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Chaotica
09-08-2010, 01:27 PM
I read in some previous posts that you mention "clear" tap water, that can be used in our discus tanks and Ι was wondering...Which parameters determine that there are some standars??? I have a water analysis from a chemist labs here are some parameters and Ι would like to hear your opinions

Ph : 7.41
887μSiemens/cm
Ca:108
Mg:3
Fe:0.033
Na:32
K:1
Nh4:0.006
Mn:0.007
Cd:0
No2:0.005
CI- :35
CI:0
No3:9
SO4:34
P2O5:0.05
HCO3:317
H2S:0

well there is no need to check extensively these values, but if anything strikes odd or smthing is not eligible for discus aquariums please comment on that

Thanks in advance

kaceyo
09-08-2010, 02:15 PM
Your water should be fine for keeping discus. I don't know what is meant by "clear" water other than that it has no color from tannins or visible polutents, algea, bacteria etc.

Chaotica
09-08-2010, 07:49 PM
well its drinkable also for us humans, its just many people use R/O and i dont know if by using r/o will reduce my water changes or if it will make my water better for discus considering not ph but other elements like how "clear " it is removing bad elements !!

kaceyo
09-09-2010, 02:53 PM
Using RO water will not make it OK to reduce wc's. The wc's are done to remove compounds that build up in the water after it is put in the tank.
The only way to reduce the # of wc's needed is to reduce the bio-load by adding fewer fish and less food.
In the case of growing out young discus you can only reduce the amount of food by so much before it starts to effect their growth. So large frequent wc's are very desirable along with feeding enough food to fill their belly's.
Also, IMO, juvies grow better in hard water with more minerals and Wc's also increase growth rate of juviniles even without adding more food to their diets.
RO is used primarily for breeding when the local water is too hard, or to remove toxic chemicals from the water.