Silkworms?

[Cosmicfig]

Hi all, I'm new here and new to discus keeping in general. I have 7 beautiful juvenile discus (OK I'm sure to my untrained eye they aren't really the stunners I think they are... but to me they are awesome!) and I want to make sure they are getting the best diet I can be giving them.

I really wanted to add something live for them to eat to supplement their feeding schedule. A friend of mine has a chameleon and is feeding them young silk worms that they grow out themselves. I was wondering if this would be an ok live food for discus?

Food I am currently feeding my discus;


TetraColor - tropical granules ( they don't like it yet so i may just add it to a mix and leave it at that.)
Frozen brine shrimp (Hikari spirulina brine shrimp) - Morning feeding
Ocean Nutritions Discus flakes - once a day
frozen discus formula (Hikari) - once or twice a day
Frozen blood worms (Hikari) - evening feeding once a day

Tomorrow we plan on following one of the discus recipes found on this forum so that I have it on hand when the Hikari Discus formula runs out. I was thinking Carol's beef heart recipe or the super tuna/salmon mix. ...(btw all of those posted recipes sounded awesome so glad you guys posted them! thanks)

Anyway I just wanted to know if young silkworms would be ok or if i should try my hand at growing brine shrimp. Also, if you have any suggestions on feeding or changes I should make to what and how I'm feeding please let me know!!! Id love these guys to have all the best nutrients to make them happy and healthy.

thanks again,
Maegan

[Eddie]

I tried to find any info on silkworms being used for discus food but couldn't find anything except Hikari Discus Bio-Gold uses silk worm pupa in its ingredients.

To be honest, I think you would save alot of money if you try your own food preparation skills and make a mix of your own. There are alot of recipes in this section. Making your own mix, gives you the comfort of knowing exactly whats going into your fish and you get to watch how they develop from something you made.

Sorry I couldn't be of much more help.

Eddie

[Cosmicfig]

Hey Eddie thanks for the response. Yeah your super salmon/tuna thread is awesome and one of the first recipes I plan on trying!

I just wanted to also supply them with some live foods too as Ive read its good for them. I don't know... maybe I'm over doing it, haha, wouldn't be the first time

[Eddie]

Hey Eddie thanks for the response. Yeah your super salmon/tuna thread is awesome and one of the first recipes I plan on trying!

I just wanted to also supply them with some live foods too as Ive read its good for them. I don't know... maybe I'm over doing it, haha, wouldn't be the first time

No no, its good that you want to try live foods. The fish go bananas for live foods. I know many use California Black worms and White worms with success.


Hope that helps,

Eddie

[frenchie100]

Red wigglers are an awesome live food too. Not all fish like them though because sometimes they are a little too big.

When I have fed them to my fish in the past, they wouldn't touch them until one was brave enough and then it was a feeding frenzy!

California Black Worms are really good, and I personally think that the trick is to keep them extremely clean by cleaning them even more often then recommended. Oh and getting them from a reliable source like Dan and Aquatic foods.

You will see that CBW are controversial, so read through the posts on here about it and then you can make your personal decision.

My fish went crazy for Eddie mix! I made one mistake when I made it the first time though: I did grind the fish enough so some chunks were too big for my fish!

Good luck!

Would love to know more about those silkworms too!

-Julie