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MPETERS
10-16-2011, 07:10 PM
Hi All,

I asked about water conditioners ect several months ago in the beginning forum and am still working on the problem.

I live in Apache Junction, AZ. and would like to set up a 250 gal discus tank, I am however, worried about water quality. I have a well with very hard water. Everything I have read has said that I need soft water for discus. How important is soft water. I have thought about starting up my RO system but have no use for the waste water and don't want to send it to the ground. I know I can't use a water softener due to the extra sodium added to the water. Can I set one up using potasium or would that also be bad ( I think it would ).

I am planning to add two res. filters but they will not soften the water. I don't want to set up a tank that is an unhealthy enviroment for the fish. Again I need to know:

1) Can I use hard water in a discus tank
2) How hard is the water in discus tanks that are up and running
3) Is there another way to soften water (once I fill the tamk I am planning of 70 gal. water changes a week)

Thank you in advance.

Mike Peters
Apache Junction, AZ

Sean Buehrle
10-16-2011, 08:22 PM
Unless your keeping wild discus or angels there's no need for soft water.

I'm pretty sure some people around here are even keeping wilds in plain tap water after they get settled in.

I've kept domestic discus in 400 tds water with no problems.
The only time you might need soft water for domestic discus is if your having bad hatch rates with a pair and want to drop the tds.

You'll get this same answer from most people around here.

Have fun.

MPETERS
10-16-2011, 09:05 PM
That is great to hear as I don't plan on keeping wild discus. I will start planning how to set up the tank. It was suppose to be a saltwater tank but came in with a crack in the bottom. It has been set up with two corner overflows both with 2" drilled holes and two 2" drilled in the back glass. Plan on using the corner overflows to return the water to the tank and the ones in the back glass as the drain from the tank. Should be interesting getting it to work correctly.

Thanks again for the help.

Mike

bstreep
10-19-2011, 06:32 PM
Please don't take what I say as gospel - I'm NOT an expert.

My tank was a conversion from a reef tank - a part of the hobby I've been in for over 35 years. I have 2 RO/DI systems, and I was using one that's plumbed to this tank, as I was told here that this is the best solution. The tank, at 215 gallons, took a LOT of RO/DI water, and like you, I hated to dump the waste down the drain. We also have a water softener - our water is aquifer water and is rock hard. I was told that I shouldn't use water from it, due to the "salt" content. I'm a molecular geneticist by education - so I DO know my chemistry. These are Na+ ions in the water that have replaced the Ca+ in the water. I was fighting a losing battle with water quality, and my choices then became outside tap water (unsoftened), or softened water. What I chose to do is use the softened filtered water right before the RO membrane. I did mix it with some RO/DI water, to make the change over time. It's been a month and a half now, and my tank looks better than ever (planted), and my discus look WAY better/happier.

I'm not quite ready to call the "don't use water softener water" a myth yet... We'll see.