How do they get them this big ?

[Dee]

Hi All,

I was just looking over some discus pics and found this guy .... How do they get them so big ? it said this guy was about 7.5 - 8 inch :shock:

I understand it would require a heavy heavy feeding an WC regime, but how often would you feed and WC to get this kind of size ? i guess genetics would play a roll. It also mentioned this guy was only fed on BH and flake food, stating that Blood Worms dont contain enough protein 6.5%. It mentions you cant get them this big on BH alone, again not enough protein. I thought BH would be the highest protein food, is flake food higher or high in protein?

So what kind of feeding and WC regime would you have to do to get this kind of size :?:

Cheers,

Dee :)

[sunshinediscus]

Live food and frozen foods contain mostly moisture, which makes those foods appear to have a low protein level. But remove the moisture and measure the dry components of the food and you will see that in fact that same food has a high level of protein. Just check out the tins of dried bloodworms at the lps and see for yourself, that argument just doesn't hold any water.

Heres a pic of one of my big boys, he's over 20cm total length. I feed my discus 3 to 4 times a day with bloodworms, beefheart and discus granules. Treats with earthworms etc are occasionally fed. Size is mostly about husbandry and to a lesser degree genetics. Discus can actually grow to around 25cm if you include the tail.

[Merrilyn]

That's a beautiful looking fish Rod. How old is he.

I have a blue diamond female who is 6.5 inches and her mate is 6 inches. They are both 4 years old.

[Mattzilla]

i had a monster (my avatar) that was about 7" in length and well over 1.5" thick

my secret is no secret at all. plenty of w/c and lots of high quality food. it did have good genetics as well. it's parents wher also very big and good quality discus

[sunshinediscus]

Thanks for the nice comment Merrilyn :) He's about 18 months old.

Rod

[kalebjarrod]

ARE YOU SERIOUS 18 MONTHS OLD?

that is amazing, guess i'll see him tomorrow :wink:

[Dee]

WOW Rod :shock:

Beautiful red turk, he's a real tank buster ... love the size and shape !

Well I guess it all comes down to good stock, a consistent varied diet and keeping up on the WC's. All the basics really ! :oops: ... for some reason I had imagined feeding 6-8 times a day on some kind of super high protein diet, with WC's every 2 hours ! :roll: :lol:

I just can't imagine any of my sub adults getting that big. As a ballpark, at what age is a discus considerd full grown ?

Thanks for the info and pic. :)

Cheers,

Dee.

[Ben]

Is this starting to turn into a "mine is bigger than yours"
just kidding,
but i agree with rod, good food, frequent feeding and daily water changes will grow great sized fish and OH! dont forget love, discus need love!

[sunshinediscus]

Is this starting to turn into a "mine is bigger than yours"
just kidding,
but i agree with rod, good food, frequent feeding and daily water changes will grow great sized fish and OH! dont forget love, discus need love!

LOL, what about reading them discus books?? hey it can't hurt!!

[D.J]

Just a question to the folks who puts the length of their discus up there.
Is the length including the tail or just the body?
My Leopard spot is 16.5 cm but that's to the end of the tail.

Donald.

[Merrilyn]

The size of a fish is usually measured in "Standard Length" which means excluding tail. If you include the tail, you can say "overall length".

[sunshinediscus]

Hi Donald, the pic i posted is total length. You can take 1.5" off for the tail if you prefer to use standard length.

Your 16.5 cm discus is quite a good sized discus, many of my adults are around that size. Only a small percent of discus will grow bigger than that. Even at discus shows i have attended and breeders rooms i have visited both here and in asia, i have not seen too many much bigger than 16.5 cm.

Rod

[D.J]

Thanks for the prompt reply Rod.
My Leopard spot is only approx 14 mnths old, do you think by giving hime a little bit extra food on his diet also maybe a little bit more water change will make him slightly bigger by the time he hits 18 mnths?
He used to be the smallest in my tank which consists of 6 Discus, now he is the biggest one out of them all.
He even took over as a partner from my male Snake skin which paired up with a golden since 6 mnths ago.

Donald.

[sunshinediscus]

Hi DJ,

Its amazing how small seemingly runted discus can have a big growth spurt and become the largest discus in a group. I think at 14 months the discus will grow even bigger than 16.5 cm, maybe another 2 cm or more. But he will also thicken quite a bit after 18 months, sounds like he will be a good sized discus. I'd increase his food to 4 meals a day and keep up with those water changes and you should get great results.

Rod

[D.J]

Thanks again for the prompt reply Rod.
Yeah he used to be chased all around by the other 5, and now he is the king of the tank.
The others are around 12.5 cms, and of the same age of 14 mnths, I have noticed that their growth is quite slow compare to the leopard spot, will they grow any bigger?
My w/c regime is 30%, three timeas a week, should i up it, or that's good enough?

Donald.