Got a wet question for you all...

[brewmaster15]

Wish I had a dollar for everytime I read what the best water is for discus or what do discus need for water parameters.. How about helping me Simplify things?

Tell us about your water... You can just cut and paste this list... Skip any you don't know.

Water pH...

Water General Hardness...

Water Carbonate Hardness...

Water TDS...

Water Temp...



You can also add info of your water change regime and share photos of your tanks and set ups... but the above information alone would be a great help... and please, keep it informational, no opinions on what is best for Discus or needed...just want to show the real facts as to what is actually done with Discus.

Be really great if we could get some heavy participation here on this basic question.

Thanks,
al

[nc0gnet0]

do you want us to break it down into groups?

ie Breeding tanks, growout tanks, adult community tanks?

-Rick

[musicmarn1]

Tds 600 domestics
350 wilds (hauled)
PH 7.4 after aging
Temp 83
Gh:too many drops to count (well water)
Ch:same

[nc0gnet0]

Water pH...

Who cares? :) I actually think most fish could really care less about ph, as long as it is stable and within reason. Typically mine is at or around 8.0

Water General Hardness...

Dont monitor



Water Carbonate Hardness...

1-2 in breeders
2-3 in community adults
3+ in growouts

(seldom test)

Water TDS...

Breeders-18-25tds
Adults community 5--60tds
growouts 80-120 TDS

Water Temp...

Always 82, no exceptions

Source water is municipal well-very hard / ph 8.4+ / TDS 450+ / gh and kh off the charts.
I use approximately 800 gallons of RO with some waste water added back in to achieve desired tds (only thing I monitor).
Well water has VERY low chlorine (no chloramine) of less than .5%, all removed by carbon block filtration so I don't use dechlorinators.

-Rick

oh and most importantly water changes minimum 60% daily, growouts 80% twice daily (depends on stocking level)

[afriend]

Water pH...7.6

Water General Hardness...4

Water Carbonate Hardness...3

Water TDS...78

Water Temp...85

Water exchange 30% daily

Source water.......Well (RO/Well water mix to achieve above parameters)

[Ryan]

pH: 7.6 - 7.8
gH: 7
kH: 5
TDS: N/A
Temp: 82 - 84F

I've never actually measured my TDS here. I don't alter my parameters in any way, but I do filter through a 2-stage filter with a carbon block and a sediment filter to pull the nasty yellow color out of my municipal water supply.

[Disgirl]

Al, my tap water is so hard and alkaline I don't even measure it anymore. Liquid rock they say. I just keep my discus tanks clean, warm, feed well, frequent water changes and the fish grow and do great. No breeding however which is fine with me.
Barb

[Larry Bugg]

Been a LONG time since I have done most of these test.

PH - Out of tap - 6.6
PH - After 24 hours - 5.8
PH - After several days - 4.8 - 5.0

GH - Non grow out tanks - 2
GH - Grow out tanks - 3

KH - 2

TDS - Out of tap - 45
TDS - Grow out tanks - 120 to 140

[Ryan]

^ I need to move to Georgia. That water is perfect for most SA.

[Larry Bugg]

^ I need to move to Georgia. That water is perfect for most SA.

Shhh, don't give away the secret.

[Ryan]

I already knew about it, thanks to Peter (peathenster). He could breed anything. Last I heard, his Uaru fernandezyepezi were laying eggs!

[Larry Bugg]

I already knew about it, thanks to Peter (peathenster). He could breed anything. Last I heard, his Uaru fernandezyepezi were laying eggs!

Well water is one thing but Peter is pretty darn good at this stuff.

[YSS]

I actually think most fish could really care less about ph, as long as it is stable and within reason. Typically mine is at or around 8.0



Does anyone know any researches performed on fish kept on different pH levels in tanks than their natural habitat? It would be interesting to see the findings. I don't have any scientific data to prove or dis-prove my belief, but fish from soft and low pH water in nature kept in hard and high pH in tanks (and vice versa) can't be ideal for the fish. This is one of the reasons why I think discus are so susceptible to diseases. May be their immune systems are not at their peak when kept in water that's so far from their natural habitat and get sick easily? Just a theory ....

[nc0gnet0]

hard and high pH in tanks (and vice versa) can't be ideal for the fish.

First and foremost my comment applied to domestics, not wilds. Secondly, my point was, soft water is more important than low PH. It all depends on the buffers at play.

[YSS]

First and foremost my comment applied to domestics, not wilds. Secondly, my point was, soft water is more important than low PH. It all depends on the buffers at play.

Isn't soft water generally associated with lower pH? May be I am wrong on this... Anyhow, my point was asking how much do we know about well being of fish that are being raised in water parameters off from their natural habit, albeit stable water parameters. I was wondering if any researches have been done on this. Whether domestic or wilds, the fact discus breed and fry survive better in softer water says a lot about the water parameters and the fish.

[nc0gnet0]

Isn't soft water generally associated with lower pH? May be I am wrong on this

Well yes, but the correlation isn't necessarily linear. For instance, in my tap water the TDS is in the 450-500 ppm range, ph 8.4+, GH and KH is off the charts.
I can reduce this via ro/tap mix down to 200 ppm TDS and PH is still pegged at 8.4 +
I can reduce this further down to 100 TDS and the PH is still at 8.4
Only when I start to break the <40 TDS do I see any fluctuation in PH

My fish in MY water are perfectly happy in 100 TDS water. fish are brighter, pigeons show much less pepper, etc etc.


I was wondering if any researches have been done on this.

To that end, there was talk of a data base being established tracking the life of members discus. Perhaps when this gets finished we can start to make some judgements. I do know that I have several Discus that I have raised from fry that are approaching 5 years old and going strong.

[plecocicho]

pH- around 7,5
GH- 8-12
KH- 8-12
conductivity 380-430+ (about 190-220 tds)
Tank: ph around 7, GH 5, KH 3-4, conductivity 220microsiemens (around 100 tds).

[ptactics922]

Ph- around 7
Gh and kh - tested once to make sure it wasn't outrageous. Don't remember.
Tds - 100-140 community tank.
tap - 350+

Water gets ran through a 3 stage ro into a barrel. Mix about 20% tap back in. 50% change every other day now that the fish are adults.

City water in Indy scares me since they pull it from a few diff sources throughout the year so that's why I run it through the RO

Grown out in this water from 2.5" in a planted tank with flourite gravel. Had them almost a year now and they range from only 6"-7". I vac gravel around plants every water change and I bucket the fish and up root all the plants and do a good gravel cleaning about every 2 months. Take the advice here and go bare bottom or at least sand. So much easier.