What effect does high PH have on Discus?

[drondy]

My PH from my tap water is 8.2 which has kept me from getting discus in the past. I spoke with a local breeder and he said his PH was high as well, so I took the plunge and got 4 Tangerine pigeon blood juveniles about 2.5 - 3 inches. I have had them for about 2 months now and they seem to be doing well and have grown to 3.5 - 4.5 inches. The only problem I am having is getting good coloring on them. the tips of the fins are black and the color of the fish seem a little faded. There is some peppering, but that was to be expected with Pigeon Bloods. Could it be the high PH keeping them from coloring or my impatience? By the way, they were born in late June. Dean

[John_Nicholson]

Don't worry about Ph. Just keep the water clean. They will color up when they get older. They are too small to have good color now.

-john

[drondy]

Thanks John, maybe I am a little impatient.

[Dat.Fish.Guy]

Driftwood will lower the pH also there are a bunch of buffers for sale, I use Seachem's Discus buffer

[rickztahone]

Driftwood will lower the pH also there are a bunch of buffers for sale, I use Seachem's Discus buffer

There is no need for the buffers, it actually complicates things. Discus will adapt to almost any pH. Most times, the problem is when the pH fluctuates. In these cases, you need to age your water, but if it doesn't, you can use that water without altering it.

[yim11]

there is a correlation between specific water params and peppering, rick knows the details better than i do so will let him chime in on that, but overall just make sure the pH is consistent/steady for the daily water changes and the fish will be great. It may be something you need to think about if you breed but that would be associated with the hardness.

[drondy]

Thanks for all of the reply's. I do age my water (24hrs) before water changes and the PH does not fluctuate. I read about the low PH that is required for these fish and it makes me nervous. I almost didn't get into this breed because of it. These are beautiful fish and I am glad I gave it a try.

[blazend]

I dont focus to much on PH more on soft water. Using RO DI water seemed to help mine out a lot. Obviously with that PH swings are more likely.

[DISCUS STU]

The old doctrine used to be low ph; probably because many of those fish were from the wild. These days the ph isn't as important unless it's way too low and that causes its own problems. Higher ph is usually less prone to big crashes because of higher mineral content.

If you keep the water clean, low bacterial load, your fish should do fine. It's all about clean water.