Tips for Managing A pH Swing?

[rightwinger59]

Hello!

I'm in the process of setting up an 80 gallon planted show tank that (eventually) will feature discus. I've drilled the tank for a sump (growing wisteria down there, along with a bunch more bio-media and a 300 micron sock) and will also be using a Fluval FX4 for additional filtration (and relatively painless water changes!).

Based on the advice I've received here, I tested my water yesterday for a pH swing. And looks like I have a big one. I filled up my 55 gallon Brute (will be using it for water changes) and left it sit overnight. Based on the readings from my newly calibrated Pinpoint monitor the water is coming out of the tap at 8.9 and the water I let cure for 24 hours in the Brute is now at 8.05, so almost a full point swing.

I believe this means I'll need to invest in another heater and an air pump to heat/aerate the water in the Brute before doing a water change, correct? And would it also correct to assume that once the plants are added (will be using CO2 on an in-line atomizer) that the pH levels should drop even further?

And while we're on that point, my second question has to do with plant fertilization in a discus tank. The EI method only assumes one water change per week, and I'll be doing more than that. Does anyone have any insight into how multiple water changes affect the EI fertilization schedule?

Thanks for the input!

[Ryan925]

Yes you will need to age your water. That is a very large swing.

Co2 will cause the ph to drop during the day then it will typically rise again at night.

When my tank was planted I liked the pps pro fert method. It's extremely cheap. Dosing is the same every day of micro and macro. Essentially what the plants will utilize in a day so frequent wc shouldn't effect it

With that said my discus tank is no longer planted. I now have a planted tank and a discus tank but not a planted discus tank.

[rightwinger59]

Yes you will need to age your water. That is a very large swing.

Co2 will cause the ph to drop during the day then it will typically rise again at night.

When my tank was planted I liked the pps pro fert method. It's extremely cheap. Dosing is the same every day of micro and macro. Essentially what the plants will utilize in a day so frequent wc shouldn't effect it

With that said my discus tank is no longer planted. I now have a planted tank and a discus tank but not a planted discus tank.

Hi Ryan, thanks for the reply. Just out of curiosity - why did you move your discus out of the planted tank?

[Ryan925]

Hi Ryan, thanks for the reply. Just out of curiosity - why did you move your discus out of the planted tank?

I saw less than stellar results in their growth and appearance. I hated seeing my plants go as they were thriving but many months later I am so glad I did.

Take a look at my tank journal and you can see the difference was night and day. Fortunately I made the changes early enough and the ones that were behind caught up nicely

[Filip]

High tech planted tanks are not a very friendly environment to discus OP . They are designed to reach the optimal needs of plants . The needs of discus and plants are completely opposed .

I would suggest to start with full grown discus if you insist on high tech planted environment and understock your tank putting max. number of 1 fullgrown discus on 15- 20 G of water.