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To keep discus healthy in captivity, I suggest a nourishing and varied diet.
Homemade discus food mix,
frozen adult artemia (preferably nutrient enriched), frozen black mosquito larvae, frozen white mosquito larvae,
frozen daphnia, fresh chopped earthworms and different types of dry foods,
especially Tetra Discus Bits, Hikari Vibra Bites and Aquatic Nature Discus Excel Granules, are useful,
but also various live foods, various frozen foods and various flaked, pelleted and granulated foods.
Compared to "ordinary" aquarium fish species, discus seem to need more protein in their diet, to grow well in captivity.
Discus should be kept in a tank with higher temperature, compared to normal fishes, to stay healthy.
This will increase their metabolism and need for food.
You should feed them more often than normal aquarium fishes, especially when the discus are young.
It is good to have as a rule of thumb, to try to make sure that the discus always have their bellies filled with food during daytime.
Make sure that the discus get enough fiber, so that they don't get constipated.
Fiber in the diet helps to clean the intestines and somewhat assists
in the prevention of excessive build up of harmful levels of unwanted living microorganisms in the intestines.
When you feed a lot, it also means a lot of feces and waste substances in the aquarium.
Because discus are sensitive to this, you should make water changes often.
During the frequent water changes, you should vacuum out any potential food leftovers.
Better yet, try to not overfeed, then there won't be any food leftovers.
An alternative way, of getting rid of food leftovers, is to have, for example, adult Corydoras sterbai and/or
bristlenose catfishes and/or snails,
that can help by eating scraps of remaining food leftovers.
Natural food diet of discus living in the wild:
Wild discus in nature are detritivores, meaning that they mainly eat detritus,
including tiny microorganisms that live on and among the detritus.
Discus are also opportunistic omnivores, that may choose to eat various types of food they come across,
usually plant material, algae, insect larvae, arthropods, tiny worms etc.
Wild discus will often use their small mouths to blow small bursts of water among the leaves and detritus in their natural habitat.
Then, they look at what they stir up and pick and choose what they want to eat.
They may also pick among the loose material and microorganisms on the surface of submerged wood,
or pick live food moving in the water column, or various foods falling on the water surface.
Wild discus in nature feed all day long and their natural diet includes plenty of fiber.
Wild discus in nature have adapted to the seasons and their diets adjust slightly depending on the seasons,
to take the best advantage of what is available throughout different parts of the year.
The amount of readily available food of different types changes, with the environment the discus live in.
Their habitat changes from the dry season in the lakes and river bays, to the rainy season in the submerged flooded rainforest, then back again.
Different species of wild discus and different geographical populations of wild discus have slightly different diets,
depending on the amount of suitable food available in their environment.
Some foods that I DON'T recommend for discus in captivity:
- Aquatic worms, for example tubifex or blackworms.
Discus usually love to eat them, but the commercial cultures of these worms are usually raised in dirty waters,
that may contain parasites, heavy metals, toxins and so on.
That can be harmful to the discus.
This also applies to the frozen and freeze dried types.
The aquatic worms usually also have a very high fat content.
However, I can't deny that they can be a good treat for the discus,
if you can get them from a safe source, free of harmful contagious diseases etc.
- Bloodworms, that are the larvae of a non-biting midge (family Chironomidae) and also known as red mosquito larvae.
Even though discus usually love to eat bloodworms,
these bloodworms are not even half as nourishing as most of the types of food mentioned earlier in this article.
The bloodworms can also contain parasites and heavy metals etc.
(Strict procedures regarding sterilizing the bloodworms can make them much less likely to transfer parasites.
Tripple sterilized bloodworms may perhaps be considered safe regarding the risk of parasites.)
The exoskeleton of the bloodworms can get stuck in the intestines of small discus, but fortunately it rarely happens.
Personally, I also have another reason not to feed bloodworms to discus, since I'm allergic to bloodworms.
If I get in physical contact with bloodworms, I get rashes and a horrible itching for several hours.
If I happen to have been in contact with bloodworms with my hands and then rub my eyes with my hand,
it hurts like #"@$¤* for several hours and I can hardly see anything during that time.
Breathing in even tiny amounts of airborn vapor from wet or thawing bloodworms, or dust particles from frieze dried blodworms,
can make it hard for me to breathe.
This type of allergy is caused by an overreacton of the human immune system, to the hemoglobin in the bloodworms.
Similar allergy, although probably less severe, may also happen with regards to tubifex.
Many aquarists start out young without an allergy to bloodworms and are initially able to come in contact with bloodworms without any problems,
then suddely develop an allergy to them after several years, like myself.
This is not an exact number, but I personally guess that approximately 30% of aquarists that regulary handle bloodworms,
will eventually develop an allergy to bloodworms.
The allergy can be more or less severe, from mild allergy, with only slight itching,
to severe hyperallergy, where the person may quickly suffer life threatening consequences.
Some hyperallergic people keep an EpiPen with them, in case of an allergic attack, when visiting aquarium shops etc.
If you want to learn more about bloodworm allergy, I suggest you start by reading this excerpt from AMAZONAS Magazine:
Bloodworm Experiences:
Reactions are a real thing for some fishkeepers
(By Matt Pedersen AZ | May 17, 2018 | AMAZONAS.)
In my personal opinion, the only time when it, debatably, might be justified to perhaps feed bloodworms,
is if the discus are already addicted to bloodworms and doesn't seem to accept other easily available foods.
Even then, I suggest weaning them off the bloodworms as soon as possible, or better yet,
do not buy discus with bloodworm addiction in the first place.
Problems with discus not accepting new food:
Discus (especially older individuals) can be hard to convince to eat new types of food that they are not used to.
They seem to prefer to stick to what they know and don't like to try anything new.
I have some different tricks to make the discus eat new foods, without starving the discus.
- Feed small amounts of the new food as the first meal of the day every morning.
Eventually, one discus, or a few of them, may accept the new food and this can often (but not always) trigger the others to do the same.
In the morning (after the discus have been given time to wake up) they are most hungry,
since they probably haven't eaten anything during the whole night.
Later in the day (and in the evening) you can feed the discus their other normal food diet, that they are already used to.
- If the new food sinks, also give the discus a little of a sinking food that they already accept.
When the discus pick at the bottom they might also discover and try the new sinking food.
With new floating foods, try feeding it together with a floating food that they already accept.
Just try to feed the new food together with the most similar food that they already know.
You can try this with foods that circle around in the water, move, have a specific colour, size, etc.
- If they are used to a type of food mix, you can mix some of the new food into some of the food mix.
When the discus eat the mix, that also contains the new food,
they more easily learn to accept the unfamiliar taste of the new food.
- The younger the discus are, the easier it is to get them to accept new foods, that they have never eaten before.
If you buy discus, it is an advantage if they have been fed a varied diet with several types of foods,
because then they are already accustomed to these types of foods and also variation itself.
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