Last Check Before Discus Arrive!

[Aquaman6410]

Thanks to the help of everyone on this forum, I'm finally as ready as I can be for discus. I have (9) 3in Stendkers arriving Friday for my 75g! I plan to grow them out a bit in this tank bare bottom, then setup a 125 or 150g display for them.

A couple last minute questions and checks.

My tank's temp stays around 83.2 at lowest and 84 degrees at the highest. Is that good enough? Should I go higher? I see most like to keep them around 84 it seems.

I just added 2ppm of ammonia to the tank last night to verify bacteria still holding. It consumed the ammonia within 24 hours. Here is my main concern. My kh is around 1 - 2 out of tap and I age for 24 hrs. My ph settles around 7.2 - 7.4 after 24hrs. In the tank after 24hrs of consuming 2ppm of ammonia as stated above, my kh went down to 0 or barely 1 degree, hard to tell with api test, and ph went down to 6.6. I did add a half cup of crushed coral weeks ago to ac110. Should I be concerned? Will ph and kh have problems when discus arrive? Should I add baking soda to aging brute cans? I added 1/2 tsp to tank while no fish are here just to prevent crash and ph went up to 7, kh still around less than 1. Should I just rinse and add more crushed coral. This is my biggest concern to address before the fish arrive. I do plan on doing daily water changes or as much as I can for the best growth and to try to keep water from crashing. Just don't want the tank to crash if I missed a water change or back off a bit on changes once they are adults. I'll be starting a journal so look out for that if interested. I'm planted tank nerd coverting to a discus nut.

[ddr1981]

I've had good luck with Stendkers and do not suggest adding anything to your tap water. You definitely need to age your tap water for 24 hours with an airstone or pump running to aerate the water. This will fix your pH swing. If you don't age your water you will stress the fish out very quickly because of the pH fluctuations. Age your water and only add a dechlorinator (I like Seachem Safe), change the water completely every day, and they'll grow fast. As far as temperate goes, Hans will tell you 86, but nearly everyone here, myself included prefers 82. Make sure you do a 100% water change with aged water before the fish arrive.

[DJW]

You should do a big water change the morning the fish are scheduled to arrive, with aged water. Get the nitrates out... reset the water. Its always exciting getting new fish in.

[Filip]

82 -84F range is a good temp.
Tap water can be stressfull particularly with young discus because of the microbubbling(dissolved gasses) and PH swings . You may get away with 50% WC straight tap that discus would not mind but I doubt that they can put up with 100 % every day .
Just observe them and they will tell you how much % straight tap they can tolerate.
And That kh is very low, making PH levels unstable I would try to do something to up the kh levels at least for a 2 degrees(Crushed coral in filters or monitored baking soda in ageing barrel).
Good luck with your start.

[DJW]

Do you have plenty of aeration in the ageing barrel?

[Kyla]

i had the same issues as u with low kh. i used a baggy of rinsed aragonite in my canister filter and it has been working great for over a year now. i put it in all my tanks and all my friends' tanks. i would add a bit more crushed coral just to bump the kh up and bit to be on the safe side. daily wc will prob work fine BUT if u skip a wc or leave town for a week u dont want to have a ph drop unexpectedly.

[Aquaman6410]

I'll add more crushed coral/aragonite asap. I have two air stones in each 44 gallon brute and a koralia 425gph power head making the surface ripple a little. Anyone recommend a stronger air pump. I'm using a 9 liter per minute petco brand pump with 4 outlets but bubbles seem weak. 44 gallon brutes are kind of deep. I have 2 brutes currently and would love a stronger air pump without breaking the bank.

[Willie]

I've seen no rationale so far in this thread for adding crushed coral or anything else to your water. Your best bet to have stable water condition is to use straight tap. That way, the entire municipal water system is your buffer. Use conditioned water that is exactly the same for every day water changes, and your discus will do great. The KISS method is always the preferred mode unless you run into a problem.

Good luck, Willie

[Davidzil]

Willie, I have not seen anyone recommend straight tap, can you share your reasoning.

[Ryan925]

I'll add more crushed coral/aragonite asap. I have two air stones in each 44 gallon brute and a koralia 425gph power head making the surface ripple a little. Anyone recommend a stronger air pump. I'm using a 9 liter per minute petco brand pump with 4 outlets but bubbles seem weak. 44 gallon brutes are kind of deep. I have 2 brutes currently and would love a stronger air pump without breaking the bank.

I really like these air pumps. Best I've used IMO. I have a 2 outlet one hooked to a 4" air stone and it puts out some serious bubbles in my 75. I really like the adjustment knob. I belief they make some even larger

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002J...FIL&ref=plSrch

[DJW]

I think the best approach is to just do daily water changes and see how stable your pH is. You will probably find that it is stable enough. By adding ammonia artificially you might be titrating away the alkalinity (or buffer) faster than the fish will. In other words, the biofilter is likely overqualified.

It won't hurt to leave the crushed coral until the new fish are settled in, and then you can see if it is really necessary. Losing KH of 1-2 in one day seems abnormal to me, but it would be unwise to assume that your water should work the same as mine. Mine would easily go a week with that much buffer as long as the tank wasn't overcrowded.

If you want to keep an eye on it the easy way, an electronic pH meter is handy. Here is what I use.

https://www.amazon.com/American-Mari.../dp/B001EHAZ30

[Phillydubs]

Well first of all congrats! Always super fun to get new fish and it can be rather addicting!!

Are you new to discus or is this a new group?

I will admit, I am not a tester or a scientific keeper. I kinda just stick with as many high volume and frequent water changes as I possibly can and the results have been pleasurable to say the least.

Have you mentioned to Hans what you posted here for feedback?

I have to agree with Dan above here in that your best idea may be to just do the daily wc and see where you level out... Starting to think into it too much and adding things to adjust and maintain is asking for trouble in my opinion. Once we start to try and manipulate the water there usually stems problems...

I would get the fish and add them and just keep up with large daily changes 100% if possible. The fish will tell you rather quickly if there is issue. As long as you are cycled and aging your water, I see no issue for you. But keeping up with the WC will be crucial, especially once you add the fish.

[Davidzil]

I had to ask, what do people do when they can't age the water?

[Phillydubs]

You hope your water from the tap is acceptable and there are no big swings once in the tank. You make sure you can match the temp and you add your chemical and hope for the best or you don't keep these fish...

[Filip]

I had to ask, what do people do when they can't age the water?

You can avoid large WCs , and perform 50% WCs more often .Keep the tank glass , bottom and filters very clean to avoid the need of large WCs , and do not overstock .