Not sure about my water parameters.

[harrythebat]

Hello Everyone,
I've been worried about my water parameters for a while and after testing, it seems too soft?
I've purchased some test kits and tested.
I do use RODI and add minerals ~Glasgarten Discus GH+
I do use RODI as my tap water here is not the best.
These are my water parameters~
Temp ~ 29
PH ~ 7.0
GH ~ 4
KH ~ 1
Ammonia ~ 0
Nitrate ~ 0
Nitrite ~ 0
TDS ~ 124



One of my discus eats less and keeps getting skinnier and his fins seems to have rot or damaged?
1 pair of the discus keeps laying eggs and they are aggressive to the others that I think leads to the one not eating enough.
They seem to always swim together and 1 of them keeps the rest away from the food.
I do remove the eggs as I do not want to breed them.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...73&height=1405
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...73&height=1405
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...73&height=1405
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...73&height=1405

Please let me know of what I should change. I'm really worried about the skinny one.
I did purchase them all at the same time when they were 2-3 inches before reading more about them.
I'm trying to keep them happy.
I do apologize about my bad english as it is not my first language.
Thank you in advance.
Harry.

[14Discus]

Focus on ......the water.

The two factors that concern me most are your KH at 1 and your Nitrate at 0. Your Nitrate should be low, but not at 0 imo with an ongoing tank. Your KH is on the precipice. 17 ppm (1 degree) lower with your KH and you’ll have no buffering for PH issues/crashes. Imo, before fish can be successfully dealt with, the water has to be stable. Others may disagree, but that’s my take on it.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Harry, I am agreeing with Bill. I think you should add a little tap to your RODI water to help stabilize your water, say 1/5 tap to 4/5 RODI. Aim for a TDS of about 150 when you add the Glasgarten Discus GH+. Remeasure the KH and report back. The goal is to get your KH to about 2 or so. Also lets remeasure your nitrates and follow the directions carefully.

Regarding the thin fish, it is pretty thin. Do you have a hospital tank you could move it too?
Pat

[pastry]

Focus on ......the water.

The two factors that concern me most are your KH at 1 and your Nitrate at 0. Your Nitrate should be low, but not at 0 imo with an ongoing tank. Your KH is on the precipice. 17 ppm (1 degree) lower with your KH and you’ll have no buffering for PH issues/crashes. Imo, before fish can be successfully dealt with, the water has to be stable. Others may disagree, but that’s my take on it.

100% agree and just re-learned that lesson for the first time in a long time.

[harrythebat]

Thank you everyone for your help.
I've added some more mineral as I might have been using less than I should have originally.
I've got the KH to 2 and GH has raised to 6.
As for the nitrate, it is still at 0.

I sadly do not have an extra tank but I can surely get another one.
Harry.

[jeep]

I agree with the others. With this low kh, I imagine they have experienced ph swings which causes stress and overall health concerns. I also question the accuracy of your water parameters with all values at 0.

I would focus on stabilizing the water and then we'll have more questions such as tank temperature, water change schedule, what foods you serve, etc...

Can you tell us why you are using reconstituted RODI water in the first place?

By the way, your English is perfect!!

[harrythebat]

I agree with the others. With this low kh, I imagine they have experienced ph swings which causes stress and overall health concerns. I also question the accuracy of your water parameters with all values at 0.

I would focus on stabilizing the water and then we'll have more questions such as tank temperature, water change schedule, what foods you serve, etc...

Can you tell us why you are using reconstituted RODI water in the first place?

By the way, your English is perfect!!

The pH remained the same after adding the GH+ mineral.
the kh is now 2 and surprisingly my skinny fish is eating.
I will increase the kh more in a week or so because I did not want to stress the fish too much.
I've done another feeding and he seems to be going for it.
Have not seen him like this for a while. He seems more active.
Even though 1 of them is trying to keep him away from the food.
The reason why I do not use tap water is whenever I've use tap water, it was always at 8.4-8.2 ph and that is after adding it to my tank.
Harry.

[jeep]

Ok, this is what I was curious about. It seems the reason you are using RODI in the first place is because you're concerned about high ph. High or low ph is not a concern, stable ph is. My ph is 8.4 and my discus have always been just fine. I only use RO for breeding.

Unless there are other issues with your water, I would recommend changing over to tap.

It's good he's eating. I'm not sure what the temp is in the tank, but I would raise it to around 88f and see if appetite remain consistent. If appetite remains good but it doesn't gain weight, you may want to deworm them, but I would concentrate on the water first...

[harrythebat]

Thank you for your reply jeep.
I want to know how it is done. Should I overtime add tap water in during water change?

[jeep]

Thank you for your reply jeep.
I want to know how it is done. Should I overtime add tap water in during water change?

This is what I would do. It really shouldn't take too long, maybe a couple of days. Just make sure you don't adjust the ph too drastically at one time.

[harrythebat]

This is what I would do. It really shouldn't take too long, maybe a couple of days. Just make sure you don't adjust the ph too drastically at one time.

Thank you so much for your help jeep and everyone else.
I took your advise and did a 25% water change with half tap and half rodi. Eventually I will start doing full tap water change but want to take it slow so that are not too stressed.