Question on Water PH??

[coralreefer68]

Hello everyone, I am new to the Discus forums, just trying to get started with Discus.
I have not bought any Discus yet as I am worried about my PH. everything I have read so far in guides states needing a PH of 6-7 and I am not there with my tank. I have a 75gal, cycled for 6 weeks now and I have some black neon tetras, albino corys and 2 bristlenose plecos. My PH is staying right at 7.6-7.8, which I do not understand as my tap water ( well water in North Carolina ) is out of the tap at 7.0. I have done water change after water change and can not get it down. In my tank are 3 small live plants ( 1 sword and 2 wisteria ) and 4 large pieces of mopani drift wood as well as 4 pieces of sandstone (aprox 40pounds ). I took the sandstone out thinking this was the problem, left it out for a week and no change. I have peat moss in my filter and some under the gravel, no change. I have even gone as far as removing the 3inches of substrate and replacing it with a small "PH neutral" gravel....still no change....PH 7.6. Reading here in this forum I see multiple people stating that a PH like mine would be fine for Discus.....IS this true???? Everything else is fine in my tank...ammonia-0, Nitrates-0, Nitrites-0. Someone please help me with this...I have waited for 6 weeks now for Discus and I am going nuts thinking that I will never be able to own them because of my mysterious PH goblins.
By the way...I am 42, have not had a fish tank in 10 years, my last tank was a 90gal saltwater which I kept fine for 6 years ( other than my snowflake Moray climbing out 3times) and before that I had an African cichlid tank running in the 90 for 3 years.
All help appreciated and brutal honesty encouraged!

[jimg]

that ph is fine for discus the reason it goes from 7.0 from tap to 7.6 is due to off gassing co2. when many have ph that shifts like that we age and aerate the water in storage tanks overnight.

[Jhhnn]

My domestic discus thrive in Denver tap water with PH in the high 7's.

Your tap water may have a lot of trapped CO2. Aerating the water lets it escape, establishes the gas balance that you'll have in the tank. See what happens when you age & aerate a decent sized sample of your tapwater overnight- I suspect the PH will be in the high 7's when you retest the next day.

If your water has a lot of hardness, then it'll be stubborn, and resist attempts to change it once it's off-gassed the CO2.

[coralreefer68]

Thank you both for the input. I have been thinking about buying a CO2 system, would this create problems with my PH if I get my Discus settled at the 7.6-7.8 that I have now? I also plan to start aging the water as you have stated so that it will be "gassed off" when I do my water changes, so thanks for that input!!

[jimg]

Co2 will lower the ph. when your tap ages the co2 escapes letting the ph rise. if you put co2 back in it will lower it. you would just need to put the right amount of co2 in to keep things steady especially when you do water changes.You will have to experiment with it. Some people shut co2 off at night to keep things steady, I had to keep mine going 24 hrs to keep it steady, all depends on KH and make up of your water.
I would not suggest using co2 for altering ph, I would age the water. unless you have high light plants.

[discuspaul]

So long as the pH level in your tank remains relatively steady in the 7.6 -7.8 range on an ongoing basis, that'll be just fine for your discus. Don't worry about it - and don't start adding chemicals to try & change it.

[coralreefer68]

Thank you all for the continued answers. I was thinking about the co2 for the plants but was concerned that it would start fluctuating the PH. I do not want to yo-yo the PH, I like having the plants but the Discus is the main reason for the tannks exsistence!
Also....No chemicals to change it, don't want to start on that route, just want a nice steady environment for the discus!