MAGGOTS FOR FOOD?

[Ben]

AS YOU PROPERLY HAVE GUESSED, I AM SEARCHING FOR THE HOLY GRAIL/GRAILS WHEN IT COMES TO FEEDING MY DISCUS!

i am trying to find and produce a LIVE food source/sources to feed my discus.

AS THEY SAY YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT, SO I USE THIS PHILOSPHY WITH MY DISCUS.

HAS ANYONE TRIED FEEDING CLEAN MAGGOTS TO THIER DISCUS?
I HAVE TRIED SEVERAL TIMES, BUT WITH NO LUCK. THE MAGGOTS I HAVE USED ARE FROM THE SMALL BUSH FLY, I TRIED FEEDING THEM TO MY DISCUS WHEN VERY SMALL AND WHEN THE MAGGOTS ARE AT ADULT SIZE BUT WITH NO LUCK WHAT SO EVER!

I USED THIS FLY BREEDING HOUSE, SEE PICTURE.
THE MAGGOTS ARE VERY CLEAN, THEY FEED ON A MIXTURE OF POLLARD (LIKE A COURSE BRAN) AND FULL CREAM MILK POWDER.

THE LIGHT IN THE FLY HOUSE KEEPS THE TEMP STABLE AND A FULL CYCLE OF FLYS CAN BE TURNED AROUND IN LESS THAN 12 DAYS.

DOES ANYONE FEED MAGGOTS TO ANY OTHER FISH OTHER THAN DISCUS?

IN THE WILD MAGGOTS WOULD BE A NATURAL FOOD SOURCE TO FISH, ESPECIALLY DISCUS, EXAMPLE,
A MONKEY MIGHT DIE IN A TREE OVERHANGING A POOL OF WATER WHERE DISCUS LIVE, FLYS LAY THERE EGGS ON THE ROTTENING MEAT OF THE MONKEY, THEY INTURN TURN TO MAGGOTS AND SOME FALL INTO THE WATER BELOW.
BUT,
WHY DONT MY DISCUS EAT THEM.
I HAVE FEED THEM TO MY DISCUS AND THEY SIMPLY INHALE THE MAGGOT, ROLL IT AROUND IN ITS MOUTH, AND THEN SEVERAL SECONDS LATER SPIT IT OUT!

AS FAR AS I KNOW THESE BUSH FLY LAVAE ARE GROWN AND FED TO SMALL FINCHES, THEY ARE EXTREMELY CHEAP TO PRODUCE, ARE EXREMELY CLEAN AND DO NOT SMELL.

WHAT ARE OUR THOUGHTS............

Ben

[flukes]

You must remember these are tank bred fish they dont have the killer instint..

But you might be on to something..

[Sean]

Howdy Ben
I wonder if you give the maggots a little squeeze :wink: and let a bit of their insides out - the outer casing of the maggot might not taste as good as the innards and be a protective mechanism for the maggot - this might train the Discus into noticing the maggot as food.

I think that we have to be careful in making too many comparisons to tank kept discus with their wild counterparts. Our little ecosystem is completely different - eg. wild discus would be hungry or looking for food at all times and have a much more varied diet consisting of worms, nymphs, smaller fish, neighbours' fry, passing beef heart :shock: etc., etc. They would need to be much more savvy when it comes to a possible food source and less likely to be fussy. Our well fed loved specimens can be picky and difficult as we like to give them food that they will eat quickly and wont foul the water. Keep persevering with the maggots, but when I kept tree frogs, too many maggots were a bad thing for a reason I can't remember, I think something to do with their outer coating. I tried baby meal worms and gave up.
Good luck
Sean

[Ben]

Sean, i know that maggots are very high in amino's and protiens, so thats why i guess it would be bad to feed to green tree frogs, the same would be discus, but as we all know too much of one thing is bad, a varied diet is the best.
I have trialed meal worms with the same result, even a darker,smaller meal worm sub species, but i think you could be wright about the "outer casing"
as both insect lavae have tough out skin.
as example we all know discus love black worms and tubifex, they have very soft outer bodies, even earth worms( which i am yet to trial)

cheers,
ben

[Littlefish]

Your fly house looks great!

If the fish are mouthing the maggots and spitting them out, maybe they don't like the flavour - perhaps they taste like pollard/milk powder.

A friend of mine used to place rotten meat, road kill, etc. on a wire mesh frame above a tray of sawdust and collect the maggots from the tray. His fish (cichlids) gobbled them up as fast as he could produce them.

I'm not for one moment suggesting that you should use the same risky, smelly, yucky method - just thought I'd share...

Fred :)

[Ben]

Cheers Fred ,thanks for your feedback!
i used to breed oscars and would feed them the same maggots, the oscars would go into a frezy but i had to watch how many i fed because i believe it was making them fat!
as you know discus are such fussy bloody things!

ben