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donnacona
08-20-2015, 01:05 PM
I did a API KH test of my city water and the reading was between 89 and 107 does this water need to be softened to breed discus.
Stu
DonMD
08-20-2015, 06:33 PM
Can you test for total dissolved solids (tds)? I have never been able to make heads or tails of KH, but I have found that measuring tds gives a very good indication of the potential for breeding discus.
donnacona
08-20-2015, 10:35 PM
180 how is that
MadMatt
08-20-2015, 10:45 PM
Sounds pretty hard.
However, water is very complex, you may have to try and see what your results are.
If you have very low fertilization rates, dropping the TDS should help.
However members have reported 90% hate rates in water with TDS higher then yours.
This is not a perfect science, you may have to play around a bit to get things to work.
What are your other parameters of the water?



180 how is that
donnacona
08-20-2015, 11:04 PM
The pair is in a 40 gal BB tank, the water is also 7.6 and 85 deg.
DonMD
08-21-2015, 04:48 AM
I think 180 ppm tds is high for breeding. I try to get mine down to about 35, and that works great for me. I use an R/O system from bulkreefsupply.com, which produces a tds of zero, then I add a small amount of R/O right to bring the tds up a little. I've had great hatch rates.
John_Nicholson
08-21-2015, 08:34 AM
It all depends on what makes up the TDS more than how high it is. First thing to do is to drop your temp to 82 and then see what happens.

-john
MadMatt
08-21-2015, 03:24 PM
That seems good, besides the temp, 82degrees is best, just as John suggested.
You still will have to let things ride and see what your hatch rate is.


The pair is in a 40 gal BB tank, the water is also 7.6 and 85 deg.
nc0gnet0
08-21-2015, 05:16 PM
http://www.discusnada.org/breeding-discus/
http://www.discusnada.org/reverse-osmosis-for-discus/
donnacona
08-21-2015, 07:33 PM
Thanks you guys I'll use this info and see what happens
Stu
cedar
08-23-2015, 01:18 AM
I am new to discus and the articles that were posted are very helpful! :)
John_Nicholson
08-23-2015, 09:34 AM
I am new to discus and the articles that were posted are very helpful! :)

If you think those are helpful then you ought to come to out big NADA show in Chicago next year. The show is always a great time.

-john