What pH works for you?

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

What pH works for you?

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

8.2 is my local tap water....they do just fine in it.

-Ryan

[Eddie]

7-7.2

Eddie

[Chad Hughes]

Whatever comes out of the tap! :D 7.8 +/-

[Rod]

I get about 7.2 to 7.4 from the tap, i drop it with hydrocloric acid to about 6.5 for normal keeping. For breeding i use canadian peat to lower ph to a similar level, but the peat also softens the water which i find to be an advantage for hatch rate with my tapwater.

Rod:)

[Scribbles]

Whatever PH I can keep stable works for me. Currently 7.8-8.0.

Chris

[discus_newbie]

mines 6.8 :D

[akumastew]

pH 7.5

[poconogal]

I'm on my own well so my PH changes seasonally. It goes from 7.8 in late spring/summer/fall to about 8.2 winter/early spring. I've had lots of spawning in these PH ranges, they do fine.

[Don Trinko]

IMO; Unless you are breeding most tap water is fine. Trying to control ph is difficult because of the buffers in the water. It can be done but if done incorectly can lead to ph crash. This is hard on the fish. Don T.

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

Is 7.6 or 7.8 too high?

[rickztahone]

Is 7.6 or 7.8 too high?

No, as you can see from previous members replies, they have had success keeping discus in those ranges, including me 8.0+/-

[Eddie]

Is 7.6 or 7.8 too high?

Nope

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

Ok Ok...so as long as I use my amquel and stress coat, keep the temp stable, and keep an eye on the ammonia, then I have nothing to worry about? What's the big water fuss over?

[Eddie]

Ok Ok...so as long as I use my amquel and stress coat, keep the temp stable, and keep an eye on the ammonia, then I have nothing to worry about? What's the big water fuss over?

There really isn't a big fuss about water. Its the stability of PH that the fish need and what is most important. If you have constant changes in PH, the fish will be stressed. For this reason some people need to age their water/condition it prior to a water change so that it will match the conditions of the tank water.

Eddie

[Jhhnn]

Ok Ok...so as long as I use my amquel and stress coat, keep the temp stable, and keep an eye on the ammonia, then I have nothing to worry about? What's the big water fuss over?

Not just ammonia, but nitrites and, to a lesser degree, nitrates as well. It's also important to remember that these parameters are merely indicators of the complex biological and chemical processes taking place in aquaria. They don't tell the whole story. There are a lot of other dissolved organics in the water, stuff we don't quantify that nonetheless affects water quality. The way we deal with them is to flush them out with partial water changes. The same thing occurs in nature, in any river system, where rainfall and snowmelt carry everything away to the ocean...

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

Not just ammonia, but nitrites and, to a lesser degree, nitrates as well. It's also important to remember that these parameters are merely indicators of the complex biological and chemical processes taking place in aquaria. They don't tell the whole story. There are a lot of other dissolved organics in the water, stuff we don't quantify that nonetheless affects water quality. The way we deal with them is to flush them out with partial water changes. The same thing occurs in nature, in any river system, where rainfall and snowmelt carry everything away to the ocean...

I thought.... after the tank is cycled, you dont have to worry about nitrites, only nitrates.

[Don Trinko]

if a tank is fully cycled the ammonia and nitrites will be zero but the nitrates will accumulate unless you remove them. I try to keep my nitrates below 5 but some consider 20 an acceptable level. There are various ways to remove nitrates but WC (water change) is probably the easiest and cheapest.
All IMO; Don T.

[Jhhnn]

I thought.... after the tank is cycled, you dont have to worry about nitrites, only nitrates.

Don's right about the "should" part, but things don't always work out that way or stay the same. Testing the aquarium water on a regular basis is rarely the wrong thing to do, unless it's compulsive behavior.

Testing can be particularly valuable if meds have been used. Awhile back, I acquired some bushynoses that I intended to put in with the discus, quarantined them. I lost a couple rather inexplicably, which prompted me to treat w/ kanamycin. Not that I was sure it'd do any good, but I wanted to know the effects just in case I ever needed it for the discus. It's not supposed to damage the biofilter, but it did- wiped out the bio-processes in the quarantine tank. I saw it happening because I was testing the water, compensated successfully.

Even though both of my discus tanks appear to be running smoothly, no problems, I generally run a full test pattern on both once a week, just to head off any problems before they're severe...

[scottthomas]

Im lucky, my tapwater is 6.8-7.0 pH and 65 TDS. I dont even have to age water and fine for breeding too.:)

[jaykne]

PH on discus does not matter even if there there is a small change my PH comes out of the tap at 7.2 but goes up to 7.8 and I don't age my water not enough of a change to even affect them, nitrates unlike ammonia and nitrites are not toxic but will stop a fish from growing at to high of levels and discus in general do not like high nitrates and will stunt very easy thats why discus keepers do so many water changes. Larry

[rickztahone]

Ok Ok...so as long as I use my amquel and stress coat, keep the temp stable, and keep an eye on the ammonia, then I have nothing to worry about? What's the big water fuss over?

just use Prime and call it a day!

[rickztahone]

...I lost a couple rather inexplicably, which prompted me to treat w/ kanamycin. Not that I was sure it'd do any good, but I wanted to know the effects just in case I ever needed it for the discus. It's not supposed to damage the biofilter, but it did- wiped out the bio-processes in the quarantine tank. I saw it happening because I was testing the water, compensated successfully.



from my research when i was going to use the Kanamycin all my reading pointed me to say that it would affect the bio filter. it's an antibiotic.

[MostlyDiscus]

PH in breeding tanks 6.0. I put a bag of peat in the sump(stocking) and use muriatic acid to lower. Main thing is to keep your ph stable or as stable as you can. Grow out tanks PH is 7.3 and only use water conditioners to clean out clorimaines etc....

[Jhhnn]

from my research when i was going to use the Kanamycin all my reading pointed me to say that it would affect the bio filter. it's an antibiotic.

I just read the instructions... silly me... not doing my homework...

Antibiotics and biofilters are a strange combination. As I understand it, not very well, some antibiotics don't affect the bio... something wrt gram-positive vs gram-negative bacteria and the specific antibiotic...

My problem wrt the bushynoses will be solved on Sunday. They've been entirely healthy for the last few months, still in quarantine, and I'm donating them to a school community aquarium. My discus, acquired from Kenny, have been extremely healthy so far and I'm loathe to change the dynamic. Having given up on live plants and bright lights for the time being, I don't need a cleanup crew, anyway...

[riiz]

Here in Socal, my pH is 7.4-7.6 and a TDS of 230+. No issues here.

[Richweg]

6.5 works well for me. I use RO water and add RO Right to regulate it.

[TwoValveKid]

Depends on the test kit. My water out of the tap reads 7.6 on the standard aquarium pharm. normal test kit, basically pegs the scale. On the "high range" test kit by the same manufacturer it bottoms out the scale at 7.4....so i imagine my tap water is in the 7.4-7.6 range. Is stable, i add in some acid buffer when i run a 40 gallon trash can of water just for good measure to ensure it doesnt go through the moon.

[Don Trinko]

The big fuss is Discus need CLEAN water. Clean is important, ph is not,TDS is not, DH is not. (all within reason!) Search for WC (water change) you will find many routines and the Discus keeper is happy with his/her routine.
I change 50% twice a week. There are many that change 50 to 100% a day and some who change much less often.
I can not over emphasise: Clean water is important!! Don T.

[htruong]

I get about 7.2 to 7.4 from the tap, i drop it with hydrocloric acid to about 6.5 for normal keeping. For breeding i use canadian peat to lower ph to a similar level, but the peat also softens the water which i find to be an advantage for hatch rate with my tapwater.

Rod:)

Rod,

This is interesting and this is exactly what I am looking for. My tap water's pH is 7.8. I want to get it to 7.0 - 7.2. Questions for you. Where can I get canadian peat? Can some other peats work too?

Thanks,
-Hoang

[TwoValveKid]

Why do you want to get it down so bad? If it stays stable...have at it and just use tap. Keeping wilds?

[htruong]

Why do you want to get it down so bad? If it stays stable...have at it and just use tap. Keeping wilds?

I don't know what I really want lol

Couple days ago my pair laid eggs but they all turned while. I thought it could be my high pH or my water isn't soft enoght...
No. Not keeping wilds.

[TwoValveKid]

First set of eggs?

[Rod]

Rod,

This is interesting and this is exactly what I am looking for. My tap water's pH is 7.8. I want to get it to 7.0 - 7.2. Questions for you. Where can I get canadian peat? Can some other peats work too?

Thanks,
-Hoang

Hi Hoang,

Sorry for late post, i only just noticed your question.

Try this one, i have great results using it. http://www.sungro.com/products_displayRetailProduct.php?product_id=27&brand_id=8

Regards

Rod :)