# Discus questions



## growingwonders (Feb 12, 2010)

I am not new to the hobby, having kept salt water aquariums, with living coral and having bred rams, kept community tanks, and numerous others, but I am no means an expert. 
I have read for years, about the requirements of discus and I don't fear them, I just want to understand them, inside and out, before I decide on them, for my upcoming 120 gallon, Amazon, planted tank. 
Mostly, I have found that the minimum water change is 25% and that most serious keepers feed beef heart and those that do not, have no cited alternatives. 

I am curious as to why the water changes are needed, if you are maintaining adequately low levels of Ammonia, Nitrates, and Nitrites. I am not lazy or unwilling to provide what the fish need, but we will have to use an RO unit and the water has to come from our basement, to bypass the softener, so it will be a burden and if the parameters are where they need to be, why would more infrequent changes be acceptable? I understand the benefit of replenishing depleted minerals and providing fresh water and it is by no means my goal to eliminate water changes, but once every 2 weeks or even once a month, when we are traveling, may be all that I can reasonably provide. I could change 40 gallons, every two weeks maximum and at times only monthly. I plan to start the tank, let it cycle, with plants, have it fully stocked, and ad the discus last, after I have established a routine and the proper ratios are worked out, for my tap water/RO water mixture. My point is, by that time I will have a handle on the Ammonia, Nitrates, and Nitrites and have a routine/stocking level, that keeps them at optimal levels. Am I dreaming or are discus still a possibility?

Regarding the beef heart, I am interested in making my own food and providing a balanced diet, for all of my fish. I worry about the local availability of organic beef heart and know that it notorious for polluting the water. I know discus have high protein needs, but can these be obtained through the use of whitefish, Hikari frozen foods, Spirulina, shellfish, and other sources? What about so called complete diets, by reputable brands, like Hikari? Are these adequate alternatives, as a staple? I am looking at 3.5-4'' fish, so I'm not looking to push fry to fast adulthood or grow monster fish, but I want healthy, well-colored, well shaped, nourished, fish. If animal heart is really the best, I will probably use venison, from local deer processing butchers, to be sure to avoid hormone and antibiotic laden beef. 
What about foods formulated for marine fish? Are there concerns about salt content or other problems or can these be utilized to provide variety, also?
I appreciate your thoughts and experiences.


----------



## cstmgp (Aug 22, 2007)

As far as food, I always like to think that variety is best. A staple of beef heart with some occasional color enhancing alternatives should be adequate.
As for the venison, I don't see it being an issue, but I doubt it will be much safer as far as chemicals. Most deer anymore feed on farm crops and are exposed to pesticides regularly, which I'm sure are just as bad as antibiotics.
On the same note, I eat lots of venison and beef , and it hasn't killed me yet!

Go with whichever is easier on your budget and readily available.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


----------



## growingwonders (Feb 12, 2010)

Thank you for the reply. I am not really overly concerned with beef heart not being good for the fish, I just wonder if there are less polluting, more readily available staples, that I can make a daily diet from.


----------



## cstmgp (Aug 22, 2007)

I agree, if you can freeze the beef heart into small cubes it doesn't seem quite as messy. As long as your discus will take it, they seem to eat off the cubes as they thaw, instead of a flood of messy food all at once. Tetras should help clean up a lot of the extra.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


----------



## joshvito (Apr 6, 2009)

There are lots of alternatives to feed your discus. I feed high protein flake from AngelsPlus, freeze dried black worms, frozen worms blood, frozen larvae, frozen plankton, and occasionally live black worms or live grindle worms.

I would stay away from wild and juvenile discus in a planted tank. You should look to stock your tank with adult discus (5+ inches) as they can be fed fewer times per week. And juveniles are hard to grow out in a planted tank. Because they need more water changes and more feeding s. 

If you are seriously looking for more information and want to succeed, I suggest checking out information on Simply Discus forums.


----------



## growingwonders (Feb 12, 2010)

Thank you all for the information. I will look into the simply discus forums. I plant to start with discus 3.5-4'' and they will be captive bred, varieties, from Hans Discus.


----------



## whiskey (Oct 9, 2004)

I've heard that beef heart is the main reason for the 50% daily water changes. Heh!

I feed mine Omega 1 Flake as the primary food,.. try to feed twice per day, weekends I'll usually do 3 but not huge amounts. This is only because I want them to grow out and they were rather stunted when I got them. Growing well now, with very rich color. I like variety in feeding though, I also feed bloodworms, misys, brine shrimp, flake, discus pelts, anything they will swallow.

Simply Discus is a great forum, many of them are into growing prize winning discus though - don't be frightened off by the maintenance regimens that many people their hold themselves too. Many do daily water changes, many keep only bare bottom tanks, many do not have decorations. This way they can feed as much as they want to grow the discus huge and healthy, but if you want a planted tank with Discus that is possible too - just start with stock that is 4" already. Then they don't need as much food.

Whiskey


----------

