My discus food recipe: feedback please

[henward]

Please give me feed back.

if im missing a point here, let me know.

this is for medium juvis, smallish and adult discus all gonna eat this.

i figure, this will fattena nd beef up large ones further.

this will help smaller ones get bigger.

im no expert on nutrition but let me know.

recipe as follows:

500g Beef Heart (*All fat and sinue trimmed)

500Grams Beef Liver (Should i have a combo of both or just heart)

1/2 cup massivore pellets (blended to a powder)

2/4 cup discus bio gold (straight in. Massivore and bio gold will act as a binding agent)

100G Bloodworms

100g Mysis Shrimp

Any veges i can pu tin or not bother?

anything else?

[Bilbo]

Looks pretty good but I would put in some greens like shelled peas and maybe some fish fillets like fresh tuna or salmon perhaps.

All in all not to bad though.

This is my recipe. Its adapted from one I borrowed from Simply Discus. I usually make smaller quantities but more or less the same proportions.

1 cup raw tuna

1/2 cup of raw salmon

1/2 cup clean beef heart

1/4 cup shrimps or king prawns

1/4 cup of good flake

1 tbsp liquid vitamins

1/3 cup mushy peas

1/2 extremely ripe banana

1 crushed garlic clove

1/4 tsp paprika

[phoenix44]

I always advise against using liver in recipes as it is the best way to deteriorate your water quality.

[henward]

fair enoug

why si that?

i was just looking into it, some do it.

whats upw tih liver?

soime say add vitamins

what sort of vitamins do i add?

peas also some said?

raw shrimp also

[phoenix44]

why si that?

it is the best way to deteriorate your water quality

I dont make my own food any more.

[A-town...]

I too use to use garlic

[reptilez]

I too use to use garlic

same here

[k1w1y2k]

You can also add PRO GROWTH BY ANDREW SOH which is available from Vincent Discus, its not cheap, but a little goes a long way.

[Flosty]

You can use prawns or shrimp also

If you are going to use liver cut back the amount you are using by a ½ or less compared to you ox heart

You also want to cook it slightly,gets rid of blood and helps with not making the water cloudy during feeding

Some also cook there ox heart,I have done both.Cooking gets rid of the blood but I generally leave it raw

Fresh spinach is a great source of greens,boil it and add to the mix

paprika as a red colour enhancer

Why not try some mussels,I use them and my fish love them

[henward]

sorry

just clearing up

do you advise to COOK the beef heart?

i dont need to put liver unless liver has a special thing about it.

cook the beef heart very quickly, like in boiling water?

or just leave it raw?

lets put it this way

apart from cloudy water - what is bad about raw beef herat?

i dont care, my fx5 clears it up in 20 mins lol no matter how dirty the food is, also auto changer is cranked up when i feed discus tucker:D

just need to know - what is bad about completely raw beef cos really that smells nice for the fisha nd they love it

right now i feed a almost fist size ball of beef heart to my bichirs, tt eel and fish in my rtg tank, no worries there

[Flosty]

Leave the ox heart raw, that will be fine

I only said it can be cooked because some prefer to cook it as it gets rid of the blood

You can use the liver but cook it first,I fry mine for a few mins

I never use to use liver but have done recently,it provides lots of vitamins

But my fish eat the mix with or without the liver,really doesn't matter to much

[henward]

why cook the liver?

any reason?

if the BH doesnt matter, why the liver be cooked?

[Morcs]

Why not colorbits as the staple then supplement with beef heart etc..?

[henward]

msot discus keepers overseas prefer the beefheart to be 50% of the food, then 40% pellets, 10% treat slike bloodworm and whiteworms.

also fish tend to get beefed up wtih a combo of both i found with other types of fish.

colour bits colour discus red.

msot of my discus is not red you see, so i use hikari discus bio gold, very good, they also readily accept it compared toc olour bits.

[Flosty]

why cook the liver?

any reason?

if the BH doesnt matter, why the liver be cooked?

It stops the clouding of the water

[Jennifer]

Pure muscle tissue (e.g. ox heart) has a lot of phosphorus, iron, B vitamins and zinc but it is lacking in some other key nutrients.

Phosphorus is critical for development and for the prevention of skeletal deformities in fish. In most fish, the phosphorus requirement is around 0.7% of the total dry weight nutritional requirement. Liver has a lot of the major and trace minerals that muscle tissue is lacking but it also has a lot of Vitamin A (an insoluble vitamin that is toxic in high doses, especially to developing young) and Selenium (also toxic in high doses). Picture the fish eating a small fish, the percentage of total nutrients derived from eating liver tissue would be very small compared to all other organs and muscle so why would we even try to feed more than 30% liver to a captive fish?

My point is, nutritionally it is potentially risky to feed one single type of tissue since deficiencies and toxicities can easily occur. If at all possible, aim to mimic the variety and nutritional ratios that the animal would get in the wild.

Sure, you can find lots of people who will tout all sorts of magical diets and nutritional theories online but I would advise that you keep a keen eye out for evidence based scientific information - that is if you are really serious about getting valid nutritional advice.

[phoenix44]

Sure, you can find lots of people who will tout all sorts of magical diets and nutritional theories online but I would advise that you keep a keen eye out for evidence based scientific information - that is if you are really serious about getting valid nutritional advice.

*yay*

you're back

+1

colourbits, prawn, other pellets, bloodworms, courgette (mine pick on it) and that's all you need. occasionally feed discus tucker or what ever else.

Just because a fish has a great body shape, eats well and looks fine does not mean it is healthy. It might be the equivalent of a fat bloke in the KFC queue. variety is the key with feeding fish. That's why I stick to pellet foods and the other stuff mentioned above.

[Jennifer]

:lol:

KFC queue...tee hee

Variety is important, but it does pay to say that discus are prone to cranial deformities and these can largely be avoided if a phosphorus level of at least 0.7% is maintained. Read your labels and do your dry weight analysis calculations. 8)

[Morcs]

Ive always been of the opinion that the big food manufacturers go to a lot of time and money developing commercial foods, that they have developed foods that if used as a staple would be far more beneficial than an almost complete home made diet?

Im of the opinion that Discus do not need any more extra special care or variety in diet than any other fish should have.

[henward]

oh ok

i dont care bout that, the water is never cloudy in my tanks, its osmething i really hate:D

so, i decided that apart from my 2 stage sump tower trickle set up, i also have 3x fx5, 1x fluval 404, 1x fluval 4 internal:D

so no matter how cloudy, its gone in 20 mins! oh yes!

so if its raw, its ok, as long asi dont mindt he cloudiness from the liver?

[Morcs]

oh ok

i dont care bout that, the water is never cloudy in my tanks, its osmething i really hate:D

so, i decided that apart from my 2 stage sump tower trickle set up, i also have 3x fx5, 1x fluval 404, 1x fluval 4 internal:D

so no matter how cloudy, its gone in 20 mins! oh yes!

so if its raw, its ok, as long asi dont mindt he cloudiness from the liver?

Other option is to have another tank specifically for feeding, but i dont think the discus would appreciate being moved that much! :lol:

Ive got an aquaclear 70 powerhead that would help heaps comes with the quickfilter attachment too

[phoenix44]

you're right.. they don't. all fish need a nice varied diet.

i don't know how some discus keepers even have the time to enjoy the fish.. these international forum people spend so much time fussing over the darn things it's a miracle they have time for any thing else :lol:

[Jennifer]

Ive always been of the opinion that the big food manufacturers go to a lot of time and money developing commercial foods, that they have developed foods that if used as a staple would be far more beneficial than an almost complete home made diet?

Im of the opinion that Discus do not need any more extra special care or variety in diet than any other fish should have.

Good point Morcs. For most domestic animals this is certainly the case since millions of dollars in consumer dollars can be invested in research but fish are slightly different since commercial fisheries are the only ones who really have the consumer backing to support research into nutrition. This means that ornamental fish foods are mostly based on diets derived from carp and salmonid research as well as anecdotal information about local habitats and informal studies. That is not to say that these foods are bad, just that we really can't be sure.

I agree about discus not requiring a whole lot more than other fish, but as I said above, they are prone to cranial deformities (stunting) and this can be prevented if they have sufficient phosphorus which is no doubt why keepers have gone the extra mile to ensure excess. More is better, right? :roll:

[Morcs]

you're right.. they don't. all fish need a nice varied diet.

i don't know how some discus keepers even have the time to enjoy the fish.. these international forum people spend so much time fussing over the darn things it's a miracle they have time for any thing else :lol:

True that! one of my workmates partners has discus. hes not terribly clued up though. He comes and asks me to order things like Discus buffer for him, and when I ask why he needs these things he cant actually give me an answer!

Last breeders house i went to, all stunning discus. only food in sight were the big containers of colorbits. like 20 of them.

Good point Morcs. For most domestic animals this is certainly the case since millions of dollars in consumer dollars can be invested in research but fish are slightly different since commercial fisheries are the only ones who really have the consumer backing to support research into nutrition. This means that ornamental fish foods are mostly based on diets derived from carp and salmonid research as well as anecdotal information about local habitats and informal studies. That is not to say that these foods are bad, just that we really can't be sure.

I agree about discus not requiring a whole lot more than other fish, but as I said above, they are prone to cranial deformities (stunting) and this can be prevented if they have sufficient phosphorus which is no doubt why keepers have gone the extra mile to ensure excess. More is better, right? :roll:

Agreed, hence commercial food as a staple, then supplement with things that one feels are deficient or lacking in the diet?

[phoenix44]

Tetra, hikari and JBL conduct analysis on a per food basis. Now what that research is i do not know. :lol:

i'd like to think that the days of smaller cat food being sold as fish food are gone...