What can i do to my water?

[FishGuru]

Hi, i'm thinking about starting a 55 gallon Discus tank, but the only thing that is holding me back is my water. The pH straight from the tap ranges from 8.0-7.4 depending on the season. I also have very hard water. I don't plan on breeding Discus, I just want to keep them. Would they be able to live in these kind of conditions?

[Carol_Roberts]

Probably. Mine are in GH 11 and pH 7.8 well water.

What is you pH after a cup of water has set on the counter overnight? Generally you pH will go up or down depending on what gasses are trapped in the water. (Mine starts at pH 6.8 and rises to 7.8)

If you don't have one get a test kit to measure GH so you can tell us how hard your water is. You can order a kit online from someplace like www.petsolutions.com if you can't find one locally.

[FishGuru]

Hi, I just tested my tap and it's at a pH of 7.5 and 16gh. I'll see what test results i get after letting some water set out overnight. Thanks again!

[boxlotfish]

:) Hi: If you live in Florida then your well water is 400 ppm hardness. City water tends to be 120 ppm. This well water is to hard and the fish will develop slime coat problems associated with trying to combat the hardness. Diseases that Discus can not fight off will thrive in the hard water also. If you can get your water down to the 120 ppm level they they will do very much better. You can read my page on Humic Salts that I have been experimenting with at: http://boxlotfish.com "Aquahumic" Any kind of Humic like Tannin Black Water extracts and teas will help to combat the negative aspects of hard water.

[FishGuru]

Hi, I have city water...I areated my water for 24 hours and found that the pH rose from 7.5 to 9.0! However, my KH and my GH both dropped a degree. (GH measuring at 15 and KH measuring at 12). Any advice you may have on how I can deal with my water issues would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! ;D