Discus Fry Feeding

[Cameronb_01]

Hi Guys,

My discus have successfully spawned and created 20 wrigglers, (pic attached): I estimate they will be free swimming within around 24 hours. I just had a few questions regarding feeding.

How much baby brine shrimp should I buy to feed them?
How much should I give them per feed?
How frequently should I feed them?
And finally, would you all recommend starting them on brine-shrimp, or are there better alternatives?

I was planning on using this brine-shrimp because I can definitely not be arsed with hatching them myself: http://www.swelluk.com/ocean-nutrition-instant-baby-brine-shrimp/

Thanks in advance.

Best wishes,

Cameron

 

[fozziebear]

Repashy foods soylent green powder is a good option, just add it as the powder and don't make it into the blocks.

Combine that with a hatched brine shrimp and you will be golden, you will have to make the effort to hatch the live food as you need the first stages of the life cycle as they are the smallest, i don't know if that product you posted works as i have never used it, but those are dead not alive.

 

[Cameronb_01]

Thanks so much fozziebear for your response.

Was just wondering if you might also please be able to give me a rough idea of the kind of quantities I should be feeding?

 

[mikey11]

the only thing i could ever get my discus and angelfish fry to eat was LIVE baby brine shrimp, they dont know what food is when they are fry, so the movement of the live food attracts them,

i tried EVERYTHING else, my fry wouldnt touch it!!!

if you don't feed live, you should expect to lose a very large percentage 50-75%

i used to have two "hatcheries" setup, so i would feed them twice a day alternating the hatcheries, as the baby brine shrimp would take about 12 hours to hatch,

 

[fozziebear]

Nothing beats live at the end of the day does it mikey.... but i've heard nothing but good things about feeding repashy powder to fry, it hangs in the water column and settles on plants so the fry can graze, can't hurt as a supplement to live foods.

Was just wondering if you might also please be able to give me a rough idea of the kind of quantities I should be feeding?

Less is more, but if you are worried about mess or excess food you can carry out a small waterchange, with live brine shrimp you don't have this problem as they will not dirty the water column, they will be eaten before they die.

 

[Cameronb_01]

Do you think it might be an effective middle ground simply to agitate the water to simulate movement of the brine-shrimp?

Also, did u guys feed the brine-shrimp / repashy green powder with the parents still in the tank along with the fry?- is the parents eating food intended for the fry a problem

 

[fozziebear]

Do you think it might be an effective middle ground simply to agitate the water to simulate movement of the brine-shrimp?

i doubt it... fry don't feed in that way, they feed in more of a foraging process, slow and steady, so the food needs to be small and accessible in the water column or on surfaces.

The parents may eat some, but the food is usually so fine that they don't bother.

*disclaimer* i don't keep and have never kept discus, everything i am referring to is general breeding experience in tropical fish.

 

[mikey11]

Do you think it might be an effective middle ground simply to agitate the water to simulate movement of the brine-shrimp?

i tried everything.....i even tried literally BLOWING food into their faces using a turkey baster, they wouldn't eat, they would starve to death....

live food is also a lot more healthy.....fry need excellent nutrition, or they will grow up with deformities that can never be corrected....

i lost about 4 FULL BATCHES of fry before realizing i needed to feed live,

you have the opportunity to learn from my mistakes

 

[Cameronb_01]

Ok then, is there a particular method of hatching / pre-made hatchery that you would recommend?

The JBL Artemio set looked nice and easy to use?

 

[fozziebear]

this is a flashy one but the principle is the same.

 

[Cameronb_01]

Thanks a lot for your help @fozziebear & @mikey11
I will set up a brine-shrimp hatchery and feed them live stuff in addition to supplementing some of the not live foods.

Just one more thing, I've seen from books and other online sources that generally people get loads and loads of wrigglers: is just 20 an alarmingly small number?

 

[mikey11]

Ok then, is there a particular method of hatching / pre-made hatchery that you would recommend?

The JBL Artemio set looked nice and easy to use?

this is basically the way i do it....but you need to have more then one going because it takes about 24 hours for them to hatch.....so i used one for morning and one for night....also make sure you have a valve so you can LOWER the airflow, you dont want it too strong....just strong enough to move the water a bit.....the light is essential for the shrimp and also provides heat.....

 

[mikey11]

Thanks a lot for your help @fozziebear & @mikey11
I will set up a brine-shrimp hatchery and feed them live stuff in addition to supplementing some of the not live foods.

Just one more thing, I've seen from books and other online sources that generally people get loads and loads of wrigglers: is just 20 an alarmingly small number?

yes that is a relatively small number....i used to get hundreds at a time....did they lay more then 20 eggs?

 

[Cameronb_01]

@mikey11 they laid a couple of hundred eggs
Only 7 of these went white and fungal
I assume the rest were damaged / the parents got peckish

 

[mikey11]

@mikey11 they laid a couple of hundred eggs
Only 7 of these went white and fungal
I assume the rest were damaged / the parents got peckish

you need to remove the parents once they are done their thing.....that way they cant eat them

are the parents still in there?