I'd love to have tap tds of 53. The less you mess with your water the better.
Hi guys im new to discus looking into getting a tank soon.just been reading and trying to learn as much as i can before i get started.my tap water has a tds reading of 53 is this too low will i need to add any chemicals to this.
I know i have to test it for other stuff aswell just not got the test kits yet.
I'd love to have tap tds of 53. The less you mess with your water the better.
I totally agree with Keith's statement!
However, I would recommend educating yourself with your basic water composition. "TDS" can be a generic term. Why is your water 53 TDS? A 53 TDS can be stable or it can possibly be very unstable and create an environment for a ph crash, or it can be the ideal parameters for breeding. I think this low of a ph requires close monitoring...
Until water composition is known, I would rely on regular water changes to keep the balance...
Last edited by jeep; 08-10-2018 at 02:14 AM.
Hi and welcome to the forum Ash.
Your water is next to perfect for discus keeping and even breeding .
Only thing you should pay attention here would be your PH level . Low TDS water tend to have low level of buffers ( KH below 4 dgh ) and low PH levels(I.e. ph-6 or even less ) which can lead to PH crush .
Crushed coral in the filter trays and regular WCs are used to prevent this from happening.
BTW . What size of tank do you plan to have and what kind / size of discus do you plan to keep ?
Hi Ash and welcome to Simply. To help understand your water and what your TDS consists of get the API GH/KH test.
Pat
Your discus are talking to you....are you listening
hi guys im looking at getting a 5 foot tank around 100+gallons i have seen a few options so far.not sure on the discus yet been reading that juveniles are a little harder too keep then adults but im guessing that depends on own experience level at keeping fish.i will get the test kits for my water and go from there.going to my lfs tomorrow they stock discus hopefully know more then dont know if anyone here has used them its in bolton called maidenhead aquatics
Hi Ash,
Nothing difficult about discus, juvenile or adult. They do require more work than other fish (especially juveniles) though, so make sure you are comfortable donating hours of your week into fish instead of other things. Previous fish keeping skills are good to have, but you will find many exceptions with discus that may conflict with common hobby knowledge.
Generally a lfs is the WORST place to get discus advice. They often know next to nothing and act like they know everything as they're helping you to their cash register. Juveniles require a lot more water changes to reach anywhere near their potential size, that's the biggest reason adults and near adults are easier to keep. 100+ gallon tank would be awesome for adults, a small group of juvies may feel very lost in it.
President - North American Discus Association
hi so i done a GH/KH test today my kh is about 35 to 50 ppm and gh is around 71ppm. with the kh test the water never went blue went faint yellow with first drop