Best food to grow out juvies (discus) IMO

[steakman]

IMO, the best food to promote the growth in juvies discus (anything bigger than an inch) are:
- Beef Heart
- California Black Worms (live, flash frozen, freeze dried are all good with live is the best), and Freeze Dried Australian Black Worms.
If you feed them mainly with these, you'll see a very nice growth rate of 1+ inch/month

I feed beef heart (veal heart is good too) without anything mixed in. Just trim all the fat, freeze it, then cut into very fine pieces depends on the size of your fish. I know it takes time but save the mess, and this won't foul your water. Whatever left behind, stay in pieces. It's very easy to siphon them out.

Live CBW is the best for grow-out. Some will blame this for the DSDS (discus sudden death syndrome), but I have never had one die from this. No matter how full they are, soon they see the black worms in the water, they go nuts to get them.

Beef heart and black worms contain very high percentage of protein, and fat. The main ingredients for growth.

In the morning, when they are most hungry, I feed them flakes, and granules (TeraBit Color).

I never feed them blood worms because these contain the least amount of nutrition for the fish.

 

[arowanas lover]

I never feed them blood worms because these contain the least amount of nutrition for the fish.

blood worms are almost as good for discus as black worms depending on the form and who makes them

 

[TNT77]

Freeze dried bloodworms actually contains 58% protein compared to 66% on freeze dried blackworm. So not a bad choice to feed at all imo plus way cheaper than the blackworms. I do agree that frozen bw contain very little nutrition.

 

[arowanas lover]

Freeze dried bloodworms actually contains 58% protein compared to 66% on freeze dried blackworm. So not a bad choice to feed at all imo plus way cheaper than the blackworms. I do agree that frozen bw contain very little nutrition.

you also have to mention about the brand as mine is from pennex and the protein is only 50% while i herd that from hiakari (butchered the spelling lol) is higher than 50%.

also as for beefhearts, my frozen is only 8% protein and its san fransico bay brand.

i think to say one food is better to raise juv on is such an inaccurate statement since many variable are involved. such as brand, form (freezed dried vs frozen) and amount.

what i tell discus keeper is to look for the food with the highest protein. whether its name brand or not the higher protein its most of the time better

 

[steakman]

IMO, the best food to promote the growth in juvies discus (anything bigger than an inch) are:

- Beef Heart
- California Black Worms (live, flash frozen, freeze dried are all good with live is the best), and Freeze Dried Australian Black Worms.

If you feed them mainly with these, you'll see a very nice growth rate of 1+ inch/month

I feed beef heart (veal heart is good too) without anything mixed in. Just trim all the fat, freeze it, then cut into very fine pieces depends on the size of your fish. I know it takes time but save the mess, and this won't foul your water. Whatever left behind, stay in pieces. It's very easy to siphon them out.

 

[arowanas lover]

youre basically forcing people to feed their juvies with just beefheart and black worms. while these are good its not 100% necessary. what juvies needs are food that has roughly 50% protein and lots of clean water. if a hobbyist dont have time for multiple water change a day i would suggest and good flake and blackworm since it keeps the water cleaner. but if youre a breeder that only priority is to beef them up and you can do multiple cleaning a day the beefheart is the way to go.

another side note: with beefhearts yu shouldnt buy frozen petstore brands as those are only 8% protein. instead make your own with other mix in it such as garlic since its good for the discus.

as with your statement: "If you feed them mainly with these, you'll see a very nice growth rate of 1+ inch/month" its completly false. like said earlier anything with 50%+ protein will promotes healthy. discus only grows 1" per month when theyre 1-4 month old after that its slows down.

Hans made this staement aboout stendker discus growth rate

"Approx. grow Stendker Discus:

2 ~ 2.5" 3 months
3 ~ 3.5" 4.5 months
4" 6 months
5" 9 months
6" 18 months
7"+ 24 months"

 

[BODYDUB]

I feed mine a beefheart/scrimp mix till about 1yo, then switch over to freeze dried black worms.................

 

[TNT77]

you also have to mention about the brand as mine is from pennex and the protein is only 50% while i herd that from hiakari (butchered the spelling lol) is higher than 50%.

also as for beefhearts, my frozen is only 8% protein and its san fransico bay brand.

i think to say one food is better to raise juv on is such an inaccurate statement since many variable are involved. such as brand, form (freezed dried vs frozen) and amount.

what i tell discus keeper is to look for the food with the highest protein. whether its name brand or not the higher protein its most of the time better

I buy my fdbw from kensfish http://www.kensfish.com/product823.html 58% protein. I believe Jehmco also sells them at the same protein level. The Hikara brand is around 58% also but expensive when you can buy it in bulk. As for the frozen beefheart from petstores not worth it imo. If you don't want to mess with grinding it up yourself go buy 99% fat free ground turkey. Its easy to use and is an excellent source of protein.

 

[TNT77]

as with your statement: "If you feed them mainly with these, you'll see a very nice growth rate of 1+ inch/month" its completly false. like said earlier anything with 50%+ protein will promotes healthy. discus only grows 1" per month when theyre 1-4 month old after that its slows down.

Hans made this staement aboout stendker discus growth rate

"Approx. grow Stendker Discus:

2 ~ 2.5" 3 months
3 ~ 3.5" 4.5 months
4" 6 months
5" 9 months
6" 18 months
7"+ 24 months"

Actually his statement is not false if you do feed a good diet along with water changes you will see 1" or more of growth per month for up to the 1st 4 or 5 months. You really cant go by size on that statement as some strains or individuals do grow faster and some slower, age is also a contributing factor that slows down growth process. That is why the 1st 5 months of a discus life is so critical for growth. Ive got quite a few 6-8 month old juvies atm that are all pushing 6" then I have some that are older and only pushing 5-5.5". All are on the same diet and water change regimen.
This fish is only 7 or 8 months old and pushing 6"

 

[arowanas lover]

I said it slows down after 4 months (on average) he was vague with the 1"+ per months since didn't mention age at all.and strains does play a part as some strain wont pass 6" (albinos and weaker strains) while others will reach 7" easily like blue strains. With discus like all fish if their "Max size" is bigger they will grow faster when juvie.