Water quality...

[Canuck]

Hi all,
This is what I am looking at for water quality:
http://www.awwu.biz/website/Water_Quality_Report/2004_report/2004_wq_report.htm

I did my own measuring w/ the kits you can get at the LFS and I came up w/ 7.4 straight out of the tap. This seems high. Aging the water seems like the best bet.

[Carol_Roberts]

What is the pH of a cup of water that has set on teh counter overnight?

[Canuck]

What is the pH of a cup of water that has set on teh counter overnight?

Idunno...will have to get back w/ you tomorrow! :)

[Canuck]

Ok, reuslts are in...at 24 hrs, no change, same PH...36-48 hrs later, still holding, no change in PH and is still the same as before, 7.4, any ideas?

[Carol_Roberts]

You are lucky! You can do water changes straight from the tap. Just heat so it's same temp as tank water and add dechlor product (like Prime) prior to adding water to tank. Your pH is fine for juveniles.

[Canuck]

Cool, thanks! That is great to know...this will be easy as pie then! I was concerned that it was too neutral for discus, but as you said it is fine. Now to get the move over with and then we will be good to go! Now the hard part...waiting the 6 months! I am really looking fwd to doing this and I'm thinking that the discus will be in a very low traffic area. They will be fine as it will hopefully be just me most of the time. The big tank will be on display if/when I get the funds to do that. I was loking to do something on the order of a 240 gallon with a sink nearby as well as the discus tank. That will be the easiest as I can hook the python to the sink and run it that way, extensions as needed (hopefully not).

I forgot something, the levels of 0.19 – 1.30 ppm chlorine are too high and need to be taken care of? I am still unclear. Source, above link in original post. It looks as if the absolute max is 4 ppm. Average was 0.83 ppm in 2003.

[dishpanhands]

yea you will have to do something to the chlorine, but thats easy...i just don't understand why you have to wait "6 months"!!! :waaa:

[Canuck]

yea you will have to do something to the chlorine, but thats easy...i just don't understand why you have to wait "6 months"!!! :waaa:

I will more than likely be moving in about 6 months and don't want to have to move them in Nov/Dec time when it will likely be below freezing. Then there is the hoe to do it and resetup the tank and suchlike. I would really like to get this going, but the end of the day, I don't want to gamble w/ a fair bit of money and have the odds against me. Discus aren't cheap like neon tetras, or others like them that go good w/ Discus. It was at the recommendation of a friends/family/member(s) of this forum that I wait. It will give me time to read up some more and get somemore supplies as well as not fight w/ them in a move. Here is another topic it was mentioned: http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=42659

[Howie_W]

Hi Canuck,

You're going about it the right way! :thumbsup: The more to spend reading up, and being prepared, the better off you'll be.

As Carol mentioned, adding a product such as Prime to your water before adding it to the tank will rectify the chlorine problem.


If you are going to be setting-up a new tank (especially one that large), make sure it's situated well away from any carpeting, and floors that are forgiving to regular water spills...you'll be glad you did. :)



Howie

[Canuck]

I have the 46 on carpet at the moment and it is all good so far. The python rocks! I would be a new tank, sorta...it would still be the 46 gallon bow but I do believe the good bacteria established now will have perished by the time I get it all sorted. The other fish tetras and cardinals, and plec for the moment shouldn't be too bothered. I recon I could age the water to ger rid of the chlorine, correct? The idea is to go the cheap way out of getting the chlorine remover. If I am doing daily/every other day water changes it can get expensive! Ok, so it is looking like this...in my mind: 6 juveniles and as they grow up, hopefully a pair will form and put them in a 29 gallon. The rest of the 4 should be ok as they will have grown up together in theory. The huge tank will be for the plec and I'm thinking bala sharks, silver dollars, and suchlike. That I need to buy and get all sorted. I was looking around and a 240 gallon isn't cheap! any ideas there? I am not very mechanically incluned so building w/o help isn't really an option.