Ph

[jiffy]

I am getting a used tank with fish Tuesday night. One of those fish is a discus. I know they they are picky about their water quality and am trying to read up as much as possible before I get him. Once I have him I will decide whether I should keep him or trade him, but as of right now I'd like to keep him.

I tested my pH tonight, from my aquarium and from my tap (no dechlorinator). The aquarium tested 8.2 and the tap tested 7.4. The tank im getting comes with a very large piece of driftwood, which will help to lower pH.

My first question is, why the difference in pH between the tank and tap? Secondly, will any of this pose a problem for the discus?

 

[sylvia]

First off, the difference is probably due to rocks you have in your tank that are buffering the water. Things like limestone do this. Also, crushed coral and certain other types of sand/substrate have this effect. Oxygen also causes a slight increase in pH so very heavily aerated water can be different but I doubt this is what causes such a large difference in your tank.

In the case of the discus, I'd avoid attempting to alter the pH. Do you know what the pH of its tank is right now? What about the pH of the tap water from wherever its current owner lives? Find out.
To avoid altering the pH in the discus' tank like you have with your own, don't add any of those rocks/substrate and try to make sure you know exactly what everything is made of before adding it to the tank and be aware of the effects on water chemistry that such substances have. I think there's a pinned topic about this somewhere so perhaps search the forums - there's also plenty of relevant threads.

One more thing, discus shouldn't realy eb kept alone and the fact that this one is has got me wondering what else is in the tank and how large it is. Do you think you could provide that info as well? I'd also suggest that, if you have any discus-related questions, you ask in the new worl cichldis section

 

[jiffy]

Thanks for the info. Here is what he currently has in the tank. The whole thing is such a good deal (just the equipment alone) so I figure I will asses the fish situation once I got it and then trade stuff to the LFS to build a good stock.

1 discuss, 7 cardinal tetras + 1 green tetra, 1 baby whale, 3 hatchet fish, 1 glass knife fish, 1 panda corydas, 1 sterbai corydas, 2 Threadfin Rainbow, 2 Pseudomugil furcatus, 1 Flagtail catfish, and some apple snails.

 

[sylvia]

You probably will need to do some stock re-aranging/re-thinking later on but it should be ok temporarily until everything's settled. What size is the tank?

 

[jiffy]

Its a 55 gallon with a ton of accessories. Here is a link to the thread I posted about the tank:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=119879

I just know figuring out what direction I can and want to take the tank in is going to be a headache once I get it. Thankfully I'm on break from school right now so I've got some extra time on my hands.