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Thread: Striving for Consistency.

  1. #1
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    Question Striving for Consistency.

    Hello SD Members!

    For the past 10 months I've been lurking the forums and studying up on discus and proper care practices & techniques.

    Recently I've bought a electronic pH meter + API's Aquarium test kit from Amazon. Coming straight out of my tap the water's pH varies so much. I'll be updating this tread everyday so I can keep a log and others can give me advise. (I'm aware my water's pH is VERY high)

    12/2/2017: 8.2-8.4 pH
    12/3/2017: 8.6-8.8 pH

    So my question is. How would you guys go about providing consistent pH/Water parameters for my discus? I've already bought a RO buddie to help lower the pH and remove most of the TDS. (I havent tested my TDS yet but judging what I've heard from others in my area its VERY high as well.)

    Any advise is helpful. Thank you guys!

  2. #2
    Registered Member Akili's Avatar
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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Domestic Discus can be kept in water with high TDS as long as the the pH is stable.Wild Discus and breeding pairs need water with lower TDS.
    Quote from Colin Powell
    "There are no secrets to success; don’t waste time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom you work, and persistence. You must be ready for opportunity when it comes"



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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Quote Originally Posted by Akili View Post
    Domestic Discus can be kept in water with high TDS as long as the the pH is stable.Wild Discus and breeding pairs need water with lower TDS.
    Even as high as 9.0?

  4. #4
    Registered Member Akili's Avatar
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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Quote Originally Posted by PillBox_ View Post
    Even as high as 9.0?
    My tap water has never been that high but I have kept them in pH as high as 8.Discus have not problem going from lower pH to high pH, it is a problem when going from high pH to low. I have never tried to lower my pH.
    Quote from Colin Powell
    "There are no secrets to success; don’t waste time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom you work, and persistence. You must be ready for opportunity when it comes"



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    Registered Member Pardal's Avatar
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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Quote Originally Posted by PillBox_ View Post
    Even as high as 9.0?
    Yes
    ph is secondary the most important factor will be GH ( Calcium & Magnesium for the most part) . I have raise and keep fry with the reject water from my RO. However if you can afford give them better water by all means. Low TDS and ph for wilds specially Heckels. However I have kept my wilds on straight aged tap water , for weeks not issues. They just act better look better with soft water. Most important above everything is stable conditions . A ph of 9.0 in fresh water is an abnormality most likely and error IME , way back when I use to have salt water a ph of 8.2 was normal and that was adding half a cup of salt per gallon. I will check the instruments first if I get a reading that high.
    To recreate stable , stable , stable conditions is the key. don't mess with the ph , and water hardness is more important . some specific species of wild Heckels if you are trying to breed them required low ph , and them you need to pay attention to Kh or buffer as is very dangerous to have a ph swing .
    I hope this can help . I shoot from the hip , hope is not too much information.
    Last edited by Pardal; 12-03-2017 at 09:59 PM.
    Breeding , interest and goals Wilds Heckels and Cuipeuas and a few Domestics pairs with occasional fry as well as Angels fancy Plecos , corys and shrimps.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Age and aerate the water in a bucket for a day to see if the ph drops and stabilizes. Ours is coming out of tap as high as 9.6 starting in 2018 due to the addition of sodium hydroxide, but with aeration it drops back down to a lower baseline pretty quick. Perhaps city is adding chemicals to your water for corrosive control measures, like my city?
    Last edited by Second Hand Pat; 12-12-2017 at 09:02 AM. Reason: Fixed sentence

  7. #7
    Registered Member Ryan925's Avatar
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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Since you already bought an RO unit you could always go 50/50 and that would lower ph and hardness with using any chemicals to alter ph
    Im not illiterate...only my phone's auto correct is

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pardal View Post
    Yes
    ph is secondary the most important factor will be GH ( Calcium & Magnesium for the most part) . I have raise and keep fry with the reject water from my RO. However if you can afford give them better water by all means. Low TDS and ph for wilds specially Heckels. However I have kept my wilds on straight aged tap water , for weeks not issues. They just act better look better with soft water. Most important above everything is stable conditions . A ph of 9.0 in fresh water is an abnormality most likely and error IME , way back when I use to have salt water a ph of 8.2 was normal and that was adding half a cup of salt per gallon. I will check the instruments first if I get a reading that high.
    To recreate stable , stable , stable conditions is the key. don't mess with the ph , and water hardness is more important . some specific species of wild Heckels if you are trying to breed them required low ph , and them you need to pay attention to Kh or buffer as is very dangerous to have a ph swing .
    I hope this can help . I shoot from the hip , hope is not too much information.
    No such thing as to much information! And I don't believe it is an error reading seeing as I've used the API test kit and an electronic reader.

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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kyla View Post
    Age and not aerate the water in a bucket for a day to see if the ph drops and stabilizes. Ours is coming out of tap as high as 9.6 starting in 2018 due to the addition of sodium hydroxide, but with aeration it drops back down to a lower baseline pretty quick. Perhaps city is adding chemicals to your water for corrosive control measures, like my city?
    Will give it a try, thanks!

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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Quote Originally Posted by PillBox_ View Post
    Will give it a try, thanks!
    Sorry I just noticed my typo, I meant "age and aerate", like test the ph of the new tap water in a bucket, then aerate it with an air stone or something for a day, then retest it to see if ur ph drops.

  11. #11
    Silver Member DonMD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kyla View Post
    Sorry I just noticed my typo, I meant "age and aerate", like test the ph of the new tap water in a bucket, then aerate it with an air stone or something for a day, then retest it to see if ur ph drops.
    Yes, I wondered if you really meant to say "not aerate." Definitely put an air stone in your water storage and your water should stabilize in 24 hours to then give you consistent readings. High pH should not be a problem, as long as you don't make continual abrupt changes to the pH.

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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Alrighty! I have put the 5 gallon bucket out I will test in 12 hours and 24 hours!

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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    I came home today and did a tap water pH test and I got a reading of 8.6. and in the 24 hour wait out I got 7.4-7.6. Thanks guys!

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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Nice, that's great news! So to answer your initial question, I would set up the most efficient possible water change system so that you can age/aerate/heat water for water changes. Then after you drain the tank u can use a pump and hose to refill the tank from your barrel. Don't forget about safety if u have small kids or even cats etc, to ensure the barrel is covered/locked away etc

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    Default Re: Striving for Consistency.

    Will do, thanks Kyla!

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