ph help please!!!

[neupane00]

hello, tap water straight outta my tap is hardness of about 4-5 and ph is 7.6. is that high for discus. my discus seem always stressed with stress bar. everything else seems to be ok:
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: about 10.
my tank: 60 gallon.

now the question is what should i do? someone told me that "hagen fluval peat granules" are good. google for "hagen fluval peat granules" . has anyone used it? how is it? good idea to use it? if so, how much should i use it? it comes in 500gram bag. i am just worried that peat will lower the ph, but i do 50% water change every other day. will take make the matter worse .. (cuz peat will bring ph down for 2 days and suddenly 50% water change will bring ph up to 7.6. what should i do? thanks a LOT for your input. really appreciate it. (BTW, RO water is not an option)

[mareshow]

7.6 is perfectly fine, mine is 7.8 and my fish swim around happily all day, one thing is they probably wont breed at that high of pH but thats alright with me i dont want or need the extra work right now... :)

[Ardan]

My ph is 7.6 and my fish are fine and are egglaying.

Is your ph stable? What is the water source (well, city....)? Do you have chloramines? What additives do you use?
hth
Ardan

[neupane00]

hey guys, 2 things

1) ---> 7.6 is fine? why do my fish always look stressed with stress bar then? will they breed fine at this ph? its city water. I use prime to remove chloramines.


2)--->also second part of the question?... has anyone used peat? "google for "hagen fluval peat granules" . has anyone used it? how is it? good idea to use it? if so, how much should i use it? it comes in 500gram bag. i am just worried that peat will lower the ph, but i do 50% water change every other day. will take make the matter worse .. (cuz peat will bring ph down for 2 days and suddenly 50% water change will bring ph up to 7.6. what should i do? thanks a LOT for your input. really appreciate it. (BTW, RO water is not an option)"

[Eddie]

hey guys, 2 things

1) ---> 7.6 is fine? why do my fish always look stressed with stress bar then? will they breed fine at this ph? its city water. I use prime to remove chloramines.


2)--->also second part of the question?... has anyone used peat? "google for "hagen fluval peat granules" . has anyone used it? how is it? good idea to use it? if so, how much should i use it? it comes in 500gram bag. i am just worried that peat will lower the ph, but i do 50% water change every other day. will take make the matter worse .. (cuz peat will bring ph down for 2 days and suddenly 50% water change will bring ph up to 7.6. what should i do? thanks a LOT for your input. really appreciate it. (BTW, RO water is not an option)"

As Ardan mentioned, 7.6 is perfectly fine. You do not need to use peat at all. Some breeders use peat for breeding purposes so unless you have a pair, that has spawned, no need for it at all really. Testing your PH from tap and testing the PH in your tank after 24 hours, will give you a good idea on what your water is like. You may actually have to add a buffer to stabilize your PH if it is very different after a day or 2.

Eddie

[Bill Maher]

Here's what I do and trust me its a bit of work but I havent had a Discus Die in over 4 years. I bought 2 30 gallon garbage cans I let it rain for a half hour then fill up the cans with the rain water from my roof I put pumps in the cans and fiter them into 5 gallon water bottles seal it up and use them when a water change is needed for me thats 20% every day. Rain water is perfect for Discus I dont own a test kit and my pairs that are a year old produce 100-200 babies every 10 days and are close to 7" in one year. It may work to well becouce at the moment I have over 600 Discus and Its hard to sell them here in Eastern NC

[neupane00]

wow.. u collect rain water? this is kinda hard in nyc when u live in an apartment to collect that much rain water for 20% change every single day. thanks for advise but this one is not gonna work for me. :(