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are discus so hard to keep?

4K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  compulsion 
#1 ·
in an allready setup tank, with good filtration, good biological filtration, and weekly water changes say 50% would discus thrive. why is it so important that discus have RO water. my tap water is very hard and i know discus like hard water. but would chlorine etc that normaly is harmless to fish in water changes be harmfull to discus?
 
#4 ·
lol i know chorine is a baddy, but im not a fan, and dont have the space to store water to let the chlorine evap. but the levels are pretty low in my water. just to damn hard :D

i might treat myself to a pair of discus once im happy and my water is excelent. clear. clean :D

thanks buck
 
#5 ·
Umm...

Discus like soft, low pH water


The water should be soft, between 3 and 15dH. The pH should be between 5 and 6.5. http://www.netpets.com/fish/reference/freshref/discuswater.html

Discus in our farm are kept in slightly acidic water. Water temperature is kept between 28° C to 30° C. Water hardness preferred by discus is soft http://www.clcdiscus.com/discus-fish-raising-ship.html

See http://www.aquariumhobbyist.com/discus/mytank/index.html Those planted discus tanks are all pH neutral and have low GH values.

There are lots of discus sites out there, google discus and take a gander.

-*-*-*-*-
gnatster
 
#6 ·
gnatster did you do all that searchin for me ? :D

thanks man u coulda just said. your wrong, discus like soft water.

my mistake ....
 
#7 ·
compulsion..do u know if here in the uk water authorities use chlorine or chloramine to condition the water. Apparently chlorine can be oxygenated out of tap water over a period of a week or so (no fish in it!) wheras chloramine will not budge without chemicals
 
#8 ·
fishface your right about the evaporation with chlorine. i dont know about leicester but were i come from most of the water is held in resivoirs. i dont have any chloramine in my water however i do have chlorine and even some lime :S. but i think its very little possibly the same as what it would naturaly be.

are u asking because of your *first tank/not yet operating*... you may aswell use some chems for the first setup of your tank. who supplies your water? wessex water for me. they have a website and will allways email you the details of the water in your area...

if you need some help pm me. maybe one day we could trade plants :D
 
#9 ·
severn trent supplies mine.

I will look for their site, water here also is reservoir.

thanks for the offer, I appreciate all the help I get, few days ago I thought i could bung a load of green stuff in a glass box and leave it to it.

now Im dreaming of ph's and c02 and muttering about 'substrate' a lot ..lol

I also peer at tank photos on the internet to see how they have done their plants for long periods of time...hmmmm

so ...if u have a pic of yours......... :lol:

niki
 
#10 ·
lmao i used to think like that... ill pm you some info on my diy co2 its alot cheaper than some of the diy's ive seen. youve obviously thought about your substrate. i hope you get on with the laterite ive heard it can be a little bit messy, but no doubt lots of people use it so its a good sub. i only have sand at the mo but will be adding some perlite proberly tomorow. my tank is still young and i have no cam so untill i borrow one there wont be any pics, ill get one soon and take pics on everything i can that ive diyd to get me going in the game.

this is a fine board of pros so youll have all the info you need.
 
#11 ·
I've learned from a Discus expert that it is possible to house Discus in slight hard water. You just need to raise really young ones so they can adapt to it. If you really want to house them, why not use Discus Buffer? I've tried it and it works, I like it!
 
#13 ·
Well I have nine discus in my display tank. Water is KH 4 ph 6.5- 6.6. water change 140 litres out a week. Feed them with frozen food all the time as they will not eat pellets. When I do the water change I add Prime (water conditioner) to my tank directly and fill the tank directly out of the tap. Dont use RO water, nor do I have some bucket with water waiting to de-gas of chlorine.

Most of what you read over the net and in books about discus is just nonsense. My fish are fine, they are starting to pair up and in time they will breed.

Anyway that is the opinion from someone who actually has discus!

Paul
 
#15 ·
i dont want them to breed. but i do want to get my water conditions close to there requirements, but stil be able to keep most other community fish, ill proberly stick with cardinals but either way.

just been doing some tests.
Tap water PH 7.4
Tank PH 6.4 :O
Tank GH 11
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm

ill definatly get some of that discus buffer stuff. ill check up on the brands before i buy
 
#16 ·
Whats your KH, you might be able to drop your Ph below 7 if it is around 4? Then it would be fine for discus.

Paul
 
#19 ·
No 6.4 is fine for tetras, I have tetras in my tank and they are fine at the PH.

You wont need to raise the CO2 level even with your compacts, the plants will use more CO2 but if you maintain this level with a controller then you won't need to jake up the CO2.

Paul
 
#20 ·
oh... i never mentioned i dont have a controler, just a 12 on 12 off cycle, ill leave the co2 levels as they are.
 
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