Discus

[JeffroM]

That temp is the natural habitat for all SA fish.  Most just do okay with lower temps.  But if you plan on keeping any wild caught fish plan on at least low to mid 80's.

[Marty]

I don't believe you'd have to keep them that hot for them to be happy.  I know Carey Strong kept his in the low 80's unless they were sick.

I imagine you'd have to have lots of air flow at that temp just to keep a sufficient amount of oxygen in the water.

[mightieskeeper]

water evaporation happens fast at that temp!  I had a friend years ago raise discus in Flint city water.  They did well until the heater malfunctioned and cooked them. 

[gmaschke]

That and a cover

[tnnsman7]

I'm itching to keep them again. It's been a few years since I last had them.

[Michael Zebrowski]

I actually had large discus for dinner while colecting in the Purus river in the Brazilian Amazon.  We ate the ones that succumbed after being collected.  Kind if like thin, bony bluegills, but very tasty with a cold Brahma beer.

We also ate Uaru, pike cichlids, peacock bass, and many others.  We almost cried while devouring what must have been literally thousand's of dollars worth of expensive and rare fish.

I recommend this to anyone.

Mike Z.

[Nick]

I actually had large discus for dinner while colecting in the Purus river in the Brazilian Amazon.  We ate the ones that succumbed after being collected.  Kind if like thin, bony bluegills, but very tasty with a cold Brahma beer.

That is awesome. One more reason for me to have a discus tank...I can actually charge people to catch their dinner at my house!

[JeffroM]

I actually had large discus for dinner while colecting in the Purus river in the Brazilian Amazon.  We ate the ones that succumbed after being collected.  Kind if like thin, bony bluegills, but very tasty with a cold Brahma beer.

We also ate Uaru, pike cichlids, peacock bass, and many others.  We almost cried while devouring what must have been literally thousand's of dollars worth of expensive and rare fish.

I recommend this to anyone.

Mike Z.

I wonder if you can get any of those fish locally as food.  I'll have to ask my local Meat/Fish market.

[SKISWETPETS]

I tried to get my brother, a very avid fisherman/hunter to eat the Oscar that i had a while back. He contemplated it for a bit... And then passed. Im thinkin maybe would not have been a good idea anyway...

[Ron]

I tried to get my brother, a very avid fisherman/hunter to eat the Oscar that i had a while back. He contemplated it for a bit... And then passed. Im thinkin maybe would not have been a good idea anyway...

I'd question what kinds of chemicals from foods or medications might build up in an aquarium raised fish.

Back to the topic of eating discus in the wild - all I can think is bones, bones, and more bones. Bluegill are already so boney that I'd only eat them after filleting. I'd suspect discus due to their bone shape would make an even thinner fillet.

[SKISWETPETS]

I tried to get my brother, a very avid fisherman/hunter to eat the Oscar that i had a while back. He contemplated it for a bit... And then passed. Im thinkin maybe would not have been a good idea anyway...

I'd question what kinds of chemicals from foods or medications might build up in an aquarium raised fish.

Back to the topic of eating discus in the wild - all I can think is bones, bones, and more bones. Bluegill are already so boney that I'd only eat them after filleting. I'd suspect discus due to their bone shape would make an even thinner fillet.

Yeah, I wasn't really gonna let him eat it, i just wanted to see how much intrest he would show in it..

[Regalblue]

A neighbor of mine goes to FL for the winter.
I guess he catches&eats Oscars all the time

[JeffroM]

My dang Discus will not eat any flake or pellet food.  They devourer froozen blood worms like they are going out of style though.

[buznoz]

Hey Jeff, started mine on live blackworms, dumped into the tank from a small plastic cup. They came to recoginize the cup as bringing food and rushed to the top. Started mixing in some pellets and cutting back on the worms. Now I just soak the pellets in the cup and dump them in. Took about a couple weeks, but now they eat anything poured out of the cup.

[JeffroM]

Hey Jeff, started mine on live blackworms, dumped into the tank from a small plastic cup. They came to recoginize the cup as bringing food and rushed to the top. Started mixing in some pellets and cutting back on the worms. Now I just soak the pellets in the cup and dump them in. Took about a couple weeks, but now they eat anything poured out of the cup.

Thanks.  I'll try this.