Frozen food and pests

Today I lost one of my prime discus even after 2 treatments with meds over 3 weeks he didnt made through. Been with me over 4 yrs and was one of my starting pack in the hobby.

I runned out of frozen treats for my fish and local store did not had the usual brime shrimp and blood worms.

Went to nearest pet shop store and picked cheap asian imports as I had bussy day and went home.

3 weeks later 2 fish started to behave suspicious stopped eating as usual and interesting thing showed up at their guils sort of like a guill fluke but haven't seen that thing before.

Havent got new fish for over 2 years in main tank and been clear from any pest for 3 yrs now.

Since I got that cheap frozen food weird things started happening so I disposed the food treated whole tank and rest of the fish doing well now got their apetite and mobility as before.

I wanted to share my story not for sorrow but to make you all aware ..... If you feed your fish frozen foods make sure u all know what u getting quallity and safety guaranteed as ull never know what frozen food can cary with em.

From now on will stick to beef heart only as really loss to one of my favourite really hurts me

 

Sorry for your loss
Thank you for sharing this story, its a reminder to us all to be careful what we feed our babies.
I would contact the manufacturers if it were me.

 

The only parasite that would survive freezing would be bacterial - if the food was thawed and refrozen. I have had that happen, even with expensive foods.

You could also get food collected from polluted sources.

You can only really be safe making (or catching) your own food, or buying from a very trusted source.

 

What brand was it so we can avoid it? Also, I'd stay away from beef heart. The vast majority of fish (discus included, despite the popularity of it as a food for them) can't properly metabolize mammalian or avian meat or fat and it can lead to serious health problems and will easily shorten their life by several years. Its one of the absolute worst things you can feed to a fish. If you want to give them frozen food, I recommend HikarI brand, you can get it anywhere and I've never experienced or heard of it causing problems.

 

Sorry for your loss virusmk. Have you tried freeze dried blackworms? It's got super high protien content (the best out of anything I've found), will not foul your water, and I'm pretty sure that no parasites or bacteria can survive the freeze drying process (I'll have to double check that, but I think that's correct lol).

 

Sorry about your loss, it happens to all of us. Even with meds and good water some don't make it. For the discus newbies, FYI that adult discus can go days, even weeks without being fed. So you have time to get your regular food and not risk your $$$ with questionable food.