Discus Tank Temperature

[Tautog]

Does anyone have an oppinion regarding keeping a Discuss tank at 86.5 to 87 F? Mine are very healthy in the temp and very active. I also raise mine with RAMs, Corys, Pleco, Hatchetfish, Cardinals, Rummys. The tank is 150G and although a Discus cominity enclisure, it is very understaocked and over filtered...

I do this because of the learning curve I went through to successd... they love the temp, the other fish are doing fine but I read where the metabolic rate will increase if consistently I manitain this temperature and that may lead to a slightly shorter lifespan...

[troy tucker]

In the wild all these fish are out there together. So to have them all in a tank together is cool. As for temp. Its well known that discus like high temp. Do you run UV san.light?

[aquabee]

At Houston Aquarium Warehouse, where they specialize in discus, the fish are kept in almost 90 degree water and they do great with it. So those temps you're running should be ok, especially if you have wild discus.

[Tautog]

I have had my 150G operational for two months now and my Juvenile Discus are extremely healthy. I keep the tank temp at 87F and I get great results with my Discus.

My concern is that over the past few weeks I have had a few of my German Blue Rams pass away. One day they are extremely healthy next they are gone. I raised them from babies and they have been with me for about 9-10 months.

The water quality is emaculate. I am running x3 Eheim 2215s, x1 2217 and a Fluval FX6. Flow is well controled... I have two 9W UV Sterilzers running 24-7 and I do a 30-50% water change and tank cleaning every weekend. Once i waited two weeks but never more. My water change consists of partial RO and partial tap water with Seachem Prime conditioner and a touch of Discus buffer to keep the pH managable. I also add a handful of aquarium salt sprinkled across tank with each water change... Radican Swords so every 3-4 days and after each water change I poor some Seachem Plant blend fertilzer and Excel into water... no exact measurements.

A little more history, I was running two smaller tanks and upgraded to the one larger tank. My smaller 37G was being used to raise Discus from babies and I had a 3 Electric Blue Rams in the tank... babies when I bought them and some Cardinals... they grew up in the warmer water. My other tank contained my German Blue Rams and other peaceful South American fish. This tank I was keeping a 80-82F. The Rams from this tank did fine when combined with Discus for two months then slowly they have been passing away. I have lost 3 out of seven but its been over a few weeks.

Do you think that the warmer water speeds up the lifecycle of the pretty little RAMs are do they have a shorter lifespan. Id ,like to balance raising these guys with Discus if I can but the Discus are kings of my aquarium. If this cannot be done for long periods of time, I will stik to my Rummy Nose, Cardinal and Hatchet tanks mates... Discus are happy as larks.