acclimation question

[Bud]

I realize this is a dumb question,but my hands keep typing...Ill be switching to ro/tap w/cs soon. Do i gradually increase my ro ratio in my barrel daily until Im happy with my tds,gh,ph.(so the fish can adjust).How much can i adjust daily? Thanks for the replys,as I feel more and more its self explainatory.

[Chicago Discus]

what I did when I switched to RO/tap mix was I used a barrel to mix and age my water then started by adding more tap water and daily I would increase the RO in the mix until i achieved my goal.......Josie

[Sean Buehrle]

I realize this is a dumb question,but my hands keep typing...Ill be switching to ro/tap w/cs soon. Do i gradually increase my ro ratio in my barrel daily until Im happy with my tds,gh,ph.(so the fish can adjust).How much can i adjust daily? Thanks for the replys,as I feel more and more its self explainatory.

Just watch the ph.

You don't want to drop the ph too quick and if possible not at all.

You should mix your ro/tap mix and monitor the ph for 24 hours, heated.

If you see a drop in ph just add that water slowly over 24 hours and keep doing it till the tank is the same.

Bad thing about water that is altered and has a different ph is keeping it constant.
I would test every barrel of water I use if that's the case.

Ph drops can kill your fish so be careful.

What Tds are you shooting for and why are ya using ro/tap? Breeding tanks or water problems?

[Bud]

ya I have hard water,high ph,alil iron,and excess tds(I would like to shoot for about 50ish?),and I would like to get my fish to breed,but I cannot remember the safe zone for gh/kh to prevent my ph from crashing!

[Sean Buehrle]

ya I have hard water,high ph,alil iron,and excess tds(I would like to shoot for about 50ish?),and I would like to get my fish to breed,but I cannot remember the safe zone for gh/kh to prevent my ph from crashing!

Yeah well I'm no water expert.

I'm sure though that you should forget about trying to drop the ph.

If you don't already have one, buy a Hannah Tds meter or a good name brand one.
Get your barrel set up and fill it 80% with ro water and start dumping 1 gallon at a time into the barrel.
Keep doing that till you reach your desired Tds .
I suggest you shoot for 70, always works for me and gives a little wiggle room.
Watch that water for a couple days and monitor the ph. Heat it too.

I say a couple days because not only is the water going to be in the barrel 24 hours but it'll be in the tank another 24, so be safe than sorry.

I suggest you get a gh/kh test kit too and go to the water works section and ask the people in there if its sufficient.
Remember, don't go blasting your fish with water that has a lower ph, it's really the only mistake you can make here.
Good luck.

[Bud]

Thanx Saun,just got my tds meter,and a ph meter.My gh/kh kit expired,Ill be getting one this week.Tested it before wrote it down and cant find it!Anyway,I still need to ariate right?ph starts at 6.6 ends at 8.3!As for breeding,I just need to get my gh/kh down right?Ill probly have to test in a 5 gal bucket then convert to my storage barrel measurements because I still use it daily.

[Bud]

*Sean*!dang spell check :)

[Sean Buehrle]

Yeah you should run some sort of a pump, even a old hang on back filter will work.
So your ph goes up from 6 to 8 after sitting 24 hours or the other way around ? And is that with just straight ro water or is it mixed ro with tap.
Another thing, where are you located?
Might be another person here in the same city.

[Bud]

starts at 6.6 rises to 8.3 and thats just pure TAP.My ro is not here yet...Fri.

[Sean Buehrle]

starts at 6.6 rises to 8.3 and thats just pure TAP.My ro is not here yet...Fri.

That's strange.

What's your Tds out of the faucet?

[Bud]

289 ppm. CO2 gassing off,creating ph to rise,others here have same problem,making the aging barrel a MUST :(

[Sean Buehrle]

289 ppm. CO2 gassing off,creating ph to rise,others here have same problem,making the aging barrel a MUST :(

Well an aging barrel isn't a bad idea anyways, look at it like killing two birds with one stone.
I think you will notice a big difference in the way your fish act using aged water.
When you get all your supplies test kits and all, make a new thread listing everything so the people with more experience in here can help you with this one.

You need a gh kh expert from here on out. I think jimg knows a lot about that stuff.

Good luck.

[Orange Crush]

Sticky on water testing that also talks about gh/kh
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?55228-Test-Equipment-and-Testing-Water-for-the-Freshwater-Aquarium&highlight=gh+test

[TURQ64]

My tap runs @ 400 ppm, ph 7.2 at the tap, 8.5-8.9 after aging and air, extreme amounts of Chloramines..so...taps' out, but I use both RO product and reject water...after RO, my reject container is over 800 ppm..then, I reprocess it thru RO's again..I use a Hanna TDS meter, and the reject pegs it....over 1000 ppm..I guess this is the wrong place to mention I'm raising some Forrest Giant Blues in the reject....

what's wrong with your 298 ppm?

[Bud]

I know the 289 isnt to bad,and the EPAs max guidline for potable water is 500 ppm.My water has the highest tds out of all other houses I tested(new toy had to travel:))But the hardness I cannot remember for the life of me(getting test tomorrow!)My tank and stoage barrel both grow mass amounts of cal/lime.deposits at the top.I do believe my water is great for grow-out,because I have with good success.But Iwould like to try and breed and with hard water.......???I really appreciate the replys as Ive only been at the discus race for about 18 months,so Im still "training".

[Bud]

looks like I should lower my gh but not my kh and my ph will be safe (stabile).thanks for sticky.although I was bummed to read that engineers post about tds meters not true water meters.Ill go get a gh/kh meter tomorrow (and I thought this was self explianitory)so In the mean time...keep advising please!thanx

[jaykne]

Do you have fish breeding yet? My tds is 450 to 500 ph of 8.5 and I get a 90% hatch rate, there are allot of others breeding domestic discus in hard water also, I have talked with a couple experts about this and they say it is not how hard your water is it is allot of other things. I know a member here that has very soft water tds of 20 he has to keep up on his water changes or his ph will crash and he can't get any to hatch out of many proven pairs it is something in his water. If you are breeding domestics and have not had a spawn yet wait and let them try in your tap water a couple times first, you may be surprised.

[Sean Buehrle]

looks like I should lower my gh but not my kh and my ph will be safe (stabile).thanks for sticky.although I was bummed to read that engineers post about tds meters not true water meters.Ill go get a gh/kh meter tomorrow (and I thought this was self explianitory)so In the mean time...keep advising please!thanx

What's this about an engineer saying a Tds meter doesn't work or something?

[Bud]

Thanx Larry,but its too late ,I already ordered my new toy!But I do believe anything below 70-50 ppm tds IS definate grounds for unstabilized water perameters,I could see 20 as a real threat.Sean,at the end of this; http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...hlight=gh+test-Joegargas talks about a tds meter not being a scientificaly proper way of testing water hardness(which I thought was part of thhe Total Desolved Solids)?

[Sean Buehrle]

Thanx Larry,but its too late ,I already ordered my new toy!But I do believe anything below 70-50 ppm tds IS definate grounds for unstabilized water perameters,I could see 20 as a real threat.Sean,at the end of this; http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...hlight=gh+test-Joegargas talks about a tds meter not being a scientificaly proper way of testing water hardness(which I thought was part of thhe Total Desolved Solids)?
LOL, holy cow

I don't even know how to respond to this in a proper way, so I'll quit now.

Yes I do :)

Now I know why joe Gargas is never on here, he must think he's surrounded by idiots because 99 percent of the people here use them.

Sorry :)

[Orange Crush]

My TDS is around 36 but my water is very stable because my kh is 3-4. It comes out of the tap at 7 and stays there. TDS is not the same as kh.

[Bud]

Isnt kh very closly related to tds?(the measurement of carbonates in the water)I know gh is definately(measurement ofcal.,mag,lime,ect) But I do understand they have totally different jobs.........But according to the previous sticky,isnt your water 2 points away from ph crash?You sure got it dialed in!Youre tds is 36....out of your tap?!!?!!!!!!

[Orange Crush]

I do not know what it is out of my tap. 36 is in tank after a 80% water change.

[Bud]

Very jealous of those perameters!People like you were MADE to have fish rooms!