Discus only eats bloodworm

So my 2 discus additions (from the same source) have settled in nicely with their mates...not much bullying going on. However the one only eats bloodworms and nothing else! the other eats variety like his mates, their diet consists of flakes, pellets, bloodworm and a meaty product for discus from Holland (cant recall the name, must check in the freezer). Anyway, i am worried that this discus is not getting enough nutrition and will stunt. he only gets a few worms a day as he competes with the others, and refuses to eat the other feedings of food. he doesnt even attempt to taste the other food, but goes crazy for bloodworm. Anyone with ideas, advise

 

The fish is on strike, hunger strike. Or trying to tell you
Don't give me cheapies - just joking bud. I actully don't have a clue
But sure would like to find out. Cos I'm interested in these fragile fish

 

LOL:laugh: @BBQ, the fish is actually eating the cheapie food...the tetra flakes, pellets and meaty food from holland all cost much more than the bloodworm packs. If you get discus from a good source and can give them good water conditions, then they arent so fragile in my opinion. ive been keeping discus for over a year now and had some losses in the begining, which i attribute to poor stock...going the cheeap rought i guess. rather spend some more on a good quality fish...

 

I see you are from Cape Town, get in contact with Prof Dirk Bellstedt, he will sort you out with good quality food, especially for Discus. I had the same problem, go to your LFS and get some garlic gaurd made by seachem, then soak some of your pellets in the solution and only then put it in your tank. Do not feed bloodworm for about a week. Don't panic he/she will not die, you are just forcing him to eat everything you give to eat. Do this for about a week, it should sort out your problem. Fish loves garlic and this will stimulate his appetite.

HTH

 

Jack Wattley covered a similar issue in the Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine a few years ago. He suggested using another type of frozen food with the bloodworm with the ratio 90% bloodworm to 10% frozen brine shrimp (sticking with his suggestion). Do that for a few days then up the brine shrimp to about 25%. Stick with that for a few days then go to 50/50 split. According to him you should be able to use the alternative food (brine shrimp) on its own from then on. He also suggested doing the same gradual addition method for other foods if your discus do not go for it immediately.

I've been very lucky that my discus have not been fussy so I haven't tried it myself but in theory it should work.

Hth
Eugene

 

Try Tetrabits, mine only ate that & bloodworms

 

As far as I am concerned there are two issues here:

1. If this fish continues eating only bloodworm then he will die within three weeks from now, a fish cannot eat what I call "sweets" only, he has to eat "food" that is nutritiuos. I have commented on my discus feeding thread that bw should not be fed more than twice a week and if you feed it more often you pay the price, then you get discus that want nothing else.

2. I would just simply stop feeding bw completely, I agree with Laracroft, this will force this fish to eat something else, just you watch it.

Contact me about some good discus food by PM if you are interested, most of the stuff sold in the lfs is actually not optimal for discus feeding.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

I have to disagree here...
Bloodworm isn't that bad at all in my opinion, my current fish only gets it to eat and I cant tell that theirs any problems.
Its been more than a year now and theirs even been new babies this summer.

 

Hi Mattie,

All I can say is that everything points in the opposite direction. I have repeatedly over the past 23 years that I have kept discus, received cries of help from persons feeding bw with fish that are on their last legs. Bloodworm does not contain the required vitamins and your fishes can only slowly but surely be sliding down the hill. I cannot argue with you, because I am not standing next to you and seeing what you are feeding.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

The best diet is a balanced diet. That goes for all fish. If your fish are fussy then you can try something like Seachem Entice or Garlic Guard to encourage eating other foods.

 

Hi All,

thank you for the feedback...i will be trying the various suggestions to get the picky discus eating some dry food.