Bare Minimum?

[Bigfishy]

Hi all! Just a quick question before I introduce myself! ^^"

It is a known fact that Amazon river has a temperature range between mid 70s to high 80s (23C to 32C).

Recently, I bought 3 baby discus around 2.5" in length, they are swimming and eating fine. The tank size is 72G and the discus are kept with a variety of sub tropical fishes.

Here is the question, the temperature is around 75F, the bare minimum temperature of the Amazon river. If my baby discus behave normally, will they grow into adult with that kind of environment?

*I know that discus will thrive in mid to high 80s or even low 90s...

Or just let me rephrase the question, if an unfortunate discus ends up in the lowest temperature & the deepest part of the river, will it survive? or will it just go belly up in a matter of time?

[John_Nicholson]

I highly doubt you will be able to grow the babies up to anything close to their potential if they live at all. The best temp is 82 but more than that normally in groups smaller than 6 you end up with aggression problems. While it is possible to raise baby discus in a planted tank it is very hard to do. To have success most people will raise them in a bare bottom tank and then move them to the planted tank as adults. Also most will do daily large water changes.

-john

[niqhil]

John pretty much summed it up.. ! Also you mentioned "variety of sub tropical fishes", depending on what you have they may startle discus and could stress them out.

[DISCUS STU]

Regardless of what goes on in the Amazon, 82-84 is the recommended temp. I keep them at about 82.

[ericNH]

Here is the question, the temperature is around 75F, the bare minimum temperature of the Amazon river. If my baby discus behave normally, will they grow into adult with that kind of environment?

Or just let me rephrase the question, if an unfortunate discus ends up in the lowest temperature & the deepest part of the river, will it survive? or will it just go belly up in a matter of time?

It sounds like your direct answer is that you should first focus on the other problems with your setup; to whit, putting juvenile discus in a planted community tank. Even if you kept the water at perfect temp, your discus will suffer with the way it is now. Good luck! I don';t think it is impossible to have a measure of success in that situation, but it is unlikely.