Use of water conditioner with RO/DI water. Is it necessary??

[poolplayer]

Hello.
Still planning my discus tank build and tank management plans. I plan to use RO/DI water then remineralizing with replenish and acid/alk buffer. I doubt there would be any amount of heavy metals or chlorine since my TDS is never higher than 1. Would there still be benefit to using stresszyme, prime, or stress guard related to the slime coat benefits??

[Kyla]

personally i think the less u can add to the water the better. howcome u r using ro/di, is ur tap water bad?

[poolplayer]

I had been using RO/DI water with my reef. Haven't set the discus tank up yet but I'm assuming the water will likely not be the ideal pH and KH. I may use some tap and cut it with RO/DI, depending on how it tests out. Still need to order my pH meter and GH/KH kit so I don't yet know for sure what my tap water looks like in comparison to ideal parameters for discus.

[Larry Bugg]

Ideal parameters for discus is constant parameters. Today's domestic do just fine in just about any PH as long as it is stable. Usually the only need for RODI would be if you were planning on breeding discus and your water is too is too hard for the eggs to hatch.

[Akili]

Some people who are on well water use reverse osmosis water other than that there is no need to keep Discus in reverse osmosis water unless they are a breeding pair or wild Discus. If one is raising juveniles tap water is best for them.

[Kyla]

yes, ppl have success with discus in a wide range of ph/kh. I used to think I needed ro as well, but reading all the posts from the kind folks at simply discus assured me my water would be fine as is. sure saved me a lot of time, effort and $$, not having to make RO water for water changes :)

the most important thing is that your ph remains stable. some ppl have co2 in their tap water, and as the co2 releases from the tap water the ph increases and this swing in ph hurts the discus after water changes. in these cases aging and aerating the water before water changes can stabilize the ph to eliminate the ph shift. you can test your water straight from tap, then put some water in a bucket and aerate it for a day and test it, to compare the two results and see if your ph shifts.

[poolplayer]

Excellent! Thank you all so much! I'm coming from the world of reef keeping in which everything is very complex requiring all kinds of work. If it's really ok to use my tap water that will be awesome! I have well water so it will be interesting to see what the pH, GH, and KH tests out at.

In reef tanks, because of photosynthesis there can be a signigicant pH swing from day to night. Does anyone find that happening with their discuss tanks?? I imagine it would determine how heavily it's planted, but does the metabolic change in the fish from day to night swing the pH at all??

[DJW]

In a heavily planted tank there will be the up and down pH, but it is gradual & not a problem. When people talk about stability they mean during water changes, which are sudden... and if excess CO2 is present, common in well water, the sudden shift during a water change is a downward one, more stressful than the opposite.

btw, you should test your water for nitrate, just in case. That is one of the few reasons to use RO... high nitrate. If you have well water there is no need for conditioner.

[Kyla]

I don't have well water, but ive also heard that test results on well water can change from time to time during the year depending on seasonal rainfall or run off or something to that effect. so maybe a good idea to test ur well water periodically throughout the year

[poolplayer]

Thank you all for the input! It's greatly appreciated.

[DJW]

I don't have well water, but ive also heard that test results on well water can change from time to time during the year depending on seasonal rainfall or run off or something to that effect. so maybe a good idea to test ur well water periodically throughout the year

Yep, the lowest nitrate I have seen in my water is around 8 ppm, the highest was 45 ppm. It varies with the season and how carefully I irrigate.

[poolplayer]

What do you guys do to remove those nitrates from the water for your water changes? That seems pretty high especially if thats what your new fresh water for your water change is starting at.

[DJW]

This is not common. I make a lot of remin'd RO and its more work but necessary in my case.