Fry Temperature Toleration

[jack396]

I put my fry through a chill for about 24 hours when the temperature in the tank sat at 74 degrees at its low point.

I have a male parent in with 3 1/2 week old fry that are too numerous to count. While doing a water change Wednesday evening, I pulled the plug on the temp controller and then forgot to plug it back in. Fortunately last night I dipped my hand into the tank when feeding the parent and felt the chill in the water. I plugged the controller in and the water quickly rose to 81 before I did a water change. Fortunately the fry and parent show no ill effects from the experience.

I hate it when I make these mistakes... :(

[Kenny's Discus]

Jack, sry I missed your call yesterday...from now on try to place your heaters horizontally(instead of vertically) near the bottom of your tank, like 3-4" up from bottom. This way you don't need to unplug it every time when doing WC's. Talk with you later buddy and remember to send me your ARGD frys when ready LOL!:D:D Love that fish in your avatar.

Kenny

[ShinShin]

I have intentionally and successfully spawned discus at temps as low as 78F. I kept the temp there for several weeks. I divided a 55gal tank into two sections, and placed Stendker Discus pairs in each side. These pairs successfully spawned and raised fry in temps of 81, 80, 79, and 78F. The fish were purchased from Discus Hans in Fort Worth in '85.

I doubt the short term chill had much effect on the fish.

Mat

[jack396]

Thanks Kenny and Mat for the feedback. It has been 48 hours since the debacle and no ill effects have been observed. I did have one fish floating dead, but considering that there are more than a hundred fry, that was probably to be expected anyway.

Kenny, I'll try you over the weekend.

[AADiscus]

One thing to remember, if your heater messes up or you forget to plug it back in, always try and do a wc when you notice it. Going up in heat is not bad, it's the going down fast that is. IMO

[jack396]

That's good to know, Angela. I considered a water change, but they were not showing any ill effects and since they were only in a 20 gallon tank, I knew it wouldn't take long for that heater to rather gradually, but swiftly, raise the temperature.

Thanks for the advice, but I'm planning on not making that same error again any time soon.

Got my fingers crossed on the possibility of a heater failure. Stability of output is good as all of my heaters are on controllers, but a total failure in the breeding tank would be a bummer, as I use no backup in that size tank.

[AADiscus]

Another thing to watch on the heater controllers is sometimes they can stick just like a heater. So make sure and check it periodically. (been there, lol)

[MostlyDiscus]

I always enjoy popcorn and viewing nice pictures Jack. Send some pics for us. Sounds like an awesome brood.. Ed

[jack396]

Well, I tried to get pictures but when I got up close I only captured a small number, and when I went for distance, the picture wasn't worth showing. Being limited to only 29 gallon tanks being left in the house, and no room for more, I separated them into two groups. Would you believe it; I still do not have a number.; They are approaching dime size, and i'd say about 110 or so.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with them...