Discus taking forever to poo?

[DiscusNewb]

Hi,

Is it normal that my discus still has his poo hanging from him since like yesterday?
The poo is black/dark brown. pretty solid (not stringy or anything)
The discus is about 3"
I've been feeding it frozen bloodworms only (as I have only got it about 1 week ago).
But I am at the stage of introducing flakes/tetra colour bits to him/her.

[Eddie]

Sure. What foods do you feed? What type discus?

[DiscusNewb]

Hi Eddie,
THanks for the quick reply, I have just edited my original thread.
I have only been feeding him frozen blood worms, but i have been trying to throw in flakes/tetra color bits as well.
(doing that starve him thing until he accepts flakes)

[Eddie]

You didn't mention the type of discus. Maybe try feeding some frozen brine shrimp to help clear things out. Is the fish bloated?

[DiscusNewb]

Hi Eddie,

The fish are not bloated, they are blue diamond discus.
Sorry didn't know the type of discus would affect this.
I'm just a bit hesitant to feed brine shrimps as I heard they can give them internal parasites or something?
I mean he did poo, but it's just attached to him still, not dropping to the floor

[Eddie]

Hi Eddie,

The fish are not bloated, they are blue diamond discus.
Sorry didn't know the type of discus would affect this.
I'm just a bit hesitant to feed brine shrimps as I heard they can give them internal parasites or something?
I mean he did poo, but it's just attached to him still, not dropping to the floor

Figured it was a blue diamond. Frozen brine shrimp do not pass internal parasites.

Sounds like he handled it. Blue Diamonds are known for getting constipated. If it gets too bad, you can always add Epsom salt to the tank. 1-2 tablespoons per 10 gallons works fine.

[John_Nicholson]

BD's often have issues with this. Sometimes epson salts can help. In my opinion the diet you are feeding is really pretty poor. Kind of like trying to raise a kid on nothing but fast foods.

-john

[DISCUS STU]

Once it's on a better and more varied diet it should become more "regular".

Per the other comments, Blue Diamonds have a tendency to have more intestinal hang ups.

[DiscusNewb]

Hi all,
I know this diet is not good enough but like I said, I only recently got them and they wouldn't eat anything except blood worms.
So to make them eat for the first week or so I fed them blood worms till they got settled in.
Now I am trying to get them eating flakes / tetra colour bits as well. (Have stopped blood worms and trying only colour bits for the last 3 days with no luck yet.) Will keep trying for a few more days. When they start eating tetra colour bits I will then try to get them on beef heart mix as well.
Just wondering, if after a few more days and they are still not eating the tetra colour bits, should I keep trying until they take it? Or should I go back to blood worms so they don't starve?
(If they start eating the tetra colour bits, I will start feeding them that + bloodworms, and try and get them with a beef heart mix after)

[John_Nicholson]

Discus can go a very long time without staving. I would stick to your guns for the next couple of weeks anyway.

-john

[DiscusNewb]

Ok my discus still won't take the tetra colour bits. Been about 1 and a half weeks of not eating. I'm going to try make my own beef heart and hopefully I will have better luck. How does beef heart with fresh fish, mussels, garlic, spinach, some flakes sound?

[John_Nicholson]

Lots of recipes on this site. There is not "right or wrong" with any mix. As long as it is high in protein you are good.

-john

[DISCUS STU]

They can get very spoiled on blood worms, good idea to intersperse the other foods with the blood worms for them to get used to the new foods.

[DiscusNewb]

Great news! My discus ate my beef heart mix I made for them :D I added a bit of blood worms in there to tempt them a bit. At the start they wouldn't go for it. Then the big one started pecking at it and the rest joined in. I did a 50% water change about 30mins after so it doesn't ruin the water :)

[Eddie]

Great news! My discus ate my beef heart mix I made for them :D I added a bit of blood worms in there to tempt them a bit. At the start they wouldn't go for it. Then the big one started pecking at it and the rest joined in. I did a 50% water change about 30mins after so it doesn't ruin the water :)

Good news