SOS. Need some help!

[Ted2014]

Hi everyone!

Just really need some help. Don't know what to do with my new fish tank 48 hours. I'm trying to set up a new fish tank for discus.

Fish tank 220l
Filtration Fluval G3
Heater Fluval E200
Air pump Fluval Q1

Natural river gravel, lava rock have been heated in the oven fro 2 hours
Red moor wood has been boiled about 6 hours

I used 200l of ro water with parameters
pH 6.8
kH 2 dkh
gH 30 ppm


In order to restore minerals and increase kH I've been recommended to use JBL Aqudur.
I've been told also that it'll stabilize my pH but will not increase it.
JBL recommend to use 1 spoon of Aquadur for 100l for 2.5kH.

I want to get kH 6-8 in my 220l tank so I used only 3 spoons of Aquadur product.

Now everything including equipment, plants, rocks etc covered in white residue 48 hours after adding Aquadur.

My water parameters changed:
ph from 6,8 to 14 (on digital pH (checked calibration), on drop API high range showing colouration like 8.0 (but this test only up to 8.8))
kH from 2 to 4 dkH
gH from 30 to 350ppm
TDS reads on fluval filter 450 µS/cm

I was in shock after this readings, so I've done 30% water change with ro water
pH now showing as high as 15,4

Please need some help and advice what to do.

Replace all water with new ro water mixed with tap water?
Replace all water with new ro water mixed with Tropic Marin Pro-discus mineral?
Or something else?

Thank you very much.
Kind regards,
Ted

[John_Nicholson]

First you were sold a bill of goods. Second unless your tap water is very bad all your discus need is clean water. Don't worry with RO or adding a bunch of crap to it. Add whatever treatment you need to remove the chlorine/chloramines. Keep the water at 82 and keep it clean. If the fish are not adults I strongly recommend raising them in a bare bottom tank with daily large water changes. I do not know how much water you have ready to do a change with but you need to change that amount.

-john

[pcsb23]

Hate to be a pedant but your pH cannot be 15.4 as the range is 1 to 14 ...

Also your RO water params look squiffy as well. My water is very hard but from the RO I get 0dkh and 14 microsiemens (approx. 7 TDS).

As John says clean water is the real key.

[OC Discus]

I agree with John. I would remove the substrate, rocks, etc, do 100% water change (wiping down everything inside- glass, filters, heaters before draining. Refill with warm dechlorinated water. Just keep the water clean and fresh. Prime (or safe) has become the dechlorinator of choice for many.

BTW- do you have fish yet?

[DISCUS STU]

I've done the whole RO setup you've described but with Kent RO Right and didn't have this issue. I don't know why everything should be coated in white mineral unless the water is supersaturated and unable to absorb more minerals. This could also explain the ph spike.

The advice above is very good also. A good dechrorinater helps alot. I use Amquel Plus and NovaAqua Plus together but am looking at Prime now as I don't have room to store much water for water changes.

[kris2341]

Ted, It would be best for you to FIRST, test your tap water and let us know in detail what the water chemistry is. It is very possible that you do not even need to use an RO system and can just do water changes using dechlorinated tap.

As someone who is JUST getting into discus, I feel it is very important for you to start with the basics, so unless you are getting some fish that havent been kept in tap water conditions (the majority in store and sold by SD sponsors are maintained in fairly hard tap water), you should start there for simplicity's sake because from what you describe, something already went bad and you don't even have the fish yet!

For just growing discus, a TDS that is anywhere between 80ppm and 300ppm will work and you would need to do daily water changes to keep the fish at their best.

[OC Discus]

One thing to add here. If you don't do 50% daily water changes you need to add a top quality beneficial bacteria at the time of adding fish, or do a fishless cycle before adding fish. Bio Spira is proven to provide the bacteria needed for an immediate cycle. Tetra bought this product a couple of years ago and named it "Safe Start". It used to say "with bio spira" on the label. Some vendors still get the product with this label and others do not. There is not another product I would trust for this from personal experience, though there may be one. I would only trust a reputable supplier for information on this and not just anyone who posts on sd. Without proper beneficial bacteria being added or from cycling, tank water quickly becomes toxic to fish. In a new tank you need to be testing for ammonia and nitrite daily. Fish waste and uneaten food quickly raises ammonia levels to a point of poisoning the fish. This is controlled by daily water changes of 50% with something like Prime which neutralizes ammonia. If you plan to do the daily water changes, ammonia shouldn't be an issue. If you can't do the daily water changes, you need to cycle the tank before adding discus, or get a quality bacteria supplement and monitor ammonia daily for at least 6-8 weeks. Frequent large water changes will still be necessary, depending on age and size of fish and feeding routine. "New Tank Syndrome" probably causes as many problems as any thing else in a new tank. The next big area of concern is disease that results from crossing strains and sources of fish without extensive quarantine. The best startup scenario for a new discus keeper order all fish from same source at same time and put them into a cycled bare bottom tank without any other types of fish. Once you master keeping the discus, you can carefully research adding other species. It's not that they don't get along with other fish like cardinals, but that other fish like cardinals carry parasites and diseases that discus are not immune to. I started with a community type tank mixing discus and other fish with a substrate bottom. After fighting diseases for a few months, I went discus only and bare bottom. I only have two artificial stumps for decorations that can be removed weekly and rinsed under hot water. This is the simplest and healthiest way to keep them. It is possible to add other fish, substrate and plants, but the price learning to do it right is high.

[nc0gnet0]

One thing ?

lol

[OC Discus]

One thing leads to another.


One thing ?

lol

[OC Discus]

Ted,

You mentioned that you have a 200 watt heater, but not the temp of the tank. Be sure that heater is able to keep the tank at least 82 degrees. You might need a bigger heater if it can't keep it up.