Domestic Discus can be kept in water with high TDS as long as the the pH is stable.Wild Discus and breeding pairs need water with lower TDS.
Hello SD Members!
For the past 10 months I've been lurking the forums and studying up on discus and proper care practices & techniques.
Recently I've bought a electronic pH meter + API's Aquarium test kit from Amazon. Coming straight out of my tap the water's pH varies so much. I'll be updating this tread everyday so I can keep a log and others can give me advise. (I'm aware my water's pH is VERY high)
12/2/2017: 8.2-8.4 pH
12/3/2017: 8.6-8.8 pH
So my question is. How would you guys go about providing consistent pH/Water parameters for my discus? I've already bought a RO buddie to help lower the pH and remove most of the TDS. (I havent tested my TDS yet but judging what I've heard from others in my area its VERY high as well.)
Any advise is helpful. Thank you guys!
Domestic Discus can be kept in water with high TDS as long as the the pH is stable.Wild Discus and breeding pairs need water with lower TDS.
Quote from Colin Powell
"There are no secrets to success; don’t waste time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom you work, and persistence. You must be ready for opportunity when it comes"
Quote from Colin Powell
"There are no secrets to success; don’t waste time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom you work, and persistence. You must be ready for opportunity when it comes"
Yes
ph is secondary the most important factor will be GH ( Calcium & Magnesium for the most part) . I have raise and keep fry with the reject water from my RO. However if you can afford give them better water by all means. Low TDS and ph for wilds specially Heckels. However I have kept my wilds on straight aged tap water , for weeks not issues. They just act better look better with soft water. Most important above everything is stable conditions . A ph of 9.0 in fresh water is an abnormality most likely and error IME , way back when I use to have salt water a ph of 8.2 was normal and that was adding half a cup of salt per gallon. I will check the instruments first if I get a reading that high.
To recreate stable , stable , stable conditions is the key. don't mess with the ph , and water hardness is more important . some specific species of wild Heckels if you are trying to breed them required low ph , and them you need to pay attention to Kh or buffer as is very dangerous to have a ph swing .
I hope this can help . I shoot from the hip , hope is not too much information.
Last edited by Pardal; 12-03-2017 at 09:59 PM.
Breeding , interest and goals Wilds Heckels and Cuipeuas and a few Domestics pairs with occasional fry as well as Angels fancy Plecos , corys and shrimps.
Age and aerate the water in a bucket for a day to see if the ph drops and stabilizes. Ours is coming out of tap as high as 9.6 starting in 2018 due to the addition of sodium hydroxide, but with aeration it drops back down to a lower baseline pretty quick. Perhaps city is adding chemicals to your water for corrosive control measures, like my city?
Last edited by Second Hand Pat; 12-12-2017 at 09:02 AM. Reason: Fixed sentence
Since you already bought an RO unit you could always go 50/50 and that would lower ph and hardness with using any chemicals to alter ph
Im not illiterate...only my phone's auto correct is
Yes, I wondered if you really meant to say "not aerate." Definitely put an air stone in your water storage and your water should stabilize in 24 hours to then give you consistent readings. High pH should not be a problem, as long as you don't make continual abrupt changes to the pH.
Alrighty! I have put the 5 gallon bucket out I will test in 12 hours and 24 hours!
I came home today and did a tap water pH test and I got a reading of 8.6. and in the 24 hour wait out I got 7.4-7.6. Thanks guys!
Nice, that's great news! So to answer your initial question, I would set up the most efficient possible water change system so that you can age/aerate/heat water for water changes. Then after you drain the tank u can use a pump and hose to refill the tank from your barrel. Don't forget about safety if u have small kids or even cats etc, to ensure the barrel is covered/locked away etc
Will do, thanks Kyla!