Tell me if I'm wrong...

[schoolaintsobad]

Hi, all,
How do you like that for a thread title? Here is my situation: nitrates and nitrites are both zero in a fishless cycled tank that I used the so-called pre-seeded gravel in when I set up the tank. It is planted fairly well and has some driftwood and two HOB filters. It is a 5' x 2' x 18" tank (140 gal?), and it has been running for 6 weeks. I am planning on adding discus in a week. I've kept them before and they did well until I had to sell them because I moved, and I was also breeding angelfish at that time.

My question is regarding whether or not I'm synthesizing the "big idea" behind water quality adequately, as follows: Consistency of water quality trumps the water quality itself, within reasonably wide range of values.

I say this because although there are a lot of posts about all of the things you can do to your water to change it to be "ideal", there also seem to be a fair number of posts with testimonials of people who raise discus in a range of KH and GH from near-zero to upwards of 300-400Gh and 200Kh-- albeit those people noted that their water quality was consistent.

So, am I wrong? Can I raise healthy discus in hard water as long as the parameters are holding steady? Or, do I need to rush out and buy lots of stuff? Are novices like me with non-ideal water who alter it wasting their money and perhaps also shooting themselves in the foot inadvertently because their water parameters are inconsistent?

Thanks, everyone. It's been awhile since I posted, but I'm glad to have discus again.

[Eddie]

Depends on what your definition of non-ideal water is....

[schoolaintsobad]

Depends on what your definition of non-ideal water is....

"Very soft" "Not hard" ""Low pH" I see comments about a KH and/or GH and/or pH being high, and saying that that is not ideal. People invest in RO systems, add this or that buffer, and the like. I'm just wondering if it is really all that necessary because there are many people that say that consistency is more important.

[Eddie]

Consistency is the most important. People keep discus in a WIDE range of water parameters with success. I say let your fishes behavior be your guide.

[jimg]

test your water gh kh ph and tds and well or municipal also what type of discus you looking to keep?

[schoolaintsobad]

I just ordered a half-dozen from Kenny's new shipment, so I'm pretty excited. Just wanted to double-check with this question because it's one of those questions that's always bugged me in the back of my mind. I will use the drip method to acclimate them to my water, as my GH and KH is higher than the "ideal" ranges that people talk about... i.e., mine GH and KH are in the 150 range, not in the zero range.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Are you conditioning you water? I am assuming you are using straight tap water. If so, use some prime to get rid of the chlorine.

many people have had success as Eddie mentioned with tap water (providing you condition it of course), RO water or a mix of both.

I have been using 100% RO water for about 6 months now and my fish have higher spawn count (more eggs). My display tanks are also 100% RO. My Kh and Gh are between 0 and as high as 2 at times.

Your TDS if using tap water, depending on where you live can be as high as 500 so investing in a TDS meter (I prefer Hanna brand) might also help you decide where you want your water to be.

Good luck.

[Skip]

Consistency is the most important. People keep discus in a WIDE range of water parameters with success. I say let your fishes behavior be your guide.

yep.. consistency.. is best.. tap.. is just fine.. you only need RO in reality for breeding purpose..

what size fish did you get.>>?? 140 is big.. lots of food will get lost..
how man did you get.. ?

[schoolaintsobad]

I have (7) fish in the 3"-4" range coming. Yes, it is tap water, but I am in the country and it is from a well, and it should be consistent. I don't understand why "2" is considered high... the range goes up into the hundreds. Is the scale really such for GH and KH that the difference between 0 and 2 is great?

I have a clean up crew of cory cats that will hopefully help with the lost food. I also plan to clean the bottom of the tank during water changes, of course. The tank is very near plumbing, so that is nice. Water changes will be easy.

[schoolaintsobad]

[QUOTE=DiscusLoverJeff;935397]
I have been using 100% RO water for about 6 months now and my fish have higher spawn count (more eggs). My display tanks are also 100% RO. My Kh and Gh are between 0 and as high as 2 at times.

QUOTE]

To illustrate my question better: This quote is an example of the reason why I started this thread. Is 2 really that high? Isn't it basically the same as zero?

[Cullymoto]

that depends on the scale your using to measure kh/gh....
you can count in ppm, where in 50 - 100ppm is basically nothing at all, or you can use the other scale (i forget its name) where a score of say 5 is quite high.

[Tommo]

Here's a link to a basic acticle on hardness and pH that you may find useful. It also gives you the formulae to convert one measure of hardness into another:

http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=aquariumwaterhardness

Hope this helps

[Skip]

Good luck :)

[schoolaintsobad]

that depends on the scale your using to measure kh/gh....
you can count in ppm, where in 50 - 100ppm is basically nothing at all, or you can use the other scale (i forget its name) where a score of say 5 is quite high.

Aha! This makes much more sense! Thank you!

[schoolaintsobad]

Here's a link to a basic acticle on hardness and pH that you may find useful. It also gives you the formulae to convert one measure of hardness into another:



Hope this helps

Thank you so much. This is exactly the info I was looking for.

[Foxfire]

I am confused - I often read that 100% R/O water is bad since even discus need some minerals in their water for health? Even the Amazon has some carbonates and other trace minerals. Also, does not pH become unstable with pure R/O water?

[Eddie]

I am confused - I often read that 100% R/O water is bad since even discus need some minerals in their water for health? Even the Amazon has some carbonates and other trace minerals. Also, does not pH become unstable with pure R/O water?

What are you confused about?