Best temp for Central America cichlids?

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Interesting subject. I have p bass with Oscars. P bass picking on each other so I lowered temp from about 82 to 78. I read that lower temps lower aggression. Oscars and p bass got ich. Now I have read that temp changes can help cause ich. After everone healed I keep the tank at 80-81 degrees. Something about lower temps just makes me think it affects the immune system. I also read a study on channel catfish where lower temperatures did affect the immune system in regards to ich.
So IMO the best temp is a little above the mean temperature (wild) of the combined inhabitants of the aquarium. For my tank that is about 80 degrees.
 
M
dogofwar said:
I heat my fishroom and not individual tanks so the temps tend to be warmer in the summer (mid-80s) and cooler in the winter (upper-60s / lower 70s).

Keeping Central Americans at the lower end of the temp scale reduces aggression and allows me to increase the temp if I want them to breed (vs. constantly breeding)... although I've had lots of CA species breed at 70-72F (despite my efforts trying to slow them down) :)
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Disagree about high temps increasing aggression. My tanks are unheated. Temps are cool in the winter and warm in the summer. In all my years I have never seen any change in behavior because of temps. Imo the only thing that changes cichlid behavior is an aquarium vs. wild.
 
Interesting discussion. After reading similar ones over the years, I have been letting my CA cichlid tanks fluctuate naturally which means 69-70 in winter and 79-80 in the summer.

My main display has T. Aureus, Nic's, rainbows and Cutteri. The Thorichys/Cutteri are more northern CA vs the Nics/Rainbows that are more southern. Am I stunting my southern species by not keeping them at a more consistently higher temp?
 
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Since Nics are endemic to Lake Nicaragua, and its average temp is only mid 70s, I doubt lower temp are doing them any harm, and the multispinossa often migrate to wind swept flood plains in Costa Rica where it is said water temps can drop dramatically during those heavy winds.
 
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Sorry to bring this post up again, but so will it make sense to have 2 heaters in a 125 gal tank set one around 70 and the other 80? So there will be some fluctuation through the year as the house warms and cools down??
 
What species are you keeping? That would determine what temp is best. Unless your house temp fluctuates by the season I don’t know if there will be any major seasonal fluctuation in your tank.
I don’t even use a heater because my tank is by a window. It’s a constant 74, and I notice no problems from my jd, parrot, and convict.
 
Deadeye said:
What species are you keeping? That would determine what temp is best. Unless your house temp fluctuates by the season I don’t know if there will be any major seasonal fluctuation in your tank.
I don’t even use a heater because my tank is by a window. It’s a constant 74, and I notice no problems from my jd, parrot, and convict.
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I have an Oscar, one firemouth, one convict and 4 rainbow cichlids in that tank
 
That range is safe, but I think the heaters wouldn’t hurt to keep the nighttime temp a bit warmer for the Oscar, at least in the winter.
 
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