Water temp does make a difference to my fish

[traco]

I thought I would try lowering my tank temperature from 84 to what I thought was 82. Had it running at that temp for a week and started to notice the discus weren't having much of an appetite. I checked my thermometer and it was registering 80! No wonder their appetite was gone!! So, I bumped it up to 82 yesterday. A bit better with their appetite now. I'll keep it there for a couple of days to see how they fare and will bump up again if they still don't "look right".

Been with these fish for a year and am still learning. Don't play around with your tank temperature, Barb. No need for that.http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_19_1.gif

[Kenny's Discus]

Hi Barb - you can even bump it up a bit more if their appetite is not back totally. IME I've raised mine to around 90 for a short period of time with no ill effects. Yes I agree when your temp is down to 80 they will tend to eat less than they normally do Barb.

Kenny
(remember to have blankets for them next time just in case lol:D)

[pcsb23]

Barb,

Just out of curiosity, why did you drop it from 84F?

[traco]

Read live plants would do better at lower temps (I now bow my head in shame!! ~ I feel bad, tried an experiment for plants before fish):(

At least I caught it early so hopefully no harm was done other than a lack of appetite. I have also bumped up water changes as I have been reading here about "brown" eyes are an indication of water quality. 2 of the four discus have these brown eyes when I was doing water changes every 6-7 days.

It doesn't take long for being lax that things start brewing in the tank.

[pcsb23]

Ahh I see. Whilst a lot of books will say things like between 76 - 80f etc, you will find that with good growing conditions most plants can be grown well at higher temmperatures.

There are a lot of plants that will do well at discus temps AND are low light, try http://www.tropica.com/default.asp and go onto the advanced search tab.

[traco]

Thank you Paul and Kenny for your replies (and no tongue lashing either.:) ) When their appetites went, that's when I decided to stop playing around and tend to the tank with them being first before plants, etc...

[marilyn1998]

Barb,

I keep my tank at 85F and do 2- 50% wc a week. My plants are growing out the top of the tank!!!!

Hope your guys start doing better.

[traco]

They are already feeling a bit better with bumping the temp up. So, Marilyn, your tank is taking off heh? Good for you!! You have progressed way faster and further than me, that's for sure.:)

[Kindredspirit]

I am glad they are eating now woman!



Marie ~:angel:

[ShinShin]

Since discus are cold blooded, their metabolism is dictatedby water temp. This means that discus do not have to eat as much at 82F that they would have to eat at 86F. It doesn't mean your discus is sick or doing better at higher temps. Food is required for energy to perform metabolic functions. Since energy levels for metabolic functions are increased at higher temps, food intake for energy also increases. Higher temps do not necessarilly mean discus will grow faster either as some deduce from the above temp/food intake based on lower/higher temps since a discus will burn more energy just to live at higher temps.

Temps higher than 84F seem to be totally unnecessary with the exception of treating for a few diseases. 82-83F is fine. I have experimented with a pair on temp for successful spawning. I started at 86F, dropped to 84F, then 82F, then 80F. The fish continued to spawn. I dropped it to 79F - success. Then 78F. Again, the pair spawned and raised the free swimmers. Not wanting stress the discus by dropping the temp lower, I stopped there. I kept a tank of discus (5 adults) for 6 months at 78F once without any stress related illnesses or behavior. I do believe this would be the lower limit before they would be stressed and not the ideal temp to keep them at. 82-83F seems fine.

Mat

[lhforbes12]

I have often said this same thing and agree with it 100%


Since discus are cold blooded, their metabolism is dictatedby water temp. This means that discus do not have to eat as much at 82F that they would have to eat at 86F. It doesn't mean your discus is sick or doing better at higher temps. Food is required for energy to perform metabolic functions. Since energy levels for metabolic functions are increased at higher temps, food intake for energy also increases. Higher temps do not necessarilly mean discus will grow faster either as some deduce from the above temp/food intake based on lower/higher temps since a discus will burn more energy just to live at higher temps.

Temps higher than 84F seem to be totally unnecessary with the exception of treating for a few diseases. 82-83F is fine. I have experimented with a pair on temp for successful spawning. I started at 86F, dropped to 84F, then 82F, then 80F. The fish continued to spawn. I dropped it to 79F - success. Then 78F. Again, the pair spawned and raised the free swimmers. Not wanting stress the discus by dropping the temp lower, I stopped there. I kept a tank of discus (5 adults) for 6 months at 78F once without any stress related illnesses or behavior. I do believe this would be the lower limit before they would be stressed and not the ideal temp to keep them at. 82-83F seems fine.

Mat

[Ed13]

I’ve kept planted tanks in 82-85F during winter and spring and 88-91F in summer and fall, not much of a choice since is the Caribbean sun and the bulbs heating the water and not a heater. I’ve kept very rare plants and very easy ones, the only ones that seem to have trouble seem to be the crypts and aponogetons that suffered when the temp change happened. On the other hand Aponogeton crispus only changed was that in flowered like crazy once winter came.

On hand with what ShinShin said I've noticed that many breeders have stated that they keep grow outs at around 84F and pairs at 82F

[traco]

Well, that all makes sense about the lower temps and slower metabolism. They were slower and did not eat as much which I noticed and then thought I should raise the temp back up again. The tank is showing as 82 right now. They may have been fine at the lower temp but I forgot to factor in the "slower metabolism" at that temp. They slowed down in eating, I took it as "uh, oh, there might be something brewing here, I better raise the temperature".

I will keep it at the 82 temp. The temp before may have been even down to 80 degrees which was when I noticed they really did not have a huge appetite.

[Jessie555]

I'm running a few tanks as a "test" at the moment, 6 x 75 gallon, at a temp. of 74. All do very well,

"Jessie"

[Jessie555]

1 Alenquer pair with 6 fry, I closed the over flow to late and those 6 were the only ones left, the second pair (Snake Skin) I was on time and made a pre filter for the overflow, they've now +/- 150 fry.

This all on 74F Ofcourse it takes a little longer for the eggs to hatch,

"Jessie"

[Ed13]

I'm running a few tanks as a "test" at the moment, 6 x 75 gallon, at a temp. of 74. All do very well,

"Jessie"

Why?
You have very beautiful discus and seems like a lot of money and effort, why risk it?

[Jessie555]

Ed, I keep a close eye on those Discus, if there is any sign of stress, the temp. will go up. The bigger ones are now for more as 4 months on 74F and I keep on adding smaller and bigger Discus to this set up.

Next week probaly an other 2 pairs go in here.

I want to prove something with this and will explain later,

"Jessie"

[Ed13]

I want to prove something with this and will explain later,

"Jessie"

Thats what I thought! Very interesting, write and document your findings I'm sure we'll all like to know!
This reminds me that sometime ago a friend from Colombia that collected fish from different parts of South America told me that he often found Discus in much lower temps than most people thought, I can't of doubt it him back then though!