Advice Needed To Soften Water For Discus

[jimn]

Hi all, I have been keeping tropical fish for about 5 years and have decided i would like to keep discus soon. I like in an area with hard - very hard water. My aquarium is 100l although i may upgrade soon and currently have a ph of 7.4. I know discus like softer water which is slightly acidic. I have bought some peat to put in my filter but am unsure of how much to add and how after to chnage the peat if i change the water once per week. is peat the way to go other than getting a R O unit.

I would appriciate any help in the matter

 

[DiscusAngel]

Although a discus owner, i really cant help you! because i live in the south west our water is ph 6.3 ish and a slightly acidic which is why i started keeping them in the first place.

The only suggestions i can think of is RO and i think if you go to your LFS they have little tablets that reduce the Ph.

Anyhow Goodluck!

 

[jaycat]

IF nobody on this forum can help, there is site, Discus uk, it's a forum for owners of Discus; maybe give them a try.

Hope I've not offended anyone for suggesting this

 

[Colin_T]

Wild discus do live in soft acid water but if they are captive bred then they will be more tolerant of higher pH and hardness. A PH of 7.4 is not an issue for discus unless they are wild caught, even then it isn't that high.

Peat can be put in a fine mesh net and kept in the filter. It will lower the PH to some degree but doesn't do much for reducing the hardness. Also in very hard water it probably won't do anything to the pH.

You don't say how hard the water is but if you want to reduce the hardness then use a reverse osmosis (R/O) unit and mix 50% R/O water with 50% tap water, (or make a mixture up so you have about 100-200ppm of general hardness).

 

[jimn]

Wild discus do live in soft acid water but if they are captive bred then they will be more tolerant of higher pH and hardness. A PH of 7.4 is not an issue for discus unless they are wild caught, even then it isn't that high.

Peat can be put in a fine mesh net and kept in the filter. It will lower the PH to some degree but doesn't do much for reducing the hardness. Also in very hard water it probably won't do anything to the pH.

You don't say how hard the water is but if you want to reduce the hardness then use a reverse osmosis (R/O) unit and mix 50% R/O water with 50% tap water, (or make a mixture up so you have about 100-200ppm of general hardness).

I have tested my water today after a 25% change yesterday and the kh was about 180 and the gh showed as 180 but this is the max on the test kit i have. Does anyone know where to good a reasonable plcied r o unit and are they easy to install?

 

[Colin_T]

if the water is 180ppm or there abouts that is fine for captive bred discus. If it is higher then a R/O unit can be used to make up water with a GH around 100-150ppm. Maybe get your local fish shop (LFS) to test the hardness for you so you know exactly how hard the water is.

Most R/O units can be fitted to a garden hose and run from that. The tap water is simply forced through various membranes that remove the minerals.
Have a look in the yellow pages under water filters/ water purification and make a few phone calls. Don't buy the first unit you see. Look around a a bit and compare different brands. You can sometimes find them at hardware stores.

 

[jimn]

if the water is 180ppm or there abouts that is fine for captive bred discus. If it is higher then a R/O unit can be used to make up water with a GH around 100-150ppm. Maybe get your local fish shop (LFS) to test the hardness for you so you know exactly how hard the water is.

Most R/O units can be fitted to a garden hose and run from that. The tap water is simply forced through various membranes that remove the minerals.
Have a look in the yellow pages under water filters/ water purification and make a few phone calls. Don't buy the first unit you see. Look around a a bit and compare different brands. You can sometimes find them at hardware stores.

o.k. many thanks for the advice. Hopefully it will all work out o.k.

 

[darknirvana217]

You can use an R/O deionization unit. Or, I use a product called Seachem's discus buffer. It lowers the Ph and softens the water. I've never had a Ph spike while using this product.

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

First thing to do really is to find out exactly what your waters hardness works out as.

When you have the numbers we can work out how to best to prepare your water for discus.

Usually a mix of RO water and tap is performed to get the correct parameters and with soft water your ph will be lower as a result. Sometimes an HMA filter can be used if your tap ater is already good enough. This will pull out heavy metals and chlorine/chloramines without adjusting the hardness of the water.

Chris

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

are you planning on getting a breeding pair out of some discus to breed them?

if not, correct pH level are not needed unless they're way off

 

[jimn]

You can use an R/O deionization unit. Or, I use a product called Seachem's discus buffer. It lowers the Ph and softens the water. I've never had a Ph spike while using this product.

from keeping the fish i have had in the past including rams i haven't given a thought to water hardness as it has never been an issue so I feel like a novice now. Someone has said an ro unit can be attached to a gardens hose. Does this mean i don't have to install it to my water supply and can just use it when required by connecting a hose to my kitchen sink and running the water through the r o ? is discus buffer a chemical alternative to a r o unit or something used along side it. i am confused!!

 

[angelmouse]

your tap water sounds fine,it will be fine for keeping discus and it will probably lower more in the tank with bogwood and the peat. ,try to match your water to that of where you are getting your discus from i use r,o as my water is 7.8-8 from tap, an HMA filter is good if your ph is ok but want to get the nastys out of the water but are not essential, look at ro-mans website for good info and prices on these units.
regards Angel

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

your tap water sounds fine,it will be fine for keeping discus and it will probably lower more in the tank with bogwood and the peat. ,try to match your water to that of where you are getting your discus from i use r,o as my water is 7.8-8 from tap, an HMA filter is good if your ph is ok but want to get the nastys out of the water but are not essential, look at ro-mans website for good info and prices on these units.
regards Angel

Just to say I have the RO-Man 75 gall per day unit and cant really fault it. Cheap too. HMA water can also be made but taking a T junction off of the pods from the RO before it gets the membrane if the correct cartridges are used, this saves having to buy another unit but will cut down the daily production of RO water.

All we need are the numbers and then we can give you what you need to know.

Chris

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

also, why is this posted in the pictures subforum?

 

[Colin_T]

Someone has said an ro unit can be attached to a gardens hose. Does this mean i don't have to install it to my water supply and can just use it when required by connecting a hose to my kitchen sink and running the water through the r o ? is discus buffer a chemical alternative to a r o unit or something used along side it. i am confused!!

R/O units can be connected to any water supply with some water pressure. It does not have to go under the kitchen sink but can be fitted to any tap in the house. Most people have them in the kitchen so they get clean drinking water, but if you just want it for the fish you can have it in the bathroom, laundry or outside. Anywhere you have a tap you can have a R/O unit.
Most units must remain wet once they have been used so it is a good idea to leave them connected to the water supply or at least keep them sealed to stop them drying out between uses.

Discus buffers are usually chemical based buffers used to lower the PH & GH of the water. These can be used in addition to a R/O unit but are generally not required because the R/O unit will have removed most of the mineral content from the water (thus lowering the PH & hardness).
Some discus buffers will contain tannins to help create "blackwater". Blackwater is the term used for heavily tea stained waterways. The brown discolouration is caused by tannins (chemicals released from dead plants) in the water. Tannins are known to have health benefits to fish and can encourage softwater fish to spawn. It does however, cause your water to go yellow or brown, depending on how much tannin is in the water.
Driftwood often releases tannins into the water causing the fish tank to go yellow or brown.

There are also ion exchange units that can be used to remove minerals from the water. These work by swapping molecules in the water for molecules in the unit.