Breeding Discus with RO/TAP

[outdoorworld_70]

Hi There,
I have a some questions concerning water quality and PH for successfully breeding discus

First, would be do discus need soft water to breed? I know its better for the eggs because they will stay permeable longer, but i have heard many cases where people are breeding discus in straight tap water.

Second, what should the PH, GH and KH be? The PH in the tap water here is 7.6, GH is 8 (143ppm) and KH is 7 (125ppm)

Third, I do have a R/O system should i do a R/O and tap mix to get my ph and hardness down?

forth, Do i still do daily 50% wc when breeding?

Fifth, Is a 20 gallon long ok for the discus to breed or is it too short?

Thanks for the help in advance

[Nick Klimkowski]

Hi There,
I have a some questions concerning water quality and PH for successfully breeding discus

First, would be do discus need soft water to breed? I know its better for the eggs because they will stay permeable longer, but i have heard many cases where people are breeding discus in straight tap water.

Second, what should the PH, GH and KH be? The PH in the tap water here is 7.6, GH is 8 (143ppm) and KH is 7 (125ppm)

Third, I do have a R/O system should i do a R/O and tap mix to get my ph and hardness down?

forth, Do i still do daily 50% wc when breeding?

Fifth, Is a 20 gallon long ok for the discus to breed or is it too short?

Thanks for the help in advance

Ok, no discus do not need RO to breed, however most people chose to use it, including my self because it does improve you're hatch rates. What I would recommend is do not use pure RO it is to unstable, so what I do for breeding is 80% RO to 20% tap. 50% daily water changes are a good idea to do daily. I myself do 100% daily water changes. A 20 gallon long IMO is a little to small but that all comes down to the size of pair you will be breeding. I use 29 gallon aquariums for breeding, I feel they work the best. Make sure that before you attempt breeding you have another few large tanks set up and running to grow out the fry. Hth

[outdoorworld_70]

Ok thanks for the response
what should the tds be at?
Whats your ph at?
You said you do 80% RO to 20% tap for wc how do you do it? do you measure it in buckets?
i do have a 29 gallon tank that i could set up for the pair and do you use a breeder cone or pvc pipes
Thanks much appreciated

[John_Nicholson]

Everyone's water is different s you will have to figure out whta woeks for you but as stated above most use a tab/ro mix. Second don't worry about the ph. It really does not matter. It is all about if your water is soft enough for the eggs to hatch.

-john

[outdoorworld_70]

Ok thanks good to hear

[fishaddict]

20 gal long IMO is too short for even an average size pair. I would at least go with a 20 gal high tank.

[Nick Klimkowski]

Ok thanks for the response
what should the tds be at?
Whats your ph at?
You said you do 80% RO to 20% tap for wc how do you do it? do you measure it in buckets?
i do have a 29 gallon tank that i could set up for the pair and do you use a breeder cone or pvc pipes
Thanks much appreciated

John pretty much covered every thing above. You can use a breeding come or pvc. I use a breeding cone but they will spawn on just about everything.