Ok, just how crazy is this???

[Magnum Man]

So, my South American tetra tank, is getting 2 more gold nugget Plecos… to do so, requires raising the tank temperature, into the discus range ( Ooops, did I said that word??? ) I want to do discus in the 250 gallon tank, that I want to set up, once I get the flooring done on the room I want to put the tank into ( likely sometime this winter) at that point, I’d like to move the gold nuggets into that tank… I thought about buying 2 small discus to put in this well seasoned 55 gallon, with the tetras and angel, to get my hands wet with them, and if it works out, begin to grow them out for the bigger tank.. I’ve already had the tank sitting here for quite a while, but got too busy this summer, to work on flooring in the house… Crazy, or ???

 

[Back in the fold]

Discus you say ? In a 250 ? That’s not crazy . What’s crazy is that you’re stressing about flooring when you should be moving that 250 in .

 

[Magnum Man]

And an interesting question… I’ve followed along the in some of the discus threads, and I thought it was agreed feeding beef heart was not recommended anymore… this quote from a discus specialty supplier…

Discus!

**IMPORTANT NOTE: All albino & yellow discus fish coloration will be impacted by colored food. We recommend feeding albino & yellow discus our DM Yellow Beefheart Mix which is enhanced with yellow chlorophyll, to keep that unique albino/yellow coloration.
Feeding albino & yellow discus any red colored foods such as tetra bits, pellets with red enhancing ingredients, or anything with Astaxanthin (red algae) will cause the color of your fish to become more reddish in appearance.**

And do we think that food would help other yellow colored Cichlids

 

[Magnum Man]

This is a link to that food… there is an ingredient list lower on the link..

DM Beef Heart Mix Yellow (2 lb) - Discus Madness

DM Beef Heart Mix Yellow. Available to everyone, Discus Madness beef heart mix, the same we have been using for years in our hatcheries. All ingredients are carefully selected, to insure proper nutrition for your Fish, our DM Beef Heart mix is loaded with Proteins, Vitamins, Minerals and...

www.discusmadness.com

 

[GaryE]

Beefheart has its followers, and it's an old product. There are better options, but for the artificial coloured discus, it delivers. Even there though, I'd make my own food with shrimp, white fleshed fish, veggies and the added ingredients. But if I were selling beefheart, I'd tell you it's the greatest thing ever.

That is a small tank you have, and it strikes me as being dangerously overcrowded as is. With the rise in temperature, even more so. I would be patient, and get a decent number of Discus all at once, if you want to go with that.

 

[Magnum Man]

Dang, Gary… you act like you expect me to be practical

As far as the yellow Chlorophyll goes, I don’t think I’ve seen that listed in any other foods???

 

[Magnum Man]

Speaking of yellow coloration… this was one of the1st to come up…

Yellow Color

Yellow Color Supplementary Food For Ornamental Fish This food enhances pigmentation in yellow aquarium fish with its natural pigment sources. It is an extrude food specially prepared for healthy, fast and maximum color development of your fish. It contains algae with high protein, DHA and...

artakua.com

 

[GaryE]

Full disclosure: I think technicolour Discus are ugly as sin, and would stick with blues if I couldn't afford wilds. But if I were a Discus keeping man again, I'd concentrate on a good diet with a heavy plant component, and avoid colour foods. If, after a while, you saw the colour fade radically, then you may have bought a hormoned fish. I was shown how to use a hypodermic on Discus by a successful breeder, who treated all his wildly coloured fish. It's out there.

I would not do it. I was in a situation where there was no escape, so I figured I'd learn if the myths weren't myths. In the case of this breeder (no longer in the business for personal reasons), it wasn't a myth.

If my fish faded on a varied diet, then maybe I might cheat and use colour foods.

But man, you are filling tanks at an incredible rate. You have a lot of new (in the last 6 months) fish, and not a lot of tanks or gallons.

 

[Back in the fold]

Sheesh . . . even the Mighty King of Aquarium Fishes , the Discus , has been tampered with manipulated and altered by the aquatic mad scientists . I was going to chime in and say “always go with the experts advice , the guys that raise them “ but , apparently , those guys have gone over to the dark side . Jack Wattley must be spinning in his grave . Nothing is sacred anymore .

 

[Colin_T]

DO NOT feed discus on mammal meat foods. They are mainly vegetarian and at least half of their diet should be plant based. See the link below for what discus eat in the wild.

the discus fish Symphysodon - SciELO - M.MOAM.INFO

Dec 22, 2008 - of the lake hosting more than a thousand discus. Only 16 of the 41 ..... ing free-swimming B. cichlae wit...

m.moam.info

Jack Wattley got it wrong and his followers are still getting it wrong today. Discus fed meat based diets always have intestinal issues and need constant medication because the meat rots in their intestine (which is long and designed to break down plant matter) and causes major problems. Baby discus also need to feed off their parent's body mucous so they can pick up various bacteria for their digestive tract (like mammals make colostrum for the first few days after a baby is born). Wattley's Discus farm have to medicate their baby discus several times while they are growing because of these two factors. Whereas discus kept in planted aquariums where the babies can feed off the parents for the first few weeks don't need to be medicated. Discus also do best in tanks with some substrate. Bare glass tanks are for those breeding discus the Wattley way, which in my opinion is the wrong way.