Ph Problem

[aminyassien]

Good morning everybody,
ihave established my new discus tank two weeks ago,
iam facing a problem
the PH is 8.4 i dont know what to do when we dont have any ph adjusting solution.
the tank is 200 liters tank
i put morena and wood
10 discus 7 cm
4 dwarf gorami
2 hi fin loach
can you help please in this PH problem
thank you

 

[minxfishy]

Ok, first welcome to TFF

You say you established the tank, please can you explain how you did that? Did you cycle the tank with a source of ammonia, or did you set up everything, leave it running for two weeks and then added fish?

Im not sure what you mean by morena, please can explain that?

Do you have a water testing kit, specifically for ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte in the form of a liquid based test kit, not the strip testing kits?

Do you know what the ph of your tap water is, I assume its 8.4 the same as the tank.

Now for a 200L tank, you have way too many fish, I would suggest that a maximum of 4 discus, as you have to allow for the growth of the fish, whilst young its easy to assume that the tank would look empty with only 4 discus, but they grow and you have to give them space to grow in and enough room to turn around.

So I would suggest you return the gourami and the loach. Having said that if the tank is not cycled, I would also suggest you return the discus as these are very sensitive fish and will not survive the cycling process of a tank.

Can you give us the water stats please, ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte (if you dont have a test kit, can you get the water tested at your local fish store and get the results written down for you).

 

[aminyassien]

Ok, first welcome to TFF

thank you for welcoming me

You say you established the tank, please can you explain how you did that? Did you cycle the tank with a source of ammonia, or did you set up everything, leave it running for two weeks and then added fish?

yes i did

Im not sure what you mean by morena, please can explain that?

morena is black water (sira production)

Do you have a water testing kit, specifically for ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte in the form of a liquid based test kit, not the strip testing kits?

yes i have tetra kit , tropical kit and digital mesuerment for ph amonia almost zero but ph is 8.4

Do you know what the ph of your tap water is, I assume its 8.4 the same as the tank.
almost 8.5

Now for a 200L tank, you have way too many fish, I would suggest that a maximum of 4 discus, as you have to allow for the growth of the fish, whilst young its easy to assume that the tank would look empty with only 4 discus, but they grow and you have to give them space to grow in and enough room to turn around.

i will take care of this aspect

So I would suggest you return the gourami and the loach. Having said that if the tank is not cycled, I would also suggest you return the discus as these are very sensitive fish and will not survive the cycling process of a tank.


Can you give us the water stats please, ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte (if you dont have a test kit, can you get the water tested at your local fish store and get the results written down for you).
amonia , nitrit an nitrate almost nothing

 

[petertr]

Hi.

Just FYI that yellow text is very hard to read.

I have a 300L tank, with 5 Discus and 2 BN plec - I wouldn't have the other fish in that tank if I were you - You'll be ok with 7 discus though.


Now, onto other matters, your pH from the tap is very high indeed. Chemicals aren't going to help (they rarely do) and as you need at least 2X 30% water changes per week, something like peat isn't going to help either.

Rabbut will be along soon, no doubt, to add his thoughts on whether pH of 8.5+ is ok for discus. It could be a case of "if they seem ok, then they are".

 

[aminyassien]

thanks petertr
i change water every day 5 to 10 %
the other fish 2 high fin loach small size are eating every thing from bottom
i am thinking to reduce the fish number to be six discus instead of 10
about PH i have been told that discus can live in high ph
but the other discus tank have a ph 6.4 which iam comfortable with
waiting for rabbut to come
thanks for you

 

[minxfishy]

Im sorry I cant read your 1st reply in the yellow.

 

[Davo86]

Ok, how long has this tank been setup for? i.e. how long ago did you fill it up with water?

You say in the yellow text that the "ammonia is almost zero", what is the exact figure on this? any amount of ammonia is not good for Discus,
what are the other water stats?

You will need to do a 50% water change now. and if they are Juvis you will need to be this 3-4 times per week if you want them to survive.
although IMO unless they are tank bred and have grown up in a high ph, I 'm not sure that they will do to well anyway.