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Above Photo by Ricardo Cervantes
All Photos below by Ricardo Cervantes 2004

More PROTEIN ~ Less POP-CORN

One of the top questions that I am frequently asked is, “What do you feed your Discus?” To that I answer “More Protein, Less Pop-Corn”. What I simply mean by that is Discus can live on flake food however; discus will do far better on a well balanced diet. Good quality food and good quality water is the key for healthy Discus.

Dry foods are suitable for the most part and discus will readily accept them, be patient though, as some discus can be finicky. I feed Tetra Color Bits first thing in the morning when I am running low on time and although I know of folks that feed nothing else to their discus without any problems. However, if you want condition your discus for breeding you will need to add protein to their diets.

When it comes to protein I feed both frozen and live foods. Discus will accept a vast variety of live foods, live and frozen bloodworms, krill, live daphnia and brine shrimp. I on the other hand feed only California black worms as a live food.

I get them from Aquatic Foods out in California. I find this source to be of the highest quality, just be sure to keep your worms clean and fresh. You can find more information at www.aquaticfoods.com. When feeding live foods you must be very careful as these can introduce diseases into your tank.

One live food that I recommend you keep away from your discus is live Tubifex worms (ed: as opposed to the Black Worms). They may be fine for other fish, just not Discus.

Discus owners I have found will go to great lengths to ensure the health of their fish.
That’s why if you want to know what your discus are eating, then make their food yourself. Making your own food might seem to be a lot of trouble, but if you plan it right you only have to do this once or twice a year.

Now if you want to try to make food for your Discus, I have 2 simple mixes you might want to try. Seafood Mix and Beef Heart Mix.

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Seafood Mix

This is a great and simple recipe.
For this you will need:
1 Lbs. Saltwater Shrimp

1 Lbs. saltwater fish fillets (non-oily fish)
1 Oz. or 4 envelopes of Knox Gelatine

1) Start by cleaning the shrimp and ensuring the fish does not have ANY bones in it.

2) Place both the shrimp and the fish into a food processor and mince well.

3) Take the gelatine and follow the instructions on the envelope.
4) When the gelatine has come to a boil set aside and let cool down for a bit.
5) Place the Shrimp/fish mix into a large mixing bowl and slowly pour the gelatine stirring slowly.

Once everything is thoroughly mixed let cool for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Once the mix has cooled down it will be a thick mixture. Take this and wrap into small “Brick” portions. Keep these in the freezer until you are ready to feed.

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Beefheart Mix

For this you will need the following ingredients:

4 Lbs. Beef Heart
1 Lbs. Saltwater Shrimp
12 Oz Spinach
8 Oz Carrots
6 Cloves of Garlic
1 Teaspoon Paprika
2 Oz. or 8 Envelopes of Knox Gelatine

Now if you don’t want to go to your local butcher shop and get whole beef hearts.
You can now buy frozen minced beef heart. If your local pet shop doesn’t carry it you could ask your local meat market to order it for you. This beef heart will save a whole lot of time as whole hearts are very time consuming to cut.

1) Slowly defrost the beef heart under cold running water.

2) Boil, 4 cups of water in a 4 quart pan.
3) Add spinach leaves and bring to a boil.

4) Drain spinach and set aside, keep spinach water.
5) Clean and peel 4 carrots. Cut into smaller pieces. Use the same water and boil carrots.

Drain Carrots and set aside again, keep the water.

You will need it later. Set aside together with spinach.
6) Next you will need a blender. Place spinach and carrots into blender and blend well.


Shrimp
7) Peel and clean shrimp. Place shrimp into a food processor. Mince well . . . very well.

Place shrimp into a LARGE mixing bowl and add the thawed ground beef heart.
8) Add the spinach carrot puree . . . hand mix well (by hand mixing you avoid liquefying the mix).
9) Add 1 teaspoon of paprika to the mix and hand mix well again.

10) Take 6 cloves of garlic and a garlic crusher. Crush garlic and add crushed garlic to the mix.

11) Hand Mix Everything Well!!!
12) Remember the spinach/carrot Water? Bring this to a boil; there should be around 3 cups left.

Knox Gelatine
13) Take 8 envelopes of Knox Gelatine and 2 cups of cold water and place into a large cup.

Mix powdered gelatine with water and let sit for a few minutes. Slowly add dissolved gelatine to the boiling water.

Remove from heat. Let sit for a few minutes. Slowly add the gelatine to the beef heart mix and mix well. Place in the Refrigerator and wait about 3 hours.

Wrap Beef Heart Mix with cellophane cling wrap . . . portions are about 1 mixing spoon.
Its up to you . . . this will yield about 6 lbs of food.

Place all Portions in FREEZER!

When Beef Heart is Frozen and you are ready to feed!

To feed: Take a beef heart portion and thaw for about 3 minutes. Slice or shave portions and feed to your fish. Keep unused portions in a freezer zip bag.

This amount of food should feed 20 adult discus for about a year . . . and always remember . . . good quality water and good food make for HEALTHY DISCUS!