RO Water??

[rborkholder]

I am starting to do my research on my first ever Discus tank, I'm super excited!
I have seen several write ups where people are talking about ageing water, I live in the city so my tap water is treated and I'm not sure if ageing is all I need to do.
I am a former saltwater tank keeper, so I have an RODI system, which currently the DI portion is disconnected as I use RO water for my goldfish tank.
Is there a reason I can't just use straight RO water in my Discus tank?
My Discus setup will consist of bare bottom with a few large rock and some driftwood.

Thank you in advance for you guidance and direction.

[CliffsDiscus]

You should check with the seller first see what they recommend.

Cliff

[Willie]

Does your house have a water softener? If not, then your water is going to work fine for discus. If you have a water softener, then you obviously have hard water. It'll still work for growing up discus, but you may need R/O for spawning.

Note that R/O is only needed for the spawning process. Focus on making water changes, which will have a much larger impact on discus quality than water hardness. Discus will not grow in dirty water, regardless of its hardness.

[rborkholder]

Does your house have a water softener? If not, then your water is going to work fine for discus. If you have a water softener, then you obviously have hard water. It'll still work for growing up discus, but you may need R/O for spawning.

Note that R/O is only needed for the spawning process. Focus on making water changes, which will have a much larger impact on discus quality than water hardness. Discus will not grow in dirty water, regardless of its hardness.

Thank you Willie, how long do you recommend ageing the water? i've heard 3 days?? also do you suggest using any carbon during this porcess?

[rborkholder]

Thanks Cliff, do you have any Discus for sale right now and do you ship?

[Willie]

Thank you Willie, how long do you recommend ageing the water? i've heard 3 days?? also do you suggest using any carbon during this porcess?

I age tap water for 24 hours. The only thing in the conditioning tank is an air stone and a heater. (The heater is not plugged in during the summer. ;)) Definitely do not use carbon.

[captainandy]

Years ago when the wild boon began, I used R/O/DI water exclusively and kept the pH around 5.- Heckel tank at 4.5

Was an unbelievable PIA and waste of time, not to mention the high water bills.

Most on this forum seem to use tap.
Is there a reason you want to use R/O?

[rborkholder]

I guess in the past I always heard that they had to have pristine water and in the saltwater world that equates to RODI water. just trying to wrap my head around aging water tap water, circulating and heating is all you have to do. Also I never knew that chlorine and chloramines would evaporate. ?

[LizStreithorst]

chloramines will not. Chlorine will. If you have chloramines you will have to use prime or a similar product.

The thing with Discus is what we consider pristine is different. What Discus need is lots of clean stable water. Willie is a water changing junkie. He changes 100% per day. His results are superb. I change 30 to 50 percent daily and my results are excellent. I knew that I would have to change a lot of water from the get-go and set my system used pumps so that WC doesn't turn into a chore.

[rborkholder]

chloramines will not. Chlorine will. If you have chloramines you will have to use prime or a similar product.

The thing with Discus is what we consider pristine is different. What Discus need is lots of clean stable water. Willie is a water changing junkie. He changes 100% per day. His results are superb. I change 30 to 50 percent daily and my results are excellent. I knew that I would have to change a lot of water from the get-go and set my system used pumps so that WC doesn't turn into a chore.


Thank you so much for your feed back. What do you prep you water in, is it ok to use trash cans or do you recommend finding a poly tank?

[LizStreithorst]

I have used heavy duty food grade barrels. Others use Brute trash cans.

[Willie]

...Willie is a water changing junkie. He changes 100% per day....

Guilty as charged. Recently, I was able to come to terms with my obsession by reducing W/C's to 30% - 50% daily in adult discus tanks.

But anything smaller than 6" is getting 100%! :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

[LizStreithorst]

Glad you're finally learning something here, Willie :p