changing ph to add discus?

[panboy]

i have a ph of around 7.8, yes i know very hard, its arizona though.

but i wanna add discus, and with RO water i can get 7.0 ph

but my tank has been 7.8ph for months now and i dunno if it would hurt the other fish changing it so much?

i also have a bolivian ram who i think will do much better in 7 ph , but im worried about the other fish like my rummys, corys and otos.

what could i do about it?

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I would never change the ph. IMO discus are not are bothered with general phs (by that I mean middle range, no extremes) as much as by other factors.

 

[Doggfather]

try adding some peat to the filter

how big is the tank?and how many discus?

 

[jaywings19]

Two nice sized pieces of malaysian driftwood dropped my pH down almost one whole point in my 72G tank.

 

[heresmike]

but my tank has been 7.8ph for months now and i dunno if it would hurt the other fish changing it so much?

You could phase the RO water in gradually and the fish would adapt to it. So whenever you do your water changes, use RO water and it will be a slow change and there wouldn't be a sudden change in water condition.

I have heard, however, that even discus fish can adapt to higher pH and hard water. But they won't successfully breed in it. If breeding is something you're wanting from your discus, then I'd say to use RO water.... otherwise just let them adapt to your water .

 

[Cian McLiam]

You can possibly keep Discus in 7.8, the trick is to get all the hard work done for you, before you buy them. Check around your local suppliers, ask them what pH they keep theor Discus at. If they dont know, walk out, if they refuse to test the water if you request it, walk out. If they keep them at pH 6.0, keep looking, someone somewhere will have the right attitude, that is they cant be sure customers will be able to provide RO or naturally soft acidic water.

Quite a few suppliers here are proud to keep their Discus in the local tap water, these are the people to seek out, and do what they do. If you just want to have some beautiful Discus in your tank,and dont consider breeding important, then it is possible.

The only caveat is that you must put the Discus first, if the other fish are unhappy or incompatible with Discus life, they have to go. Never treat a Discus tank unless its the Discus that are sick, keep Discus with relitavely hardy species (if at all) like the Bolivian Ram and Black Widow Tetras.

Ken

 

[Sorrell]

My discus are in 7.8

 

[panboy]

You can possibly keep Discus in 7.8, the trick is to get all the hard work done for you, before you buy them. Check around your local suppliers, ask them what pH they keep theor Discus at. If they dont know, walk out, if they refuse to test the water if you request it, walk out. If they keep them at pH 6.0, keep looking, someone somewhere will have the right attitude, that is they cant be sure customers will be able to provide RO or naturally soft acidic water.

Quite a few suppliers here are proud to keep their Discus in the local tap water, these are the people to seek out, and do what they do. If you just want to have some beautiful Discus in your tank,and dont consider breeding important, then it is possible.

The only caveat is that you must put the Discus first, if the other fish are unhappy or incompatible with Discus life, they have to go. Never treat a Discus tank unless its the Discus that are sick, keep Discus with relitavely hardy species (if at all) like the Bolivian Ram and Black Widow Tetras.

Ken

that was some great information, thanks

ill make sure to find out how the care for their discus.
thanks again

 

[freshmike]

I don't even know what mine are at..... ) Kind of embarrassing....

 

[G_Sharky]

You don't have to worry about ph on tank breed Discus as they would adapt to high ph like any other tropical fish....the only Discus IMO that wouldn't thrive in high ph are the HEckel Discus or the wild caughts......

 

[Cheese Specialist]

You can possibly keep Discus in 7.8, the trick is to get all the hard work done for you, before you buy them. Check around your local suppliers, ask them what pH they keep theor Discus at.

Quite a few suppliers here are proud to keep their Discus in the local tap water, these are the people to seek out, and do what they do. If you just want to have some beautiful Discus in your tank,and dont consider breeding important, then it is possible.

I agree with that, I have had my discus for all of 4 days but never mind that! The breeder I got them from advertised that they were used to the local tap water, which was very good for me.

Look around, try to look for single breeders rather than shops/stores and then you'll have a better chance of getting tap water happy discus IMO.

Good luck, disus are cool.

 

[panboy]

thanks for the advice...

only wonder is wont it effect their colors since their water wont be at the best for them personally?

 

[panboy]

? anyone? ive always wondered this, about other fish too....

 

[Cheese Specialist]

thanks for the advice...

only wonder is wont it effect their colors since their water wont be at the best for them personally?

I don't know but I wouldn't imagine it making a massive difference if they were born in that water. It may be bad to toally change their usual water chemistry to be honest.

A stable and constant PH is more important than the actual value IMO.