Picky Eater

[Archilochos]

Hey, I've been keeping freshwater fish for a while now, and since I've been able to keep German Rams with great success for a while, I purchased my first Discus fish last Saturday.

Physically, he's adapting fine to the new cage, but he's still very shy and always trying to hide, and won't come to the surface. He will only eat frozen bloodworms, and indeed, he eats those with great gusto, but I think his shying from the top of the tank is keeping him from eating my normal food.

So, my question is, what are some methods I can use to ween him on to more sustainable foods? Also, I'm going to the store this weekend, and I can pick up some new food, and I'd like recommendations there.

My water stats are:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5 PPM (I do 40 % changes twice a week)
PH: 7.4 (a little high, but I do have driftwood in there, and I don't want buffers)
Hardness: 50 PPM

I have a lot of low light plants in there, three Anubias, four java ferns and huge mass of java moss. He's in a 50 gallon tank with 10 cardinal tetras, 2 german blue rams, and one angelfish half his size (I am aware of the controversy there, but I'm watching closely, and so far, he hasn't touched him, but if it becomes a problem, I'm prepared to move him)

My normal food is a combo of NLS 1 mm cichlid pellets, freeze dried brine and mysis shrimp, flake, and frozen bloodworms as weekly treats.

[BigDaddyAdo]

Stop with the blood worms. Once he realises that the NLS is all that he is going to get he will eat it. He will graze on it once it hits the bottom or as its falling. As he is shy he might not take it from the surface.

Freeze dried black worms are great for getting picky eaters onto dried foods.

He will be shy for many reasons. He is in unfamiliar territory for starters. The main reason though is that he is all alone. Discus are schooling fish and IMO should be either kept in a school of 5+ or as a mated pair.

As for the Angel i wouldnt keep them together. Just because you don't see him picking on the Discus doesnt mean it isnt happening.

Got a pic of your tank?

[Archilochos]

I do plan on getting more Discus eventually, but I didn't want to add too many adult fish at once and crash the bio filter.

And I mostly use NLS because my rams and angel love it, and flakes because it's about all the tetras will eat before the others finish it. I'm willing to add another type, and I'm sure the discus would eat it now, except he won't come to the surface, so what would be great is food that sinks faster. I've heard that frozen brine shrimp will sink halfway and then kinda come up, which would be perfect.

I really am aware that many people argue you shouldn't mix with angels, but I have seen it work long term, and heard experienced discus owners argue that they can work, if you watch them. And I don't think it's the angel he's afraid of, but ME.

From a distance, he'll come out into the open and even up to the top, but as soon as I walk into the room, he goes and hides behind some plants or in the driftwood.

I'll try to get some pics tomorrow when the lights are back on.

[Decapper]

Try tetra bits.. Good for discus and float around a lot.. I feed them and black worms..

I have a discus who will eat everything expect tetra bits.. Makes it a pain when trying to feed meds in the food.

Wont be long m8 and he will be running to the front of the tank to see you.. Live food makes them crazy for ya ;)

[boxters]

A single discus on it's own will not do well. Discus are shoaling fish. You need a minimum of 4 in your tank. It will make a massive difference

[lpiasente]

A single discus on it's own will not do well. Discus are shoaling fish. You need a minimum of 4 in your tank. It will make a massive difference


plus 1

[Archilochos]

Thank you, Decapper, I'll see if my pet store has any of those. I'm not sure if they have live food, though. But I'm sure I could get some earthworms from a bait shop. Would a discus be fond of that? (I should add he is a mature fish, at least four inches long and fully colored)

And, as I have already stated, I AM going to add more Discus to the tank. I only just added this one, I need to let the bioload adjust.

[boxters]

when discus are kept by themselves they become stressed, get sick and even die. Adding a couple more juveniles will not upset your bio load

[Archilochos]

They don't have juveniles, and I don't have the money in the first place right now. Make of that what you will, but it can not be changed at the moment.

And don't tell me "you can't keep fish [or this type of fish] if you're not willing to drop sixty bucks on a moment's notice." I think that argument is unfair to most pet keepers, who really don't have that kind of financial security.

[boxters]

that did not even cross my mind to say that to you. where do you live?

[Archilochos]

Sorry, I hear that argument a lot on other fish forums, so I was just pre-empting it.

And I live in Kansas. We only have two pet shops, the one of which is Petco and they have nothing. The other shop is local, and has more selection, but they are not often restocked fully.

[BigDaddyAdo]

If you start feeding live food you will have a lot more problems getting it to accept dried foods. Just stick to your guns, it won't let itself starve.

[Merrilyn]

If your discus is quite happy eating frozen blood worms try soaking your NSL with some frozen bloodworms for twenty minutes before feeding.

It should help the pellets to sink, where your discus will pick them up, and of course the fact that they have a slight taste of bloodworms won't hurt either :P

Most discus prefer to browse along the bottom. I think coming to the surface to feed is more a learned behavior, so give him a little more time.

[Archilochos]

Thanks for the advice.

So, I went by the petstore today, they didn't have any of the things recommended, so I asked a clerk what they used, and she actually hadn't fed them yet, so she showed me. She used a cube of freeze dried tubifex worms, the kind ya stick to the side of the tank, and they all ate immediately.

So, I got some, went home, and....it wouldn't stick for more than a second to the side of my tank. So, do I need to clean the inside of my tank (I don't see any algae) or did not press hard enough at first or what?

[BigDaddyAdo]

Train it to eat from your hand.

[Archilochos]

Train it to eat from your hand.

That actually might work if I approach it patiently.

He's really gotten used to the tank at this point, it's only when I go into the room that he hides, but if I just don't move for a while, he'll come right back out.

And I did get it to stick finally.

When, I did, it went and ate like no one's business, it was pure gluttony.

And I finally took some pictures, of which only one is half viewable(and not really any good, sorry), cause I hadn't set up the lighting properly:

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd310/Archilocos/zdisc.jpg

[Merrilyn]

Glad you got things sorted. Your tank looks lovely and your little fish looks quite happy :P