It is an excerpt where Jack Wattley's describes the secret formula he developed for raising Discus fry.

"... All data were recorded daily into a log book to determine which formulas resulted in the highest growth rates. At the present time we are certain that our formula is the most complete food for the discus fry's first three to four days of feeding.

The main ingredient in the Jack Wattley Formula is egg yolk, from eggs available at any supermarket. To the egg yolk we add Spirulina powder and crushed, newly-hatched Artemia. We will begin with one raw egg yolk and one hard-boiled egg yolk. (In our hatchery we prepare a large number of yolks at one time, but to simplify our discussion, we will start with one raw yolk and one hard-boiled yold.) Both yolks are necessary, for neither will adhere to the sides of the pan without sticking, and the raw yolk will do nothing more than to cloud up the water in the pan. However, mixing the two will result in a sticky paste that will adhere nicely to the pan sides throughout the day. At this point you might ask what we do with the hard-boiled egg whites? We do not dispose of them but chop them up into our salads!

After the yolks have been made up into the sticky paste, enough Spirulina powder, which is very dark green, is added to change the color of the yellow yolks to a very light yellow-green. Because eggs of different sizes -- small, medium, jumbo -- will be used, we will not recommend here an exact amount of the Spirulina powder to add to the yolk paste, which could affect the balance between yolk and Spirulina. An excessive amount of Spirulina will reduce the viscosity of the paste, causing it to eventually fall to the bottom of the pan. (The same condition will occur, later, if too much Artemia is added to the mixture.) The egg yolk/Spirulina mixture is now ready to form into a flat patty, placed into a plastic bag and frozen.

As was stated earlier, the time to begin the feeding procedure is after the discus fry have risen from the bottom of the pan. It might be wise to practice administering the formula on a pan with no fry, as it may take several trial runs before the formula is applied correctly. After having made a few trial runs in pans with no fry, you are now ready to begin to raise discus fry using the most successful methods practiced by professional breeders.

Remove the egg yolk from the freezer, thawing it on a clean, white paper towel. At this time siphon a sufficient amount of newly hatched Artemia, and after rinsing it in fresh water place it on the paper towel to remove as much water as possible. Add the Artemia to the egg yolk/Spirulina mixture, combining all three ingredients thoroughly. Mixing the formula can be done easily in the palm of the hand, making certain, of course, that the hand is first clean and dry.

The addition of the Artemia will alter the color of the egg yolk/Spirulina mixture. How much Artemia should be added? One part Artemia can be added to four parts of the egg yolk/Spirulina, approximately. It might be necessary to experiment a bit with the proportions. As with the Spirulina, if too much Artemia is added to the yolk mixture, the food will not adhere properly to the sides of the feeding pan."