temp concerns

[Palue]

I have had my tank set at 80 degrees. My Disucs is very happy, eats readily and greets me at the front of the tank.

I have read that they should be kept at a min 82 for best overall health. So for the past few days I have slowly increased the temp to be 82.

During this time and when it was at 82 my fish was very shy, never came to the front. The odd time I would hear splashing and it was the discus. This fish was certainly stressed.

I checked my heater, everything is fine with it. I dont' need a dead fish nor a stressed one so I have lowered it slowly back to 80 degrees and my discus is back to normal. Greeting me at the front of the tank, not acting weird and shy and splashing.

So my question is, is there anything wrong with keeping this tank at 80 degrees all the time?

:angel:

[goheel]

if 80 works for you, stick with 80.

[Elcid]

It's odd that your discus would get stressed with a 2 F temp rise? It may help if you post more details about your setup and discus.

HTH,
Sandeep

[ShinShin]

I'd keep it at 80F, too. I have kept and spawned them as low as 78F but it is not a normal thing for me, just an experiment. I do like it a little higher than 80F, though. I find it hard to believe that a 2 degree rise, especially at that low a temp, had such a drastic effect on your discus. Puzzeling.

Mat

[Ryan]

My temp probably shifts that much every night during the 100% water changes, but my fish don't seem bothered.

I know that stray currents in your tank from failing heaters or filters can cause fish to be skittish and jumpy, but I don't think that's the case here because if the heater were failing they'd act that way regardless of the temperature you had it set at.

[Palue]

Thank you all for the replies. I will leave it at 80 as the fish seem the happiest and the most active.

:angel:

[Greg Richardson]

I agree with Ryan. This sounds like stray current or..........

Something doesn't add up here.
How long have you had them in this tank? How big is the tank? How many?
WC schedule?

The hiding could have been a coincidence with the temp up at that time with some other factor involved at same time.

[Ryan]

Also, what kind of filtration is in the tank? The higher the temp, the less dissolved oxygen there is in the water...

[Palue]

I agree with Ryan. This sounds like stray current or..........

Something doesn't add up here.
How long have you had them in this tank? How big is the tank? How many?
WC schedule?

The hiding could have been a coincidence with the temp up at that time with some other factor involved at same time.

***If it were a stray current then the fish would have acted weird a long time ago.

***The tank is a year old, the Discus I bought 2 months ago. It came from my LFS and they keep their tanks at 80 as well.

***The tank is a 20 gal with just one Discus (my baby)

***I am doing water changes 2 times a week faithfully.

:angel:

[Palue]

Also, what kind of filtration is in the tank? The higher the temp, the less dissolved oxygen there is in the water...

***I have an Aqua Clear Filter running on this tank.

***As the temp is back to 80 now, all the fish are just fine. The Discus is back to its old self and begging and greeting all of us at the front of the tank. So because this is just a display tank and I am not breeding nor do I want to breed I will leave it at the 80 degrees.

Thanks for your reply though.....:angel:

[AADiscus]

Glad they are happier now. What all do you have in the tank besides the 1 discus? Not to discourage you but a 20 gal is to small for a discus AND alot of other fish. Discus are schooling fish and do better in larger groups.

[Palue]

Hi, you are not discouraging me at all. I do know that they are schooling fish. I don't have the room for a 55 or larger tank in my home. Discus are also not readily available here, keeping one with my school of 5 neons is better than nothing at all. I love this type of fish and if I can give it a nice home with some smaller fish, good food and lots of water changes I don't think there is any harm in just keeping one.

Thanks for your concern though....:angel: