Frozen bloodworms are the main meal for my discus, and only Hikari because of the special way they process them to ensure the worms are gut-loaded with vitamins and that no pathogens are present in the final product. They get New Life Spectrum discus Pellets, Ocean Nutrition Brine Shrimp Flakes, and live white worms that I culture several times a week.
I feed mine several kinds of flakes including some form angels plus. Fresh blackworms straight from the supplier...not bought at the LFS. That is very impotant. The key is a variety. My fish have never cared for beefheart commercially prepared or made by me. Hikari frozen bloodworms. On simply you will find a lot of info on nutrition.
mine get flake, tetra colorbits(breeder raised the juvies on this stuff and they love it)
I use bloodworms from Oregon Desert..local and clean source and real bloodworms.
I have tried beefheart and my discus don't care for it
I also feed NLS discus but usually mix it with thawed bloodworms as they don't swarm for the NLS
I am off next week from work and plan on heading to Mac's Discus to get a few more
I only have 4 in my 75
will keep the juvies in a 29 and let them grow out a bit
I hear alot of tetra color bits, but have always hesitated to feed it as I know the tetra Koi vibrance is generally thought of as a junk food......is the tetra color bits a better quality?
Yes, it's just frozen red bloodworms. Here's what Hikari writes about their bloodworms:
3 Step Sterilized
Free of harmful bacteria
Free of harmful parasites
Free of foul odors
Bio-Encapsulated With Multi-Vitamins
Vitamins in the animal not the water
Similar to gut loading
Guarantees your pet gets the vitamins
Provides maximum nutrition for your fish
Processed Through Our Mega-Power Freezer
Retains natural color
Retains natural shape
Retains nutritional benefits
Over the years I've tried lots of other foods and while they will take other flakes and some of them want to also nibble at earthworm pellets and algae wafers that I put in for other fish, there are many, many foods my discus won't touch....like beefheart, frozen brine shrimp and special discus mixes.
I previously fed mine on Omega One flakes, tetra color bits, and frozen bloodworms.
However, I've recently decided to try some of this guy's foods out (http://almostnaturalfishfood.us/), and also I will be switching over to many of Ken's foods at Kensfish... regarding the "Almost Natural" guy... his site recently got attacked by someone attempting to hack it. They failed, but did mess enough of the site up, that not all the pages are working. He is aware of it, and expects the issues to be resolved soon. nonetheless, so far, his reputation is impeccable as it pertains to the quality of his foods.
tetra colorbits is as good as most other foods.. what works for me is the discus love the stuff.
It has been a staple for me.
I removed it once and tried other 'better' foods..the discus were ok but not as energetic and vibrant.. I added it back and they just look and act better
if I may jump back in. I agree with everyone also.
but if you want planted but so many recommend BB for juvies, if I may suggest, you can transplant your plants & set up various graveled glass cups or mugs or whatever receptacles & plant them that way. remove the rest of the gravel so it is BB. a nice compromise.
right now I have 6 stemless cosmo glasses all graveled & planted & so far so good. I also kept 2 potted swords in original plastic pots they come in but with their shoots I have planted the baby shoots as runners in my cosmo glasses (mind u I didn't cut the shoots just extended them sideways & planted like they were runner shoots).
the other thing I did to augment my maintenance is DIY my AC110 by extending the intake tube with pvc down to the bottom into a tee so I have 2 inlets. this takes care of sucking up all the heavier poop & with the waterflow action of my 2nd AC110 there is enough circulation to keep the tank clean.
my discus are "thriving" in that they are all very vibrant & still voracious eaters (feeding tetramin mixed with various kens flakes, frozen hikari brine & bloodworms, sf bay beefheart cubes & freeze dried worms from jehms).
mine probably won't grow to 7" (after 10mos.) tho they did double in size from juvies (again I bought mine from Discus Hans but kenny's is also a good choice).
I have chosen not to combine other fish since I have stabilized my tank & want to avoid anymore issues. but since you going in reverse, adding discus you still need to sufficiently QT them no matter the source. from reputable breeders you have a better chance of getting quality & not sickly fish but beware from LFS - almost always they carry with them ills.
so good luck! 180g is a nice home for discus presentation! at least 6 - 8 I say!!
edit
p.s. having 2 AC110's running the water flow is pretty strong, but counter to the fact they don't like strong flow mine are use to it & some actually swim up into the flow!! espec. when it's feeding time, when the food is dispersed I swear they act like piranhas!!
