Water Temp vs Size of Discus

[Tropical Haven]

I have noticed quite a bit lately on people asking how long they should keep their discus at a certain temp before they should lower it. So I thought this would be a good thread to start and may answer a lot of questions. This thread will be like a guideline because there is no right answer graved in stone on this but more like personal preference.

I keep my discus at 86 degrees until they get to 4", then I lower it to 85 until they get to 5" and then it stays at 84 for the rest of the time. This is how I do it and please anyone else wants to add to this on their experience please do.

[Rod]

82 to 84 is what i aim for regardless of size, age etc.

[guille2007]

82 to 84 is what i aim for regardless of size, age etc.

That's a new discus temp keeping concept, I even have seen Jack Wattley responding a person in TFH magazine under his section "Ask Jack" that after he used to keep his discus at 29c(84.2f) or above, now his conclusion is that 28c(82.4f) is the best keeping temp based on that at higher temp discus metabolism is not normal, and their growing under higher temp is abnormal as well.
After having reading that criteria from that person I have to say that I am confused, so Rod if you want to clear this I would appreciate that

[Kindredspirit]

I keep my Discus at 84-86 degrees ~ I have never heard of regulating temps by the size of the fish....have I? lol!

Interesting!;)

[Polar_Bear]

82 to 84 is what i aim for regardless of size, age etc.

Ditto

[Cosmo]

Many many many years ago, long long before the internet was even dreamed of, I used to keep my Discus tanks at 93F thinking that fish from the Amazon would be used to that temp. Back then, they were ALL wilds so it made sense to me. I had several grow out to be monsters, and several grow out to be less than monsters, but as I recall, monsters were the norm. Many of them lived long lives too .. longest I can reall was about 71/2 years or so.

Then for a long time, I always kept the temp around 88F as whenever I'd lower it to 86, the fish seemed to react negatively to the drop.

Then I went on a 3 day business trip after doing a large WC and forgetting to turn the heaters back on. When I returned the fish seemed more energetic, hungrier, and overall in excellent shape. It wasn't until the next day that I noticed I had forgotten the heaters and found the temp at 84F. So I reset the controller to 84 and turned the heaters back on, and they've been doing fine :)

Lessen learned

The oldest fish I have currently are pushing 5 years, but that's primarily because my wife refused to allow fish tanks in the house for the year or so after we got married :p

As far as temp to size :confused: I still have several that grow to monsters and several that don't so I can't really correlate a temp to growth relationship either

Jim

[Ed13]

Well, deductive reasononig will led you to beleive, in the wild they often don't feel temps higher than 84F, maybe not higher than 82F. For starters they like shaded areas under trees or roots and during the day they remain in deeper part(where its cooler) and sleep near the surface (where its warmer. Even if the surrounding waters have a higher temp they probably don't feel the heat all that much.
I gather this from articles on collections and one collector(not of discus, but catfish) told me once that sometimes discus were caught in the siene net and the water was usually around 82F or even lower. It would be interesting to hear from members with experience collecting like Heiko Bleher and Alberto

[kaceyo]

I don't think there is a direct corolation(sp?) between temp and size. There are so many other variables in the process of growing fish that need to be taken into consideration that it would be near impossible to point to any single one and draw direct conclusions about it's effect on growth. There will always be fish that were grown under different conditions/temps that grew just as well.

Kacey

[guille2007]

Manfred Gobel the Majestic Discus book author also says that the correct temp for discus is 28C what is 82.4F

[Rod]

That's a new discus temp keeping concept, I even have seen Jack Wattley responding a person in TFH magazine under his section "Ask Jack" that after he used to keep his discus at 29c(84.2f) or above, now his conclusion is that 28c(82.4f) is the best keeping temp based on that at higher temp discus metabolism is not normal, and their growing under higher temp is abnormal as well.
After having reading that criteria from that person I have to say that I am confused, so Rod if you want to clear this I would appreciate that

The main reason i keep the temp in the lower range is i can see no reason to keep it any higher. Discus are comfortable and breed well, grow well and generally remain quite healthy at 28....and it saves me money on energy compared to if i kept my tanks a few degrees higher. It is interesting to note that in heiko's book he mentions the lowest recorded wild discus habitat at 23.5 and the highest at 32.4.....although these are the extremes. The average value was more around 28 to 30. During the summers here my tanks can go higher than 30c and the fish do quite well although i've noticed higher fail rates with spawns as the temp rises.

HTH

Rod

[Jhill]

Good point?
My question is if you keep your temps high say 86 or higher and then you need to medicate, how high do you need to raise the temps ;) ? Just a thought?

A Friend in discus
John

[kaceyo]

Hey John,
To use heat as a treatment with or in place of meds you'll need to take it up to around 90F to 92F. I've even heard of people taking it up higher but Haven't done it myself.

Kacey

[Kindredspirit]

On new arrivals I have even gone as high as 93:) combined with salt for a week ~ and I just had my tank at 92 for a week and fed cbw ~ due to two not eating and possible hex ~ I never used my Metro;) So far, so good!

[Apistomaster]

Domestic discus are happy at any temperature from 82 to 86F which is a range that closely coincides with that in which wild discus are usually found.
Exactly where, in this narrow range, is really not very important. It still will leave you plenty of range to exercise the heat treatment option when that seems appropriate.
I use 90 to 94F if I am desparately trying to "burn the evil spirits" out.

[YSS]

I also heard that the juvies do better at higher temp. I have read in another forum that while growing out juvies (not sure at what point the fish aren't juvies), the temp should be at least 86 and higher the better. I have noticed that with my juvies, they seemed to do better at 86 than 84. Now most of my guys are approaching 4" or a bit more from head to tail. So, I am thinking of lowering the temp to 82 to 84.

[Tropical Haven]

My guys are close to 4" and I have them at 84 myself from 86.