Discus Breeding Assistance please

[Matt Rose]

Hi All, hope everyone is well

I have several pairs, proven by way of removing eggs on cone and artificially raising in RO.

They constantly eat the eggs time after time, when I guard the eggs they rarely turn into wrigglers if at all. When I remove the cone and put into a jug floating in the tank with a little Meth Blue and RO water they have a great hatch rate.

I’m putting this down to my water being very hard with a TDS of 400+ and the GH and KH being very high. My pH is 7.4 but stable and they are Stendker discus so I think that’s ok right? So I’ve invested in my own RO filter. I was planning on a continuous drip feed (50% auto WC per day) but read some threads on here saying that pure RO can result in unstable PH. Any tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated in the best approach. I am now looking at storing the RO and using additives like Discus Trace? Any good? Will this help stabilise PH

Appreciate your help in advance Thanks

Matt

[RogueDiscus]

Hi Matt,
I hope I can explain this well, but you are describing some common issues.
I have high pH, over 8, well water with over 400 ppm TDS. I use RO filters to produce softer water, usually around 30 ppm, but the pH is the same.
I mix the RO with my well/tap a bit, which I think helps keep the pH stable by adding back some minerals. I try to keep the TDS's under 80. I don't worry about pH.
This has worked for me in getting good hatch rates in the breeding tank.
Another issue however, is that, unlike most species, discus seem to often need practice before they get it right! :)

[Matt Rose]

Hi
Thanks for the info. Do you mix it in the breeding tank or in a water storage first?

[Matt Rose]

Oh and what sort of percentage Tao water to RO do you use?

[RogueDiscus]

I may be rough on them, but I just put in a hose from my RO container, and a hose from the tap at the same time. I'm usually using my TDS meter to decide how much tap I want.

[DJW]

If the tap TDS is 400, 80% ro and 20% tap would result in a TDS around 80 ppm. You could start there and make adjustments.