How does frequent Water change for fish affect your plant care?

[dkreef]

For discus i will need to do at least weekly 50% or more WC and maybe twice a week.

for hightech CO2 tank with fert dosing plants, how does this affect the caring of plants?

especially if my tap PH is 8.2 but my plant tank PH is 6.8 due to co2 usage.

[Steve001]

There shouldn't be any affect other than removing and replacing dissolved chemicals.
Are you expecting something obvious?

[HD Blazingwolf]

Originally Posted by dkreef

For discus i will need to do at least weekly 50% or more WC and maybe twice a week.

for hightech CO2 tank with fert dosing plants, how does this affect the caring of plants?

especially if my tap PH is 8.2 but my plant tank PH is 6.8 due to co2 usage.

i change 70-80% once weekly, sometimes twice weekly. plant care is made easier because of it. plants like being emmersed for short periods of time, it cleans them and allows them to soak up co2 while exposed to fresh air

[dkreef]

doesnt the temp and ph difference of tap water and tank water affect both discus and plants?

[oldpunk78]

Originally Posted by dkreef

For discus i will need to do at least weekly 50% or more WC and maybe twice a week.

for hightech CO2 tank with fert dosing plants, how does this affect the caring of plants?

especially if my tap PH is 8.2 but my plant tank PH is 6.8 due to co2 usage.

http://www.barrreport.com/showthread...-plants-better

[discuspaul]

Originally Posted by dkreef

doesnt the temp and ph difference of tap water and tank water affect both discus and plants?

If there is any significant difference in the pH of tap water vs. that in your tank, then ageing your tap water will usually sort that out satisfactorily, inso far as your discus are concerned.
Temp is no issue as tap water can be taken @ a temp near that of your tank.
There should be no material effect on the plants in any event.

[dkreef]

by aging u mean to have it sit around for few days? whats the purpose of this?

i usually add Prime and tap water goes straight into the tank.

my tap ph is 8.2 and tank is 6.8
thats a significant difference right?

[discuspaul]

Yes, that is a significant difference which could, and likely will, have an adverse effect on discus. Prime will not alter the pH level out of the tap.
It appears you will need to have an ageing barrel of a good size in which to have conditioned tap water sit in (aerated & heated), for up to 24 hours to allow gassing off to take place before doing your wcs.
Firstly, I think you should put some tap water in a bucket, let sit overnite, and test the pH of the bucket water the next day, to determine the variation of the pH, and advise what has then developed.
If the pH reduces by around .5-.6, then that should do to undertake your partial tank wcs.

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by dkreef

by aging u mean to have it sit around for few days? whats the purpose of this?

i usually add Prime and tap water goes straight into the tank.

my tap ph is 8.2 and tank is 6.8
thats a significant difference right?

No, the difference in pH is not due to TDS or salts, the difference is due to you adding CO2. CO2 is not a salt nor changes the TDS, nor does it affect the KH.

You cannot use pH change the same way you do in aquariums where the changes in pH are due almost entirely to differences in the KH. CO2 changes/lowers the pH without affecting the alkalinity.

Discus and frequent large water changes for planted tanks work beautifully if you can get around the myths about pH, KH and CO2. But old myths die very hard indeed.

I've bred discus in planted tanks with a full 1 to 1.2 unit change 2x a week in less than 15 minutes. Fish grew up and ate like pigs. Then bred, then I sold them and made 600$. My clients have done the same thing.

[dkreef]

Originally Posted by discuspaul

Yes, that is a significant difference which could, and likely will, have an adverse effect on discus. Prime will not alter the pH level out of the tap.
It appears you will need to have an ageing barrel of a good size in which to have conditioned tap water sit in (aerated & heated), for up to 24 hours to allow gassing off to take place before doing your wcs.
Firstly, I think you should put some tap water in a bucket, let sit overnite, and test the pH of the bucket water the next day, to determine the variation of the pH, and advise what has then developed.
If the pH reduces by around .5-.6, then that should do to undertake your partial tank wcs.

i measured ph again.
tap PH is 7.8
tap water aged for a week PH is 7.6 (even had driftwood floating on it)
tank PH is 6.8-6.9

perhaps do 25-35% WC instead of 50% weekly i planned?

[dkreef]

Originally Posted by plantbrain

No, the difference in pH is not due to TDS or salts, the difference is due to you adding CO2. CO2 is not a salt nor changes the TDS, nor does it affect the KH.

You cannot use pH change the same way you do in aquariums where the changes in pH are due almost entirely to differences in the KH. CO2 changes/lowers the pH without affecting the alkalinity.

Discus and frequent large water changes for planted tanks work beautifully if you can get around the myths about pH, KH and CO2. But old myths die very hard indeed.

I've bred discus in planted tanks with a full 1 to 1.2 unit change 2x a week in less than 15 minutes. Fish grew up and ate like pigs. Then bred, then I sold them and made 600$. My clients have done the same thing.

Tom,
my tap KH is 8.
my tank KH went from 6,5, 4 then today was 2.
i am doing fishless cycling so perhaps KH was dropped. regular WC should keep the KH close to 6 in my tank.

so basically what your saying is...there is no need to age my water. just straight up WC from tap to tank is fine correct?

[discuspaul]

Originally Posted by dkreef

i measured ph again.
tap PH is 7.8
tap water aged for a week PH is 7.6 (even had driftwood floating on it)
tank PH is 6.8-6.9

perhaps do 25-35% WC instead of 50% weekly i planned?

Then you should be good to go - and your wcs can, and perhaps should, be @ 50% rather than 25%. Your tap water will likely drop a few basis points (as you've already seen) with just overnite ageing - a week is not at all necessary.

[dkreef]

Paul in heavy planted tank where theres not much area of substrates where its not planted, do u have to vacuum the substrates?
I was hoping to just take water out with minimal vacuuming and get plenty of cories and shrimps to help clean up any detritus on the substrate.

[discuspaul]

When keeping discus in any type of planted environment with substrate, no matter how lightly planted, you should always make a point of vacuuming out as much waste and detritus as you can, when doing your wcs.
Cories & shrimps will generally do a pretty good job of cleaning up uneaten, excess food, but they won't touch fish wastes, and other unwanted material, even decomposing plant matter, although shrimps may at times take up a bit of the latter.

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by dkreef

Tom,
my tap KH is 8.
my tank KH went from 6,5, 4 then today was 2.
i am doing fishless cycling so perhaps KH was dropped. regular WC should keep the KH close to 6 in my tank.

so basically what your saying is...there is no need to age my water. just straight up WC from tap to tank is fine correct?

Well, if you prefer lower KH's, you can use RO, but basically, yes, use tap and stop worrying about pH.

If the KH has dropped this much, something else is going on, the plants are taking it up since there's not enough CO2, some cycling, but new planted tanks should get large water changes 3x a week or close to that for the 1st-1-2 months.

I doubt your CO2 is good.

Be careful with adjusting it. SLOWLY , small changes etc. Then watch for 2-4 days.