New Discus

[RJR]

I have kept Discus before and am getting back into the Hobby. Tomorrow I am buying two new Discus. The Ph of my water is 8. The Discus I am buying are coming from a Ph of 7.2. I plan on using the drip method to acclimate them and will acclimate over two to three hours, is this enough time or should I acclimate them longer. I know there are people who are keeping Discus successfully at higher tempertures. I would like to have suggestions on the best way to acclimate them and raise them at a higher Ph. Also if any has suggetions on how to quarentine them that would be appreciated. Thank you.

Sincerely

Ron

[Bacano]

I dont recommend putting discus in a ph of 8. how hard is the water? try mixing half RO water and half tap that would probably work.

[j_li8]

Is that the pH straight from the tap or is it from water that has been sitting for several hours? If it is straight from tap then i would reccomend leaving a bucket of water out over night and check the pH to see where it is. My pH comes out of the tap at 8 or higher, meter only goes up to 8, but after sitting over night drops to about 7.4 or so. Once the fish are in my tanks, it stays around a pH of 6.6-7 even after doing water changes.

[Rob321]

I agree with the suggestion of j li8 about testing the pH of your tap water after it has aged for a day.

Even though discus can be maintained in basic waters IMO acidic is a much better way to go.

[DerekFF]

PH of 8 is pretty high. Id probably look into getting some sort of buffer for your water.

[Arjunpun]

Don't use buffer or any chemical to drop Ph. I think if Ph of 8 is a stable Ph then its fine. Nowadays discus are more stronger to tolerate high Ph level. If u really want low Ph use peat moss or ro unit.

[Scribbles]

As long as the PH is stable don't mess with it.

Chris

[Darrell Ward]

Yes. You don't want to be always chasing your PH. This is very stressful to both the keeper, and the fish. Stress in discus leads to problems after problems. As long as you're keeping tank raised discus, and can keep the PH stable, don't mess with it.

[Rob321]

I adjust my tap water pH with Seachem Acid Buffer, which brings it down from my tap at pH 7.8 to about pH 6.5. And it is quite simple and easy to do prior to each water change.

Is it ABSOLUTELY necessary to keep discus in acid water?...NO!

However, IMO its like keeping polar bears in tropical zoos. It can be done...but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't be better off maintained in the correct environmental parameters?

A few decades of captive breeding and subjugation to our WQ whims has not led to an "evolved" discus, which biologically functions better in high pH water. Original wild types could also be kept alive in basic water, but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't be better off, or less stressed in acidic water.

I suggest you do whatever sounds like the best option for you to do at this time, and assess what your outcome is. If you keep your discus at pH 8 and they do fine, grow nicely, and show great colors... then that's all you have to do!

[mmorris]

Are you buying a breeding pair? Or do you plan to buy more? I recommend no fewer than six, unless you are getting a breeding pair.

[April]

oh..i go for stable ph. if you change it..its going ot constantly bounce.and then skittish or sick discus. keep things simple especially if your just starting out or restarting.
check your ph as htey said the next day.
also i agree with two being a bad idea. they will be shy.id go with 5 minimum if htey are young.
jack of discus kc has a ph of 10. they do great. he has beautiful fish.

[Discus master]

I agree stability is the key, and I think the drip method is more for when going from a higer to a lower ph that discus get less stresed when going up in ph. I think I got that rite less stress no drip if you are going from a lower to a higer ph if its not to big a swing of course. But the drip method is good if they are going from a higher to a lower ph in other words a drop in ph then you would want to use the drip method because that is more stressful on them If I am wrong I stand corrected anf apologize. I just had this discusion with another senior member and this is what he told me that is unless I got it totaly backwards but I think this is correct if I remeber rite.

[ZX10R]

I have kept Discus before and am getting back into the Hobby. Tomorrow I am buying two new Discus. The Ph of my water is 8. The Discus I am buying are coming from a Ph of 7.2. I plan on using the drip method to acclimate them and will acclimate over two to three hours, is this enough time or should I acclimate them longer. I know there are people who are keeping Discus successfully at higher tempertures. I would like to have suggestions on the best way to acclimate them and raise them at a higher Ph. Also if any has suggetions on how to quarentine them that would be appreciated. Thank you.

Sincerely

Ron

My Ph is around 7.8 in my tank and my fish are just fine. The way I was told to acclimate my new fish was pour a cup of water from your tank into the bag they arrive in every 10 minutes for a hour. That is what I have been doing and haven't had any problems.