Proper Tachnique for Feeding Frozen Bloodworms

There are proper techniques for feeding discus fish. I will begin with frozen bloodworms as this is an all time favorite. I feed my discus Hikari Frozen Bloodworms at least once a day. If improper techniques are used it is possible to training the discus to become aggressive eaters, setting up a scenario of overeating and bloat. Frozen blood worms should never be fed with a worm cone designed for live worms. This causes the discus to compete with each other to get the food. Usually the largest and prettiest discus will get the most worms. Eventually that prized discus fish will overeat and suffer the consequences.
The proper method for feeding frozen bloodworms is to place a small amount of tank water in a container. Drop the bloodworms into it and allow to thaw for a few minutes. Then pour the worms into tank. They should be spread all over the aquarium. Discus fish eat at the surface, mid level and most importantly like to take their time and graze off the bottom at their leisure. However,if bottom feeders are in the tank, the discus will usually not eat off the bottom. This eliminates their main feeding area. Bottom feeders should not be in the discus tank. Similarly, angel fish eat so aggressively, bloodworms will never make it to the bottom. Therefore, angel fish are not a good choice for the discus fish aquarium.
The full discus experience cannot be enjoyed if angel fish or bottom feeders are in the discus tank. Seeing a school of discus fish leisurely grazing along the bottom is a sight to behold. With a little planning you can create the perfect environment for discus fish. By using proper feeding techniques you will see less aggression and have content, happy discus fish.

Discus Nutrition in Fry

The ability of discus fish to properly digest and utilize nutrients begins very early in life. If discus fry do not get a proper start with their diet, they can run into problems when they approach the two-inch size. At this time they can become impacted, and can swell up until they actually die. This information is so important that I was torn between placing it in the breeding section, nutrition section or health. I have decided to place it here with references to it in other areas.

In the development of discus fry, the stomach and digestive tract (gut) is very short and small at the time of free swimming. This is perfectly suited for the nutrient rich soft diet of the slime coat provided on the sides of the body of mom and pop. With the addition of artemia (new hatched baby brine shrimp), the stomach of the fry changes. This is because of the roughage now provided in the diet. Quite simply the artemia needs to travel through a greater distance of gut to be digested. Artemia is a drastic diet change from the soft nutrient loaded slime coat the fry have been eating off the parents’ bodies. The drastic diet change requires drastic changes in the discus gut to enable the fry to properly digest artemia. The gut of the discus fry grows and becomes three to four times as long as the body length by three months of age. Then gut growth slows down and an adult discus has a gut length of around one and a half times the body length.

If the discus fry is removed from the parents and placed on a diet that is very low in roughage, that short gut never develops properly. This is seen in discus that have been artificially raised on a really soft diet with little roughage. What can occur is problems develop when the juvenile discus is between two to two and a half inches. At some point these discus find their way into discus hobbyists aquaria, and are placed on a proper diet that contains roughage. Feeding a flake food or pellets made from coarse fish meal (a lousy, cheap discus diet to begin with) really can be a problem even with discus used to roughage in the diet. So a hobbyist has a discus that suddenly swells up like a balloon. Nothing seems to help. The poor fish just swells until he dies. Why? That tiny little gut can not digest the food. So it sits there in the gut, producing gas and as bacteria begin multiplying in the putrefied food, serious symptoms develop such as cloudy eyes, membrane problems, loss of balance and an extremely distended abdomen. To the inexperienced hobbyist, they decide the discus has internal parasites along with a serious bacterial infection in the slime coat and eyes. They treat accordingly, the fish die and the hobbyist goes away inaccurately convinced of what killed the discus.
Discus fry that are artificially raised, and never see artemia, and instead are fed with soft artemia substitutes are prime candidates for this. This may not be how you expected me to kick off the section of this book dealing with nutrition. Like I said in the beginning, I am not holding anything back. As more and more artificially raised imported discus are flooding the market, this has become a major epidemic. A simple change in the diet by the breeder would prevent this. If a discus is really swollen in the abdomen, move it to a smaller tank such as a ten-gallon size with established bio filter and slowly rehab the fish, beginning with a treatment for constipation followed by a change in the diet to foods with less roughage, such as frozen blood worms. After rehabbing the fish avoid feeding all type pellets and avoid flakefoods composed mainly of fish meal and never use freeze dried foods with discus.

Using Medications With Discus Fish

Healthy discus can carry a parasite without obvious symptoms. When stress occurs, the immune response drops, parasites can flourish. Stress can occur from shipping, temperature fluctuations, pecking order fighting, poor diet, and poor water conditions and wrong type tank mates. We recommend using a small quarantine tank for new arrivals. Fish purchased from pet stores, amateur breeders, club auctions and especially Internet auctions can be cleaned up before introducing into the main display tank. This is especially true for other species of fish you plan to add to the discus aquarium. Professional breeders, who utilize professional health screenings, offer much better opportunities for healthy stock. It is not advisable to move sick fish to a hospital tank. It causes undue stress and the whole tank should be treated, since all it’s inhabitants were exposed to the illness.
Discus problems can be divided into three categories. One is environmental. The best solution for this situation is to move the inhabitants into another aquarium if the situation is critical. Then identify the problem and correct it. Several times a year we hear from folks who have an air borne problem, such as hair spray, or spray paint or varnish which was used in an area near the aquarium which kills the filter bacteria and causes the tank to “crash”.
The other categories are parasitic and pathogenic (bacteria and viral) infections. Parasites by nature do not kill their hosts. To do so would cause their demise. However, in a weakened fish they can multiply and get out of hand. Also, parasites on a type fish that does not have an immune system accustomed to that particular parasite will not keep the parasite in check. Frequently the wound caused by the parasitic invasion becomes infected creating a dual problem. Bacterial and viral problems must be addressed immediately. Bacterial infections can kill quickly. Viral infections are chronic diseases, slowly debilitating the fish.
The key to having healthy discus is keeping the water parameters correct (within the no stress zone), providing regular water changes and an adequate diet. Mixing Medications Unless you are absolutely certain what you are doing and why, never mix medications. You can overwhelm the fish and possibly kill them. Some meds interact with others creating a deadly situation. For this reason, when using some meds I recommend removing any trace of it through carbon filtration. Carbon in a filter bag can be placed into any inexpensive hang on type filter. Just do not forget to remove it after 3 or 4 days. This is the only time I advise using carbon in a filter on a discus aquarium.
If I was reading this, and I am reading this as I write it, I would want examples. What substance becomes deadly when mixed with a certain substance? Here it is. Praziquantel is a slow, time released substance. However, if it comes into contact with formalin, it melts and presents 100 percent strength. That kills the fish as well as any plants and the all important nitrifying filter bacteria. So, run carbon any time formalin is used to remove all traces of it. This is only one example, there are others.

Internal Parasites

INTERNAL PARASITES

Flagellated protozoan is a common problem in discus. It is the primary cause for hunger strikes. These include protoopalina, octomitis, hexamita, spironucleus and others. Protoopalina is referred to as the discus parasite. It is commonly found in the gut of the discus. When a discus is under stress, these parasites multiply. True cases of hexamita are a hobbyist’s worse nightmare. However, most cases of so called hexamita are actually spironucleus or protoopalina. These are much less serious and easier to treat. NOTE: the standard treatment does not kill or remove all of the flagellates. It reduces their numbers so the fish can handle it with their immune response. In severely weakened fish, treatment can go on for some time.

DIAGNOSIS: white, stringy feces evidence this problem. The fish may darken and withdraw from the others, facing into the rear of the tank. They may bite at food and then spit it out as if disgusted with it. Left untreated the fish will waste away and die. The gut can become damaged and lose the ability to properly absorb nutrients. Hole in the head may develop. Loss of muscle in the head gives a knife edge appearance when the fish is viewed from the front. The key to this, as in all treatments is to completely follow through the full course of treatment.

TREATMENT for FLAGELLATES

1.Now is the time to raise tank temperature to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Add 1 / 4 teaspoon metronidazole per 20 gallons. Tablets contain binders, fillers and products to prevent moisture getting into the pills. Pills are not recommended. Metro sold in pet shops is usually a blend with other substances added. Pure metro powder is recommended. You can order pure metro from Rocky Mountain Discus and have it shipped to most countries. For pure metro click here:

3.Treat for flagellates a full 14 days. Add meds daily for a week, then every other day for a week.

In extreme cases the metro can be added twice daily, once in the morning and again in the evening for a week. Metronidazole dosing and schedules are variable depending upon the severity of the infestation and condition of the fish.

A small water change can be done as needed. The discus may go several days before eating. Frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms are good foods to get them eating again. A four ounce (golf ball size) portion of frozen beef heart food can be thawed. Add one-teaspoon metro and refreeze. This can be fed for a week to the fish to ensure all flagellates are eliminated. A deworming treatment should follow.

One thing I have observed is that when I introduce vital, important information on my web site, suddenly it appears on other sites as if it was common knowledge. This has happened as I explained why discus fish treated with metronidazole frequently rebound or relapse in far worse condition. The usual answer was a tolerance to metro was developed by the flagellates, which can be true. But that is not the cause of the relapse. I will explain this in detail shortly. Anytime you treat discus for flagellates, you should follow with a deworming treatment for nematodes (worms). Most of the time a dual infestation is present. When the flagellate load is reduced, there is suddenly more room and opportunity for the worm load to increase. Within a short time, this causes the discus to take a turn for the worse, giving the “relapse” that tends to occur. Going back to metro treatments does not solve this and the fish will not improve until dewormed.