Too many water changes

[Rick_May]

Here’s a strange one. I’ve got a pair of leopards that don’t seem to like clean water. In fact I can trigger a spawn like clock work. All I need to do is NOT change the water for a week. What’s up with that? Are these fish just pigs or what. The water I use for water changes is just aged tap and 50% ro.

[shamsoo]

not changing water for week means ph is down in tank, some discus prefers to spawn in acidic water, mine breeds in alkaline at ph 7.6, check ph before w/c of both waters :D

[Rick_May]

PH stays pretty stable. The water I use to change has been aged 24 to 48 hours and the PH is the same as in the tanks. I'l at a loss but I am getting wigglers so I'm not going to mess with things. I'll just accept that thats the way they like it.

[Smokey]

RicK -- what are the rest of the numbers??

Ph IS just a reprenstative of the other water qualitys.

Clean water is not necessary "GOOD WATER".
To the human clear water is appealing --- to a discus, it may be poison.

Interested in your delemina.

Smokey

more information .. lol

[Rick_May]

Heres the numbers.

PH 7.4 very stable I tried to adjust it and it must be really buffered, I tried to adjust the PH for these breeders and I just couldn't get it right so I bagged it. PH in the holding tank would drop to 6.5 and the next day would be back to 7.4. I'd add a little more muratic acid, it would drop to 6.5 then rase back to 7.4 add a little more and BAM 4.0. I gave up after a few PH crashes and decided it wasn't worth it
50 ppm (don't have conductivity)
two pairs on a system of 90 gallons (split 80 plus what ever in in the sump and in line)

If you can figure it out let me know

[Smokey]

Howdy; Rick -

{?}- perhaps - the " numbers ": I refere to the numbers that support life life for discus!! ... Not the - personal appeal to human eys's.

Every walk into a " compomising " situation - ??

Hahahahaha . lol ,.. A very emperising situation!!

Please be patient with your expierence.

Discus; as all other other fish --- ; are in the hands of us !!

A small world --

Smokey ...

P.S. = so much more information is available .. So much more information is confusioning!!!!

What to do ..

[Keith.L]

A wild guess from a nobody (that's me) - it can simply be an animal instinct that drives the fish to spawn.

Week-old water in the tank may contains enough build-up of waste and other unwanted by-products to make the fish "worry" about survival (i.e. the situation continues to worsen and no telling when is the next water change).

Then clean & fresh water suddenly flows in. Natural instinct takes over as there is no telling how long the water will stay fresh and clean - i.e. remaining suitable for eggs to hatch and fry to grow - or how long it will last before the water become foul again. Spawning becomes the priority.

I reckon it's the same thing for human. Ever noticed newborn birth rate shot up about 10 months after a major black-out? People got trapped inside lift or other places and not knowing when they would be rescued (if ever)...

[EthanCote.com]

Or perhaps there is nothing to do in a blackout, but.... (ever thot of that) ;D


Cheerio,

Chi.

[RyanH]

human birthrates also increase about 9 or 10 months after a really cold winter as well.

[Rick_May]

heres papa and the babies as of 15 minutes ago he's in the middle of moving the wigglers to the backside of the cone. I'd guess hteir's about 100 to go.

[O]

I've read some accounts on this board and elsewhere(Jim Quarles i believe has one of them as well) where discus successfully spawned in 'old water"

Here's a quate from one of Jim's articles:

"Dr. Axelrod told me he used to keep his discus in twenty-gallon tanks and rarely changed the water. He just replaced it as needed. The tanks were so dark with green algae you could not see the fish unless you saw them swim by the front glass. I have placed pairs (off their spawning cycle) in tanks and actually forgotten to even feed them for long periods of time. One time I just happened to notice that one of the tanks was full of penny size fry and the water was so low the tops of their fins were almost out of the water."

I think the main factor is the change in the condition & quality. Spawns in nature are triggered by "new" rain water. I agree with Smokey here, clean water is the main trigger here, IMO.

O.