hard well water

[fossil]

OK here goes nothing-

I live in New York (not the city) I have well water and it is hard. I do a water change for my discus every 5-7 days

I would do a lot more water changes but because of my hard water it would cost to much. I buy "distilled" water from the store that means it has most of the minerals taken out of it there for it is 6.2 or so ph. Very soft perfect for discus. Heres my problem I can't do a lot of water changes because it would cost so much :( sure- sure $6 dollars a week dosn't sound that much but it adds up. And thats only doing a water change every 5 days or so think about how much if I did it every day.

Do anyone of you have any ideas how I could soft up my water so I wouldn't have to buy water?

[arpanlib]

hi,
what are the parameters of your well water???

if it is hard, it is very good to raise juvinile discus. ;D

soft water will come into play only when you want to breed discus. 8)

as far as softening the water, RO units are the best to purchase and use them.

in INDIA, i have water from the well of hardness 1500 mg/L
running it through RO gives me a softer water of TDS 500 mg/l which is also hard, but better than the worst.

hope this helps.

please give water parameters and that will help evaluate how hard your water is.

regarding PH, i think that discus grow in any given ph. i have discus which grow in 7.8 ph and breed in 7.2 ph also.
donot play with water chemistry - the key to success to keep discus ;)

hope this helps.

arpanlib

[fossil]

I'll test the water later and let you know. Wait so let me see if I get this right hard water is good for discus when every site I have read said they need SOFT water? If this is true I feel as if it is christmas eve!!!!!! ;D About the juvinile discus I just got two 2 1/2-3 inchers. They are in a 20 gallon right now but in about 6 months I plan on getting a either a 38 gallon or 55. So think how much my water costs will go up then :(

Will my hard water be good for them ?- I'll give you my tests results tomorrow.

[fcdiscus]

Where do you live fossil? I am on Long Island and I have realatively hard well water. No problems, but I do use RO water for breeders. Frank

[Ardan]

HI,
Be careful if you use pure distilled water, as there is no minerals. Discus need some minerals.
Mix with tap water to lower hardness. This will give you more water for water changes with a lower hardness if that is what you want.

hth
Ardan :sun:

[fossil]

ok heres the results on my water I tested this morning.

MY WELL WATER-
PH-about 7.2
GH-80ppm

MY TANK WATER USING DISTILLED WATER-
PH-6.4
GH-under 80ppm

Would my well water be ok for my discus water if I mix 1 gallon of distilled water for every 2 gallons of well water how would that work out?

So all of you are saying I can keep my discus in harder water correct?

What do you think about the 1 gallon of distilled water to 2 gallons of my hard well water.

-thanks

[fossil]

OOO yeah sorry FCdiscus- I live NEAR Rome if you don't know where that is I'm about a 30 mins away from Syracuse.

[Carol_Roberts]

GH is 80 ppm? You can keep your discus in straight well water.

Carol :heart1:

[fcdiscus]

I agree with Carol. And yes, I know Rome. I used to have a girlfriend who lived there! Frank ;D

[fossil]

Thanks Carol- Hey fcdiscus where do you get your discus from do we have any local breeders around us?

[fossil]

**********Do I need to set my well water out and age I'm postive there is no clorine so I should just be able to put it in correct?************
-thanks this is great news now I don't have buy water any more. :)

[fossil]

I don't mean to be a jerk for asking for a response on wether it is ok for me just to put the water in and not age it.

But I really need to do a water change, would it be ok to do water changes without ageing my well water. thanks

[Ardan]

HI,
If your ph doesnt change at all between the time you get it from the tap and 24hrs later (or after 3 or 4 hrs with heavy agitation) then you can use it right away.

If the ph is not stable (it changes after getting out of the tap)(experiment in a bucket) then it is better to age it to stabalize the ph and not put stress on the fish. They need stability.

hth

[Carol_Roberts]

For example my well water is 6.8 pH from the tap and settles at 7.8 after 3 hours of agitation. IF I did a 50% tap water change my tank would drop from pH 7.8 to 7.3 is just minutes, creating very unhappy discus. >:(

So, as Ardan suggested test the pH in a cup or bucket of water that has set out on the counter for 24 hours and test the pH of the water directly from the tap. If there is very little difference between the two numbers you can just adjust for temperature and add change water directly to the tank.

Carol :heart1: