from hard to soft water

[cod]

If my discus are in a tank with ph 7.6 and hard water,can i move the pair to a breeding tank with Ph 6.6 and soft water directly or is there a way to make the transition more slowly so as to acclimate the fish
cod

[RyanH]

lower the pH and hardness in the tank they are in now through water changes until they are the same.

I would be most concerned about temperature differences however. Especially going from a higher to a lower temp. This is more vital than hardness.

Once the parameters are the same just net them from one tank to the other.

[Carol_Roberts]

Be very careful going from high to lower pH.

Are both these tanks with different pH at your house?

[cod]

yes the tanks are next to each other. I have tapwater in one tank at 7.6 ph and the other tank is peat water at 6.8 and is being cycles at present with a sponge filter. I don't want to plop the fish from one ph to a lower one. i will keep temps the same
cod

Just an idea.
Next water change,
maybe you can drain the breeding tank, and fill it with the water from your current tank, tranfer the pair directly into the breeding tank. Then slowly adjust the parameters of the breeding tank to your desired values.

Ed

[Carol_Roberts]

Yes, that is the way to do it. Move them to water parameters they are used to then change if needed.

Now, lets talk a little more about how you are cycling a sponge filter in the new tank. Are you doing a fishless cycle with ammonia?

Very good point Carol (cycling).
Personally, I would cycle the filters/sponge in the "old" tank.
I wouldn't do the move until I was sure the filters were cycled properly. I would also, if possible, "over-filter" the new breeding tank initially until I was sure the tank is settled.

Does that make sense?

Ed

[Miles]

COD,

Just leave them alone with the high PH and just lower the hardness of your water, using a RO system from RandlB. For your information I just had a pair spawn a month ago and the PH was 7.8 and the hardness was 80 ppm after I adjusted the hardness up. My water out of the faucet is 35 ppm and PH is today 7.5. I live in the city so they adjust it after a big storm. All fish are doing FINE !!

8)
Miles

[cod]

i have moved some of the filter floss from the old tank and left it in the new tank. the sponge filter should become colonised from the bacteria in the floss. and yes I will mix water from the old tank to the new tank to lesson the shock and then slowly change the hardness
cod

[Carol_Roberts]

If you put colonized filter floss in the new tank with no ammonia source (fish or store bought) the bacteria will starve to death.

Run your new filter in the old tank full of old fish for two weeks to cycle the filter. (Unless that tank has some illness).

After two weeks put clean, heated, aged water in the new tank. Add the fish and the newly cycled filter.