oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 i made up some food for my discus last night - but im getting a very over power smell of garlic - have i put too much in ? this is my recipe i used. 350gm raw ox heart 200gm raw fish 1x handful baby rocket salad mix 4x cloves of garlic 1x handful cooked shrimp 25ml to 50ml of water is this ok or should i go get some more change the amount of the ingredients ? i really should have asked before i blended it all up but its too late now cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 If the fish aren't stressed or agitated it should be alright. And if they're eating it - well, it must be good. Just watch them and find out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 i put one piece in the tank but the discus didnt eat it (they are new to the tank and still a bit shy) but the other fish pigged out - it looks like the garlic isnt being eaten but was sitting in the bottom of the tank - how much will garlic affect water quality ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishBen Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 It'll probably just kill all your vampire fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 When there's so much you don't have to season your fish before eating them Just take out the unused stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 The garlic will act as an attractant. Fish, especially discus, like the smell and will often eat the garlic chunks by themselves. The main question is what are you using the garlic for? Garlic as a natural medication is only useful for a few hours after preparing it but because the smell remains even after freezing it can be used as an attractant for the month or so that the frozen food remains good for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 cooked prawns is a no no for discus according to simply discus, raw prawns only. cooked shrimp can block up the intstines - shrimps structure of the flesh changes when cooked. so i would change taht, to be honest, discard the mix and start again. only beef should be cooked IF youw ant, but not needed. i will never feed cooked shrimp again after my experiences. 4 cloves is ok. in a 1.4 kilo mix i had 12 cloves of garlic. but you dont wanna over dose, but they love the garlic! the thing smells like garlic. i would add spirulina, just 1 tablespoon. extra vits. the mix should look green indicating its well mixed and not chunky DONT ADD WATER no use, the stuff has enough water you also dont want it breaking apart in the tank, water can stop binding to a degree. raw shrimp will bind your mix like jelly, no need for water or any binders. cooked shrimp, the binding effect is gone cos its cooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 someone gave me an article how garlic works. garlic works cos the fish eats it and the parasties dont like the smell of garlic, so they come out of them and dont infest the fish - hence not being ablet o feed and eventually perhaps dying. it doesnt actually kill the parasites apparently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 thanks for the replies, i will disgard the mix and start again - henward - i found a previous post with your mix - is that still current ? if it is i will go by that - if not have you got an updated mix ? cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 500grams beef heart 250grams raw shrimp 200grams blue cod fillet or fish fillet (cod has more oils and omega 3) 200grams fish roe 200grams spinach 50grams massivore 50g hikari discus gold (pellets food can be different, tetra colour bits, hikari cichlid gold, arowanas sticks what ever is fine) I use them because i believe they have goodies in them and good protein concentrations that help boost the effectiveness of the food. (p44 will say im overthinking it lol) 1 to 2 table sppon of spirulina (but if you have spirulina flakes thats fine!) 10 to 12 cloves of garlic. the prepared pellets act as a binder too - so dont add and dont cook it. Liver is a no no apparently so i stayed awayf rom that from all the disadvised comments here:D see i do listen! the fish roe is not needed, replace it wtih fish and prawn. You can of course load the food more into parwna nd fish and not so much beef heart. and perhaps add a courgette or two if youw ant. boiled peas too if youwant. the mix should be green. use a food processor - shou.ld really be a paste when its done. not chunky, otherwise theyw ont be ingesting the smaller particles of goodness. the paste will be sticky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 Awesome, thanks for that. Now i have a shopping list I better redo my food tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 You guys better have some really really good filtration if you're going to be using stuff like this. Not you henward, you have good filtration. But in all seriousness - feed colourbits and occasionally some other stuff. Everyone is struggling with worms and stuff but Ron treated my discus with who knows what before he sent them to me and since ive never had to do any thing to them. No worms at all and the fish are healthy as ever. I run a UV filter in the tank too. Meat can seriously grub up a tank and not everyone has 1200L + systems that can dilute the effect of the meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oO SKIPPY Oo Posted July 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 that is very true and not something i had thought about. :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 Providing it is well bound together and you don't massively overfeed and have a few bottom feeders it is generally pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 use a food processor - shou.ld really be a paste when its done. not chunky Providing it is well bound together and you don't massively overfeed and have a few bottom feeders it is generally pretty good. I don't think so.. It's going to make one hell of a mess if its been through a food processor. Also chunky stuff gets digested too so there is no need to grind it to a paste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 I make mine in a food processor and it doesn't cause any issues, even in my under filtered tanks with just bubble filters and large fish I think the key is not overfeeding it and heaps of gelatine to keep it together. Also take it easy on it when you first make it as it can take a while for your fish to get used to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazzyJeff Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 Just a thought... I feed my young discus heart mix about once a week - I defrost it in a net (fish catching net) I then put it in the tank in the net and the discus actually go into the net to get it... if there is any left overs I discard it. I also do this with bloodworms and Brineshrimp. As far as I can see my discus appear active, happy and very confident - I agree with P44 bout the commercial diets and I primarily feed JBL Novo Bits for Discus to mine. I figure they have done a lot of research & testing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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