Feeding Discus
Feeding your discus fish can sometimes be bit of a challenge as it is with many tropical fish. As you already know, the majority of fish and animals have certain nutritional requirements. Whereas discus fish do no have any unique nutritional requirements so they can be fed on pretty much any high protein fish food.
It’s important to start feeding your discus a varied food from an early age. As they grow up their will tend accept new types of food harder. And a varied discus diet is the best way to keep your fish healthy and happy. When you feed your discus many different food types you can be sure that you will cover the entire spectrum of vitamins and minerals they need, thus making them less prone to diseases and parasites.
| In general, try not to give them too many flake types of food, as they are not really high in proteins and they also tend to float on the surface of the water. During feeding, discus fish like to have their food closer to the bottom of the tank. Sometimes they will dig around the substrate in order to pick up leftover pieces of food.They are known to be sloppy eaters also, which means that they generally make more waste than other aquarium fish. This leads to quicker water pollution and so you need to make more often water changes, preferably after each feeding. |  |
Discus fish do not have any teeth instead they have what we would describe them as grinders in their jaws. So they can’t just eat food whole. They have a tendency to take the food in their mouths and to then spit it back out again. They will continue to do this until they have eaten it all. As the discus makes a bit of mess eating and break the food into lots of pieces, these little particles tend to fall to the bottom of the tank. The discus swirls (expels) the water which make the stranded food particles rise then they pick them up with their mouths and eat them as they begin to float.
Frozen beef heart is a common source of food that discus love to eat. It usually can be found in pet shops already prepared. Frozen beef heart is a very good diet option because it’s very high in proteins, mitochondria and ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which are very good for a healthy growth.
You can also make frozen beef heart by yourself at home. It is sometimes available ready cubed, this may sound a great simple and easy option but when this is being cubed they do not take off any fat, gristle or sinew which can be very harmful for your discus fish. Removing the fat and gristle from cubed beef heart is just to small and fiddly to do so buy large pieces of heart this may seem more time consuming but will be a lot healthier and easier for your discus fish to eat.
In your discus diet you should include both home-made foods and ready-made ones from pet stores or online. You can easily find special-made foods such as Discus Bio Gold, Discus Granules or New Life Spectrum Discus
Click here to find out the top secrets to keeping discus fish, including feeding, breeding and every day care.