Aquarium temperature idea

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mark4785

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In the context of encouraging spawning how effective/beneficial would it be to temporarily shut the aquarium heater off for a short period of time?

My heater is plugged into a smart plug so it is possible to schedule a power off for certain periods of time so was thinking that I could try turning it off for 30 minutes to induce spawning behaviour?

Any opinions on this would be appreciated.
 
I think it definitely depends on what type of fish you are breeding.

In most scenarios, it seems that fresh water/colder water can trigger breeding. For South American first like Apistogramma, Angelfish and Discus a drop in pH can also help too.

I would argue that instead of turning the heater off, a large cold water water change would do the trick just fine.
 
Kribensis12 pretty much covered it.

Turning an aquarium heater off for 30 minutes is unlikely to make any difference to water temperature due to water holding temperature much better than air. Depending on tank size and volume, the room temperature, and outside temperature, you can have a heater off for several hours and the tank might not change temperature.

Separating the males and females for 5-7 days and then putting them together will usually get tetras, barbs, danios, rainbowfish and most other schooling fishes to breed.

Breeding normally occurs when there is a sudden change in air pressure, an influx of fresh water and a surplus of food. Feeding the fish 3-5 times a day for several weeks before breeding can get fish to breed. Do a 75% water change (using slightly cooler water) every day for a week and that will usually get the fish going.

What sort of fish were you trying to breed?
 
I am attempting to breed discus. The pair I have spawned around 15 times around 1 year ago and then they have suddenly stopped. Back then there was no obvious reason why they decided to spawn but I would like to find out that reason by trying different changes to their environment.

How often could I try introducing an influx of fresh water? Would this be water that is perhaps 2-3 degrees C cooler?
 
I agree with @kribensis12 & @Colin_T. In the wild, many species of fish often spawn in the spring which is signaled by cooler rains. Some think it's the temperature, but I tend to think it's the influx of larger volumes of fresh water that just happen to be a bit cooler. In any case, a somewhat large water change of slightly cooler water would serve your purpose and I wouldn't bother messing with the heater. :)
 
I concur with other members on the partial water change that is significant, say 65-75% of the tank volume. No one mentioned the reason this usually works, so I will just add that it replicates the start of the wet season when the rains cause the water courses to flood the surrounding forest often for hundreds of kilometers, and sometimes several meters deep. This allows the fish to move into areas that are ripe with food--insects and insect larvae in particular--as well as protection from all the natural terrestrial vegetation for eggs and fry.

I didn't mention the cooler temperature aspect for two reasons. First, it is likely the expanded food availability has as much if not more to do with it. But second...we all used to be told about cooler water, and it generally seems to work, but perhaps only because of the previous aspect (more food area). Somewhere recently I read that warmer water may actually be preferable, because studies have shown that the rain warms as it falls through the hot air and humidity, and the ground is warmer due to the decaying organic matter that covers it for meters, which warms the water pooling on it. I'm not certain, but this may have been Ian Fuller's advice related to spawning difficult Corydoras. If I come across the data somewhere, I'll try to remember to post here.
 
For cichlids (including discus), feed them 3-5 times a day and do a 50-75% water change every day for a week or two. Use water that is about 5C cooler.

If that doesn't get them going, increase the temperature to 30-32C.

Deworm the fish if they haven't been done before.
 

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