Low KH

[sophie68]

Hi everybody!:)
Right now, my water has a much lower KH than usual. It's only 3. Does that mean that I absolutely must age my water for my WC? MY PH is still pretty stable as far as I can see. I use my tap water, which otherwise is pretty good. I have noticed that my discus get stressed out during the WC, but are doing much better the days after. So I am wondering if
I should do less WC or maybe smaller ones???? Right now, I do about 40% every other day and I don't age my water. What do you think?
Thanks a lot! I do have a very basic R/O system but it's only for drinking water, so it does not remove nitrates, would it help if I used some of that water?

Sophie

[Don Trinko]

Aging water is to let the clorine and cloramines remove themselves from the water.
Low KH can cause ph swings but I'm not sure how low it has to be to be a problem. I'm sure someone knows and will answer.
If the discus are getting stressed make sure the temperature and ph are similar to the tank and make sure the clorine/cloramine has been removed if your water has these.
I add the new water slowly so if there is much ph difference the fish have a chance to adjust. Don T.

[Polar_Bear]

Don has it pretty much correct. A KH of 3 will still give you stable water without pH crashes. It would concern me that your fish are stressed during water changes, but the answer is definately not to do less of them. As Don already said, find out what is causing your tap water to stress the discus as a first step. Are there a lot of bubbles all over the tank glass when you do a water change? What is the tank pH and what is your tap water pH?

[pcsb23]

Do you add the dechlor before adding the water? The likelyhood is that there is a ph swing, only way to know would be to test. Its not so much by how much the ph changes but the speed of the change that really matters.

btw even a basic RO will remove some nitrates and phosphates and the like.

[sophie68]

Hi everyone,:)

Thanks for your help! My ph in the tank varies between 6.8 and 7. In my tap water, it's usually between 6.6 and 6.8. It could be that I add the water too fast. Paul, yes, I do put Ultimate BEFORE I add the water. I also add some Stress Coat while the water is running. As far as the R/O water is concerned, it says that it only targets:
-asbestos
-cyst
-lead
-mercury
-turbidity (not sure what is meant by that..)
-chlorine
-chloroform
Nothing mentions nitrates. I am going to find out exactly what else is removed. Do you think mixing this water with my tap water would help the fish? I would not have made it thus far without your help!!!!

Thanks,
Sophie

[poconogal]

Sophie, while doing your water change, do you make any sort of noises, bang something sometimes, etc.? My Discus will go and hide in a huge bunch in the corner, behind a plant, when I do WCs because I sometimes will clang and bang things. Mine are adults and they are not new to me or my home, either. They get nervous and look at me with reproach! :D When refilling the tank, after a while they finally come out and line up for the FBW or CBW treat that they know they get when the tank is filled. Yours may simply be nervous when you do WCs.

[sophie68]

Sophie, while doing your water change, do you make any sort of noises, bang something sometimes, etc.? My Discus will go and hide in a huge bunch in the corner, behind a plant, when I do WCs because I sometimes will clang and bang things. Mine are adults and they are not new to me or my home, either. They get nervous and look at me with reproach! :D When refilling the tank, after a while they finally come out and line up for the FBW or CBW treat that they know they get when the tank is filled. Yours may simply be nervous when you do WCs.

Hi Connie,

Thanks for your input. No, I don't think I make too much noise, but who knows, maybe I am not aware of it and I do. I think it's more that I used to fill my tank too fast, thus scaring the poor discus. I don't do it anymore and have noticed a huge difference. They now come out and don't hide anymore. So...I guess that was it...:)
Sophie

[Polar_Bear]

I seriously doubt it's from filling your tank too fast. I fill our 75 gallon tanks in less than 5 minutes and our fish don't become stressed from it.