Discus runt

[giddetm]

I bought 5 Cobalt blue Discus from an individual on Aquabid. They were smaller than a dime when I got them. One died 4 days later and the other 4 are 7 weeks older now. The biggest one is the size of a fifty cent piece and 2 are a little smaller but the last one is still dime sized and I don't know if there is anything I can do to change that. I feed them twice a day during the week and 3 times a day on the weekend, I watch all 4 eat every time and the small one seems to get his share. I siphon the excess food daily and change one third of the water every week. Any opinions would be appreciated.

[boxters]

Juveniles need to be fed at least 4 times per day with a very high protein diet otherwise their growth will be stunted

[ILLUSN]

clean water and good food and theres a good chance you'll still get good growth out of him.

some justt grow slower then others

[giddetm]

My water is clean and they were eating brine shrimp when I got them and the guy said to add blood worms. I have tried beefheart a dozen times but they dont seem to want it. If I put the same amount of beefheart as I do brine shrimp or bloodworms they dont eat half of it but they eat 95% of the brine and bloodworm. I am a first time Discus owner so I will take any help I can get. They have been in a 10 gal. for 7 weeks and today I am moving them to a 40 gal. breeder. I have read that Discus give off a hormone that can stunt there growth if you don't do frequent water changes is there any truth to that?

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Giddetm,

Your tank is too small especially if you are only doing water changes of 1/3 every week. Your next tank up is a better option but will still be marginal for four adult discus (10 gal recommended) per fish.

For growing out most successful breeders recommend a bare bottom tank, heavy feeding (at least four per day, see Marlon's post) and big water changes (1/3 three times a week).

The first time I had fish to grow out I was changing 20% every day and got good results.

Good luck with them.

Regards,

Bob

[giddetm]

So Much conflicting info,I was told 5 gal. per adult Discus. They were so small when I got them I thought the 10 gal. would be enough for a couple of months.

[boxters]

You need at least 15 gallons per adult discus.

[ILLUSN]

ok lets get this right
discus NEED alteats 10 gal/adult fish.
brine shrimp and blood worms arn't great foods for discus, bloodworms hard to digest, Adult brineshrimp low in energy.

feed them a good diet, a good comercial beefheartmix, a home made beefheart or shrimp mix or a mix of high quality dry foods.

[giddetm]

I have tried beefheart at least a dozen times and they pretty much ingnore it and I end up siphoning out 3 or 4 hours later. What are the names of some dry foods that sink? How can I feed them 4 times a day, I work from 7 AM to 4 pm and I feed them in the morning and when I get home on weekends I feed 3 times a day. The lights run from 11 AM to 7PM. Is it OK to leave uneaten food over night?