What makes Discus grow the biggest the fastest?

[diamond_discus]

Nobody has mentioned "temperature" being a factor. I know that higher temps increase metabolism. How does it affect grow rates?

I found that a temp of 86 would work best for my fish (both adult and juv). They are more active and tends to eat more at that temp.

[Barr1542]

For any species of fish you look at, their growth rate is through the roof as larvae and young juveniles and slows down as they get bigger. Also when they begin to mature they are investing energy in gonad development rather than putting on lbs.
I would bet you could get FCR's below 1 for discus just hearing how fast the juvies grow. the equation is:

Feed fed / weight gained

If the number is below 1, they are gaining more weight than they are being fed. If you are feeding dry food this is very possible because the feed is "dry" maybe 3-7% moisture and the fish would be considered "wet" when you weigh them, being maybe 80% mositure for example. Now if you are feeding frozen foods, they will have moisture closer to that of your fish, but still probably less as the BH will not be dripping wet when you weigh it.

[tdiscusman]

Ive found this study on fish growth rate (not discus) which state that specific growth rate (SGR) increase with temperature and decrease with weight (see chart). Interesting stuff, I thought I sharẹ

http://journals.cambridge.org/action...=03&aid=764156

Tony

[moik]

Gummybears

[Eddie]

Gummybears

But only the white ones.

[GlennR]

I wonder what the 4-14 means for the temp curve? It's not celcius because 14c = 57f .

Is 86f the temp that most Discus keepers use? What temp is considered the safe limit?

[moik]

Damm, I thought I was the only one that new that secret..

But only the white ones.

[Eddie]

I wonder what the 4-14 means for the temp curve? It's not celcius because 14c = 57f .

Is 86f the temp that most Discus keepers use? What temp is considered the safe limit?

Yes, its celcius, its not a study on discus but another species. 86F is not a definite number but I keep mine at that, +/- 2 degrees.


Eddie

[jerbear]

Purchase them at 6 inches.... Unless you are dying to experience daily water changes...

[Jhhnn]

Purchase them at 6 inches.... Unless you are dying to experience daily water changes...

A point well taken. Even adults seem to require frequent water changes, however.

OTOH, my Blue Scorps are now ~15 months old, given that the importer reckoned they were ~5 months old when I received them at 4" on April 11, 2009. I still feed them heavily, change water daily, and they're still growing pretty well, if at what seems to be a slower pace. The smallest has been catching up to the others, is an easy 6", the largest are 7"+. Per Hans and others, the fish can continue to grow until they're 18-24 months old. I haven't planned on backing off on the water changes, ever.

I guess maybe it depends on what you think is big, and how much time, effort, ingenuity and money you're willing to devote to getting 'em that way... I want mine to be big by anybody's standards, and have proceeded accordingly... The creation of a systematized semi-automatic water changing system is a key element, well worth whatever it takes...

[CammieTime]

Would chaning 100% of the water 3 times a day help, or is it just the total food?

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

Would chaning 100% of the water 3 times a day help, or is it just the total food?

Changing that much water IMO is unecessary under "normal" circumstances. Even then, if you need to change that much water per day to maintain stable water quality then something is wrong. How much water you change IMO is almost directly related to how much food you feed and how heavy of a bio-load you have in the tank.

Think of it this way...without food, they wont grow. Without proper water quality, they wont eat. It is up to the individual hobbyist to determine what works best for them to achieve their desired results. Water parameters, food fed, temperature, disease, stress, fish genetics, etc all determine how well they will do. Finding that sweetspot where everything is in proper balance is where things happen. What exactly works will highly vary from person to person. What works for me wont necessarily work quite as well for you (and vice versa). Realistically, anyone here on SD can do is tell you what works for them and/or give you a general guideline and a push you in a certain direction. The rest is what makes the hobby so unique.

-Ryan

[Chad Hughes]

Well said Ryan! Couldn't agree more!

Changing that much water IMO is unecessary under "normal" circumstances. Even then, if you need to change that much water per day to maintain stable water quality then something is wrong. How much water you change IMO is almost directly related to how much food you feed and how heavy of a bio-load you have in the tank.

Think of it this way...without food, they wont grow. Without proper water quality, they wont eat. It is up to the individual hobbyist to determine what works best for them to achieve their desired results. Water parameters, food fed, temperature, disease, stress, fish genetics, etc all determine how well they will do. Finding that sweetspot where everything is in proper balance is where things happen. What exactly works will highly vary from person to person. What works for me wont necessarily work quite as well for you (and vice versa). Realistically, anyone here on SD can do is tell you what works for them and/or give you a general guideline and a push you in a certain direction. The rest is what makes the hobby so unique.

-Ryan

[Jhhnn]

As I understand it, some Malaysian breeders do change water several times per day.

I'm definitely a water change advocate, simply because it's worked well for me. The real issue is in getting properly set up to make that easy. I realize not everybody can do things this way, but here's a link to the description of my water changing system and some old pics of my fish- they're a lot larger now...

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=74240

The small amount of automation is pretty basic, not very expensive, either... 50% daily water changes are a snap, and I really don't hardly have to pay attention thru most of it...

For people who can do it, I think that continuous drip/overflow systems would be even better... just siphon off the poop, let the drip system catch up...

I also think that the theory behind algae filters is sound, and might be a good way to go for people whose water rates are high and changing somewhat less water would be advantageous...

[Eddie]

Would chaning 100% of the water 3 times a day help, or is it just the total food?

Its both.

To really answer your question, there are alot of variables involved. Stocking density playing a big part, foods being fed and how often are also important. Oh and age is important also.

As Jhhnn mentioned, some breeders in different countries really heavily on water changes and it does increase growth. Obviously they are in the industry for it, selling them like hot cakes.


Eddie