Top Rated Discus Food for 2023 – A Comprehensive Comparison
If you’re on the lookout for the best discus food yet you have little time at your disposal, this paragraph might be of assistance. After carefully examining the various options of discus food for sale as well as discus food reviews, we have reached the conclusion that the Seachem NutriDiet is the first product you should consider. The food is rich in marine proteins, minerals, and vitamins that will help your discus fish improve health. It also contains probiotics and quality shrimps and is easy to feed. In case this item is unavailable, a reliable alternative is the API Fish Food PELLETS.
Comparison table
Our Top Choice
If you are interested in providing your pet fish with everything they need for healthy nutrition, you can rest assured that this product is all you need. Because it is delivered as flakes, it is easy to be caught by the fish and digested. The content of vitamins ensures the proper development of your fish. The amount of marine proteins, along with the available minerals and vitamins, creates a healthy diet for your fish.
Some Discus fish can be really picky and won’t take a liking to this food, according to reviewers.
A complete diet for your pet fish, rich in all the nutrients, minerals, and vitamins they need.
2nd Best
If you want to help your fish thrive, feeding them these pellets will do the trick. These sinking pellets are based on high protein sources, like squid and shrimp, so they will help your fish grow healthy and strong. The company making these pellets fortifies them with essential nutrients that are paramount to good digestion and overall optimal health. That means that there will be less waste and ammonia in the fish tank.
Keeping up with an exact dosage is essential, or else the extra pellets will cloud the water.
It is the type of food many fish love, rich in nutrients, and crucial for a proper diet.
Also To Consider
While it cannot be used as the only food you’re feeding your Discus fish, this formula that consists mainly of dry bloodworms is still a good option for supplementing their regular diet. Since these fish should enjoy a varied diet, it is always a good idea to shake things up a bit and supply them with some much-needed protein. Another plus is that since the worms are in full size, they will entice the fish.
Large fish might find the dried bloodworms too small, so the product might not be for all your fish.
A good supplement for the regular diet of your fish, rich in natural protein, fat, and fiber.
5 Best Discus Foods (Reviews) in 2023
The rich variety of fish foods and the specific needs of discus fish might make your shopping a bit of a challenge. To ease that process and help you find the right product for your fish, we have showcased below some of the most appreciated products on the market.
1. Seachem NutriDiet Discus Flakes
Formulated with the health of your discus fish in mind, the NutriDiet Discus Flakes from Seachem is the first product to consider when looking for a rich source of minerals, vitamins, and proteins. The food includes quality nutrients that will cater to the various needs of discus fish and comes in the form of flakes for easy feeding.
Fortified with chlorella, vitamin C, and garlic guard, the NutriDiet flakes will ensure your fish enjoy optimum health and develop healthily. Furthermore, the rich content of marine proteins, minerals, and vitamins will promote an energetic behavior. Some of the vitamins your discus will get with this formula are vitamins A, C, and D3.
The formula also includes quality shrimps, fish, and earthworms. Vitality and a healthy digestion are further improved by the probiotics the food comes with. It is recommended to feed 1-3 times a day and serve the amount of flakes your fish will consume within three minutes.
The item is available in three different package sizes, ranging from 50 grams to 500 grams, depending on how many discus fish you have in the tank.
This premium and nutritionally balanced diet is specifically formulated to meet the requirements of discus. Amongst others, the food contains a flake blend of fish, squid, and earthworms.
The food is also enriched with probiotics to promote a healthy digestive system and nutrient uptake while reducing waste and supporting the immune system.
The product comes with complete feeding instructions and suggests you should offer as much food as your fish will consume in the first three minutes of feeding, up to three times a day.
According to some customers, the food flakes are made with red dye which might slightly color the water in your fish tank after a while.
Other discus fish were pickier and didn’t seem to like this blend of ingredients.
2. API Fish Food PELLETS
Tropical fish take well to sinking pellets that contain the key ingredients for a healthy diet. For this reason, this company made these pellets, which are based on rich sources of protein, like squid and shrimp. It is well known that fish need protein to grow, and this formula is great for a broad range of species, including cichlids, betta, angelfish, and discus.
The fish appear to take well to this food, and it is clear that they consider it tasty, which means that when fed right, they will cause less waste in the fish tank. The waste resulted from poor feeding is highly detrimental to the aquarium inhabitants, as it becomes a source of ammonia, a toxic compound that can make the environment unlivable.
The formula was scientifically designed to stimulate the healthy development of tropical fish, and it is palatable, which adds to its overall benefits.
Fish will find this formula highly palatable, and they will eat most of it without causing as much waste as it can result from feeding them diets low in nutrients.
The manufacturer thought of a formula that can help the fish grow and exhibit beautiful colors, which is why the sources of nutrients were picked based on scientific research.
Squid and shrimp are part of the diet ensured by these pellets, and they are both excellent sources of protein.
A balanced diet is crucial for the development of tropical fish, which is precisely what these pellets provide.
There is a minor problem with the lid being challenging to close, which may lead to the pellets growing stale if you’re not careful each time you open and close the container.
Overdosing the amounts can turn the water a bit murky, so make sure to avoid overfeeding your fish.
3. San Francisco Bay Brand Freeze Dried Bloodworms
The diet of discus fish must be varied in order for all their nutritional needs to be met. If you need to supplement your discus with bloodworms, the Freeze Dried Bloodworms from San Francisco Bay Brand is an option you should bear in mind.
Bloodworms represent the primary food for discus, gouramis, tetras, barbs, platys, loaches, and other freshwater fish. They even make great betta foods. What’s notable about this product is not only that it provides crude protein, fat, and fiber, but it also keeps the natural shape of the worms to entice finicky fish.
The product does not contain fillers or additives and is a great option especially if you tend to feed your fish only plant-based foods. This will provide the discus with quality protein that is necessary for a good functioning of the body. The customers who tried the product for their fish have praised it for its quality.
The can contains 1.75 ounces of dried bloodworms that are suitable for all freshwater fish, including discus.
The product offers a balanced and complete meal to your fish, providing all necessary vitamins and minerals to support their healthy growth and boost their immune systems.
The item comes with clear feeding instructions printed on the label that say that you should feed your fish twice a day as much food as they can eat in three minutes.
The clear jar and lid allow you to easily see how much food there is left and keep it fresh for longer.
According to some customers who purchased this product, apart from the bloodworms, you can also find traces of grass, twigs, and hay, which may clog the air filtration system and damage your fish tank. Before feeding the worms to your fish, we suggest you thoroughly clean them to remove any foreign parts.
4. Ocean Nutrition Salt Creek Discus Flakes
Specially formulated for discus fish, this food from Ocean Nutrition is another option to check before hitting the order button. The formula was made to support a healthy growth and vibrant coloration in all discus fish. The flakes are great for keeping your fish full and they meet the various nutritional needs of discus fish while providing them with a palatable food.
The product is not only attractive thanks to its taste and nutritional value but it is also easily digestible. Moreover, it is rich in protein, so it is ideal to supplement a plant-based diet. Besides supporting coloration, the food also maintains health and vitality.
The food was formulated and tested by aquaculture biologists in order to make sure it is suitable for discus fish and safe to feed. The flakes won’t cloud the water, thus keeping the aquariums clean. It is best to feed 1-3 times a day and opt for amounts that your fish will consume within 5 minutes.
Specifically formulated for all types of discus fish, these food flakes provide all necessary vitamins and nutrients for your aquarium pets to live a long and healthy life.
The size of the flakes is perfect for one bite, promoting easy ingestion and quick digestion.
The product comes in a box of 70 grams, enough to keep all your discus satiated for a long time. And, if you’re having trouble finding the right amount of food for them, Ocean Nutrition discus flakes come with clear feeding instructions printed on the label.
The sealed lid preserves the food’s natural flavors and freshness for a longer time.
Although not a product flaw, some customers weren’t pleased with the fact that these flakes come crumbled, which makes it harder for the food to be eaten by discus fish.
Not all your swimming pets will be impressed by the product’s flavor or taste so we suggest combining the food with other ingredients such as bloodworms.
5. Sera Discus granules
If you your discus fish prefer granules and you’re looking for a granulated food to provide your fish with the necessary nutrients, you might want to try the Discus Granules from Sera. Specially formulated for discus and other cichlids, the product is committed to helping the fish grow healthily and maintain a good level of energy.
The food is rich in vitamins and proteins that are essential for a good development of young discus but also needed to improve coloring and health in older fish. The slowly sinking food becomes soft in water but it does not swell, thus making it easier for the fish to have it.
The color, size, and composition of the food will perfectly match the various needs of discus fish and enable them to enjoy a balanced diet. The customers who tried the food for their discus fish have offered positive feedback appreciating the granules for their quality and how much the fish like them.
The product is available in three package sizes, ranging from 250 ml to 4.2 kg, depending on the size of your fish tank and the number of fish you want to feed.
Made in Germany, the sinking granules are specifically formulated to meet the dietary needs of your discus fish, providing all necessary vitamins and minerals for healthy digestion.
The food is enriched with garlic and prebiotics for lively, fertile discus. The granules become soft in water and won’t swell and affect your pets.
Some of the ingredients include fish meal, wheat flour, spirulina algae meal, fish oil, spinach meal, carrots, and vitamins B1, B2, D3, and E.
Although the item features a lockable lid, it won’t be able to keep the food freshness for too much time so we suggest opting for a smaller package if you’re handling just one tank of discus fish.
Our Comprehensive Buying Guide
The well-being of the fish in your aquarium depends considerably on the food they get. The market is generous when it comes to good discus food and this very richness of products might make it a bit challenging to find the best food for discus fish.
There are some factors you can use as filters that will help you reduce all those products down to the ones your fish need to enjoy a good health. You will have to keep in mind mainly the same things as when looking for goldfish foods or quality betta pellets.
Feeding discus
Before browsing the online stores for discus food, you need to know what discus fish usually eat. Given their carnivorous nature, they will do best with beef heart and bloodworms because in the wild they eat small shrimp, insects, larvae, and small fish. You will find packs of bloodworms specifically formulated for discus fish as well as frozen beef heart that is broken up to meet their needs.
Their diet should be fortified with flakes and pellets containing vitamins and minerals. Therefore, besides making sure their eating program includes foods that will satisfy their carnivorous needs, you will also need to introduce vitamins and minerals into their eating habits.
Live and frozen foods
You might not have the possibility to feed your discus live food all the time. Here is where frozen foods come into sight. The shelves of pet stores now offer both live and frozen foods in a variety of formats to meet different needs. Just make sure you read the labels carefully before buying.
Discus fish usually go a bundle on live and frozen bloodworms that you can simply put in a feeder cone. Such worms can be stored in the fridge until needed. Also, if you go for live blackworms, beware that they might carry parasites that can affect the fish.
Granules, pellets, or flakes?
The foods you can find for you discus include fish flakes, pellets, and, as mentioned above, live or frozen food. No matter the ones you go for, make sure you combine them in order for them to intake all the vital nutrients needed for a strong health.
Granules are the best processed food for discus fish since they feed from the middle of the tank and rarely at the surface. If you go for fish flakes, be sure to supplement their diet with live food as flakes won’t cover all of their nutritional needs. In case you opt for pellets, soak them in water first to make it easier for the fish to eat them. Otherwise, they might become bloated.
Nutritional value
It is best to go for both live and dry food in order to bring your fish to peak health. Check the information on the label to learn more about the nutritional value of the food. Combine various foods if needed to make sure your discus fish gets all the vital minerals, vitamins, and nutrients.
Australian Blackworms
These are usually available in the form of pellets. They are freeze dried and will float, so they’re perfect for Discus and other types of fish that do not consume food that has reached the bottom of the aquarium. Some types of Australian Blackworms actually come from Australia, but most of those that you will come across nowadays are farmed and freeze dried in the United States.
Brine shrimps
Brine shrimps are another popular nutrient-based diet that you can feed your discus fish and they are a good substitute for worms since they are rich in minerals and vitamins. You can find them either frozen or live, depending on your budget or the shops you have available in your area.
Before feeding the brine shrimps to your pet fish you will need to take the time and rinse the shrimps to remove any salt that may be on them. Furthermore, if the shrimps are frozen you should wait for them to defrost completely before giving them to your fish.
One big advantage of brine shrimps is that they can help strengthen the discus fish colors since they contain large amounts of beta carotene. Thus, if you’re looking to diversify the diet of your discus, brine shrimps are a good choice since they are not only highly-nutritive but can also help make your fish look more colorful.
Make your own food
Apart from buying some of the food types we’ve described above, you can also opt to make homemade food for your fish if this is something that you think you would enjoy doing. The most popular recipe involves using beef heart and shrimp blended together with gelatin.
Making your own homemade food can save you a lot of money in the long term since you can store everything you make in the freezer where it can last you for months. You can also use homemade food in combination with granules, pellets, and flakes so that your fish can get all the vital nutrients needed for a long and healthy life.
The main setback with homemade food is that it can dirty your fish tank very fast since it is much messier than the commercial foods you find in pet shops or online. It is still a good choice if you don’t mind cleaning the tank more frequently.
Eating habits
Discus are very easy to feed and they’re only demanding when experiencing frustration of any sort. You should never feed in excess and only offer what they can realistically eat within several minutes.
The general rule that most discus fish keepers follow is to feed their pets about 3% of their body weight per feeding. As an example, an adult discus weighs around 75 grams, which means that it should be fed approximately 2.25 grams of food twice a day.
Frequently asked questions about discus foods
Q: What do discus fish like to eat?
In the juvenile stage, discus fish need a 50% protein-based diet and when they mature, this goes down to 35-40%. The diet should also be supplemented by fats and vitamins. Thus, your fish should eat a combination of live food, freeze-dried food, and frozen food in order to get the correct ratios of proteins, fats, and vitamins.
Live food, in particular, is very important especially for young discus fish since they will prefer it over any other type. You can also get granules, flakes, or pellets and it is important to combine them in order for your fish to get all the vital nutrients they need.
Since discus are carnivorous by nature, they prefer meat such as bloodworms and beef heart since in the wild they feed mostly on a diet consisting of larvae, shrimp, insects, and other small fish. Crustaceans algae and vegetables are also a good source of vitamins for discus fish.
Q: How do I get my discus to eat?
If your discus are unwilling to eat, you should start by only feeding them live food so that you can get them used to eating in your aquarium. Frozen or freeze-dried food won’t be as enticing at first especially since their natural instincts as carnivores are to eat live insects, shrimp, small fish and so forth.
Once they start to get trained and begin to learn where the food is coming from and who is putting the food in, you can switch them on to frozen and dry food. You should mix different types of food together so that they all smell the same, which will make it harder for the fish to eat just what they like and leave the rest of the food untouched.
Getting a picky eater to eat is a long process and you need to be patient and also make sure that the conditions in the aquarium such as the pH and temperature are at the right level.
Q: How often should you feed discus?
The frequency of feeding depends on the age of your fish since in the juvenile stage when discus are under 3 months of age they need to be fed ten to twelve times per day. When they are three to twelve months of age the fish should be fed up to five times per day.
Discus reach adulthood once they are over twelve months of age and during this period they should be fed two to three times per day but most owners stick to just two times per day. You shouldn’t overfeed your discus since that can lead to health problems as well as water pollution.
You need to be careful how much food you add into the aquarium since, after the main feeding, discus will start to search for leftovers at the bottom. This makes it easy to overfeed them even if for you it may seem that they only eat during the first five minutes.
Q: How long can discus go without eating?
If you want to go on a holiday and you don’t want to leave your discus home starving, it is better not to feed them while you are away than to leave this task to your neighbor. Most fish die when left alone not because of hunger but because the people they are left in the care of feed them too much.
Discus that are larger than 10cm can survive very well without food for 2-3 weeks. Older and larger fish can survive even longer, with some specimens being able to survive up to 2 months without food.
The reason why these fish can survive so long without food is that in the wild these long periods of fasting happen naturally and they can have a beneficial effect on their health. You also won’t have to worry about changing the water during this period since without food in the tank, there will hardly be any contamination.
Bibliography:
2) How many times a day do you feed discus fish?
4) Just how hard are discus to keep?
January 2, 2019 at 7:32 pm
Why is Australian black worm not considered?
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January 4, 2019 at 8:28 am
We’re including a short section in the buying guide about them right now.
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