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Discus Concerns


Rory

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soooooooooo...

...i was just reading a thread about keeping discus; 'temperature changes of +/- 1 degree, or pHchange of 0.2 will kill them',

And i just accepted this information, but after sitting around with my thoughts i began to wonder how these things survive in the wild? For example if it were dry for a long time then there was a sudden down pour that lasted for a day or two, surely the pHof the water and/or the temperature would fluctuate! And what about global warming and cooling? this has been proven to occure over several hundred year periods....

...all this got me wondering (if the information i read is correct) how on earth did these critters slip through the net of natural selection? How did evolution favor these guys? (cause they sure arn't a very inteligent design! :lol: )

Rory

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I've kept discus for years. I treat them almost the same as any other tropical. The only exception is temperature. They seem to like it a little warmer than the avarage tropical. I run my tank at 27-28'C. There's no need to go to 30+'C as they only get that hot in the wild for a couple of months a year. In the wild they can get as low as 24'C. My tank usually drops to this on a waterchange and all the males start fighting each other for the females as they decide they want to breed (again)...

As long as the temperature or pH is changed gradually they don't mind (within limits) but they're not the fragile fish everyone thinks they are. A little more care is required if you want them to thrive but it's not hard. They're one of the hardiest fish I've ever kept...

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As long as the temperature or pH is changed gradually they don't mind...

ahh yea i think this is the answere to my question... i brought this up with a work mate of mine and he said the same thing. That a sudden change might kill them but a gradual change would not!

Anyway its interesting to ponder...

Rory M

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it's actually a temp change of +/- 2 degrees but yeah, gradual changes are the way to go or you'd never be able to get them from one tank to the other :) Just a note, younger fish seem to be much more hardy to changes than adults, in my experience. Of course, younger fish seem to be more prone to passing from disease at the same time.

Aside from watching water parameters the only other thing that discus need care for that other fish don't (normally) is worming. All this is covered in "Discus Health" by Dieter Untergasser.... GREAT book.

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