tap water filter?

[Gnome]

Hi discus lover,
I'm just learning about breeding discus, and I see that most people have problem w/ their water hardness, and the expensive R/O unit, but I'm really impressed by carol, who is managed to breed discus w/ her 11dgh water hardness, how did you get the r/o water from?btw, I saw a TAP WATER FILTER unit by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, I'm just wondering if you guys knew about this and does this thing really work as well as R/O unit?
http://www.southpawpets.com/f45.shtml
Gnome.

From what Ive heard...The A.P. tap water filter (mixed bed resin) exhausts quickly...even faster with hard water. From what Ive read, with the large water changes discus keepers tend to do....they only last about a week.
Not sure....but the last I can remember, they were about thirty bucks a crack.... :o...could get pretty expensive.

Tony

[darcy]

I have to agree with Tony on this one!! I had one of these water filter's and it did not last a week!! So to me to spend the 30 bucks a week for the cartridge, was not very smart. Go with an RO unit. It will save you money in the end!!
Darcy

[pissydiscus]

From what Ive heard...The A.P. tap water filter (mixed bed resin) exhausts quickly...even faster with hard water. From what Ive read, with the large water changes discus keepers tend to do....they only last about a week.
Not sure....but the last I can remember, they were about thirty bucks a crack.... :o...could get pretty expensive.

Tony


You can get the filters for 20 bucks from petco maybe cheaper somewhere else, my friend uses this water filter setup and it works fine for him for the past year and a half with his 4 discus.

[saints27]

The different prices for the filters are for different grades of filter,Buying them from a water filtration place are much more expensive than from a pet store also they are much better.
You are suppose to change them after every 2000 litres I got rid of mine as i change over 2000 litres a day!

just my 2 cents worth
Jamie

[Carol_Roberts]

Let me clarify somtheing. My discus lay eggs in 11 GH, but they do not hatch. I have had eggs hatch in 9 GH and 6 GH

The tap water filter set up works OK if you have one tank, use the filter to soften the water right before they breed and then switch back to tap water. I only got about 20 gallons of water from each cartridge :( RO is more economical in the long run.

Carol :heart1:

[Gnome]

Let me clarify somtheing. My discus lay eggs in 11 GH, but they do not hatch. I have had eggs hatch in 9 GH and 6 GH

The tap water filter set up works OK if you have one tank, use the filter to soften the water right before they breed and then switch back to tap water. I only got about 20 gallons of water from each cartridge :( RO is more economical in the long run.

Carol :heart1:


HI carol,
you have a Nice BT setup in your Closet,
yeah I do think that is like a mad science's closet though, but it has the pratical essence to it. 8)
so you're using TWF from AP?
and do you mean by just before she lay eggs is like 2 or three days before?
I just bought a nice pair SS red turq discus, the male is rather bluish and the female is reddish, they breed after a week I got them, very impressive, but the wriggles didn't make it, because the parents lose them betwen the gravels. first time I bought the discus was for my 29g displaying purposes only, but after seeing the eggs turned to be wriggles on the pot which I put in there for the rams, I suddenly changed my mind!
I will try to breed them in my 15 gallon tank, I know they need 20 gallon at least but, I have my 29 gallon tank already set up for planted tank w/ all gravels, fish, and stuff. all I have left is my old 15 gallon tank, just barely enough.
Now what I have to do is putting my cycled second filter to my 15 gallon tank, and setup a small DYI CO2 to keep the ph same in both tanks, I'm using CO2 in my 29g planted tank, in case I need to remove one of the parents or fry,
and can I use syphon filter, instead sponge?my tap water has 9 dGH but after I use softener pillow it brings to 6dgh, ph of 7.5 w/ CO2 is 6.8-6.5, dKH is 3, I'm not sure the conductivity though, is there any correliation between gh and conductivity? is 9 gh water enough for raising fry, the only thing i need is to get the gh down for a while just before she lay eggs, rite? I guees I will just use commercial R/O water. wish me luck... ;D

[jim_shedden]

Gnome : I have used the filter that you speak of and it did work very well. The downside is that it is extremely slow. The other downside is if you have more than one tank it depletes very quickly.

Jim

[Carol_Roberts]

The RO or Tap water Filter is to get wigglers. If you get wigglers in your water you may not need RO. I quickly change back to my tap (GH 11) after eggs hatch.

You definately need another tank. You may get your pair to breed and have wigglers in the 15 gallon, but will most likely start losing fry to bacaterial infections as you may not be able to do enough water changes to keep up with the waste produced.

I suggest a 29 gallon bare bottom as the minimum to breed and raise fry to 3 weeks old in.
Carol :heart1:

[Gnome]

The RO or Tap water Filter is to get wigglers. If you get wigglers in your water you may not need RO. I quickly change back to my tap (GH 11) after eggs hatch.

You definately need another tank. You may get your pair to breed and have wigglers in the 15 gallon, but will most likely start losing fry to bacaterial infections as you may not be able to do enough water changes to keep up with the waste produced.

I suggest a 29 gallon bare bottom as the minimum to breed and raise fry to 3 weeks old in.
Carol :heart1:


Carol,
I think I will still used the RO water since my water GH is 9 so I won't take any risk, I think I will bring it down close to 4 or 5, oh the 29 gallon tank I have now is already set up w/ gravels and sstuff, It will pe very painfull to move around the gravel and I don't have any space anymore to get another 29 and about the 15 gallon tank, is it possible that I will still have the fry survive, w/ twice per day WC of 50-75% at a time? I can do WC on the morning, 7.30am and 6.00pm, also if needed I can change the water at 11.00 pm before I go to bed, but offcourse the amount will be reduce to 30-50% each time. I just bought continuous hatch and feeder BBS, do you know for how long I will feed them bbs until they got big and ready to be feed something more nutritious? thanks.
Gnome



Gnome : I have used the filter that you speak of and it did work very well. The downside is that it is extremely slow. The other downside is if you have more than one tank it depletes very quickly.

Jim


Jim, I was thinking about getting that TWF too but since I get wrigglers from the first batch w/ 6 GH (water Softener effect) getting a small amount of Commercial RO water wouldn't cause me a lot of hazzle and bring it down close to 4 or 5dgh.

[Carol_Roberts]

it possible that I will still have the fry survive, w/ twice per day WC of 50-75% at a time? little fry are delicate. You have to be very careful the water is exactly the same temperature and pH. You must add the water gently. Usually I do several 10 - 15 % water changes daily for the first week or so

I just bought continuous hatch and feeder BBS, do you know for how long I will feed them bbs until they got big and ready to be feed something more nutritious? A couple of weeks. After the first week or so you should try to get them eating other foods. by three weeks they should be eating flakes and tetra bits

Carol :heart1:

[Gnome]

it possible that I will still have the fry survive, w/ twice per day WC of 50-75% at a time? little fry are delicate. You have to be very careful the water is exactly the same temperature and pH. You must add the water gently. Usually I do several 10 - 15 % water changes daily for the first week or so

I just bought continuous hatch and feeder BBS, do you know for how long I will feed them bbs until they got big and ready to be feed something more nutritious? A couple of weeks. After the first week or so you should try to get them eating other foods. by three weeks they should be eating flakes and tetra bits

Carol :heart1:


thanks carol, :) after some remainder from you, know all I have to deal w/ is steady PH and temp rite. I guess I will need another tank like 10 gallon w/ the same water param w/ the 15g, just in case they need it.

[allan_mark76]

Gnome save yourself the time and money and don't buy it. Invest in a regular 2-4 stage RO unit. It works for your discus and yourself (drinking water). JMHO. Look on the boards as there are some trustworthy people to buy RO units from.

A-

[Gnome]

Gnome save yourself the time and money and don't buy it. Invest in a regular 2-4 stage RO unit. It works for your discus and yourself (drinking water). JMHO. Look on the boards as there are some trustworthy people to buy RO units from.

A-


Allan, I also thinking about that, but I'm not really commmited and dedicated discus breeder, I'm doing this just for satisfying my curiousity, and take a chance from my breeding Pair which was I bought for displaying purposes reason, and I don't need really good water for drink though hahah, I'm still a student and my budget is limited, so I think IF I bought the TWF it will be worthwhile in the short run since I only have one tank to take care though,

[RandalB]

Gnome,
Do a little cost comparison and you'll see that the AP Tap filter is going to cost you more $$ in the short and long term. If you do the math, it comes out that the Tap filter is going to cost you about $0.50 a gallon to produce water. (Based on an average of 40 gallons before exhausting if you have municipal tap water). A replacement cartrige will cost you $17.99 plus shipping from Foster/Smith. So for 80 gallons of water you have spent around $57.00 (29.99 for the unit, $17.99 for the replacement and $10.00 for shipping them.) That's about half the cost of a nice RO unit which you can operate for about $0.01 a gallon.

I sell RO units cheap, there are lots of guys selling them as cheap or cheaper than me on E-bay. Look into the RO unit if you need the soft water and save yourself $$. The initial outlay definately will pay for itself in the long run.

Regards,
RandalB

PS if you have any RO questions feel free to IM or post them I'll be happy to help out if I can.

[Gnome]

Gnome,
Do a little cost comparison and you'll see that the AP Tap filter is going to cost you more $$ in the short and long term. If you do the math, it comes out that the Tap filter is going to cost you about $0.50 a gallon to produce water. (Based on an average of 40 gallons before exhausting if you have municipal tap water). A replacement cartrige will cost you $17.99 plus shipping from Foster/Smith. So for 80 gallons of water you have spent around $57.00 (29.99 for the unit, $17.99 for the replacement and $10.00 for shipping them.) That's about half the cost of a nice RO unit which you can operate for about $0.01 a gallon.

I sell RO units cheap, there are lots of guys selling them as cheap or cheaper than me on E-bay. Look into the RO unit if you need the soft water and save yourself $$. The initial outlay definately will pay for itself in the long run.

Regards,
RandalB

PS if you have any RO questions feel free to IM or post them I'll be happy to help out if I can.


I see... it is a lot more cheaper if you do the math, still I think that I don't really need RO unit, luckily I have my water(9dgh) softened by softener pillow from ap to 6dgh, and you can always recharge it w/ AQ salt, I think it will cost you around 8 bucks(softener pillow $6 and 16 oz. aq salt $2.5), and you can use it almost a half year if you have only, say one tank to take care off, I still get wriggles and I heard that salt is not good for the fry, but I only use it just for the father to be succesfull in fertilizing the eggs after that I will be fine w/ my tap water, I think the best choice for me who is just learning to breed discus, combining softened water w/ commercial RO water will just about enough for breeding one pair. Thanks about the advice, I already did some research on ebay and other websites. probably someday after I done w/ my study and get a real job, I will think about it..:)