the other frozen stuff), and remove any sinew. The only trouble is that one of the Redtail Sharks is now looking so big now that he might get swapped at the shop soon!
By the way, in my Discus Report reply I made a late night mistake....My crossbred ones are Blue Checkerboard X Turquoise not Snakeskin - OK? Thanx all for the advice....busy week over, will be online more this weekend.....Talk to you all soon.....Cheers Jewels

Jewels

Hi Kate et al, Thanx so very much for the advice to give my smaller Discus Beefheart. He is not only catching up in size really quite fast now, but also looks very plump and healthy! In the next couple of days I also plan on getting them all a couple of serves of Brineshrimp.....mostly because I have noticed that the 2 Discus that don't grow as fast as the other 2 seem to be a bit slow off the mark at feeding time. I figure that some tasty Brine will get them some exercise! I'm finding that I can still keep to my previous cleaning regime, as long as I don't overdo it with the Beefheart....One shopping day I felt so sorry for them all cos they must have been hungry that I did overdo things: and had murky looking water a few hours later, which I decided to do a 1/2 tank water change about to be on the cautious side...since I would call all Discus 'Fussartists'! Sorry that I've been busy to get back to you all, but that's just the rythm of my life...... How are you Kate?...I tried to get onto the friends website, with no success. At some stage I'll get a chance to get time to sit and read all the site instructions.... Cheers Jewels

capekate

Hello Jewels..
Im so glad to hear that your Discus are doing well! Its amazing what a good protein diet can do! I always would plan on the beefheart the meal before I do a water change, this way I dont have to worry about the food decaying. I do the same thing with the blood worms but not so much with the brine shrimp.
They do so well with a varied diet.. and it sounds like the little ones are eating and growing. Discus are slow to eat and sometimes they try to pick the food out of the water and miss more times than not. Maybe its the shape of their bodies lol.. But yes, they do have a harder time grabbing the food that is floating by.. miss it and then go on to find some more.
Keep us posted and its nice to hear from you!