Maintaining stable pH and water parameters during water changes

BagelDog

BagelDog

AC Members
Apr 21, 2009
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Montana
I'm getting ready for my first couple discus fish and have one large hang up in my maintenance routine for these fish/my new tank.

I'm new to adjusting water parameters such as pH. When I do water changes what is the safest and most consistent way to keep my pH steady and below 7.0?
My tap water is around 8.0pH.
I'll hold off on purchasing these fish until I can jump this hurdle.

Also, I feel pretty confident in my fish keeping abilities but are there any hidden difficulties when keeping Discus?
 
Discus will be fine at 8.0pH, only if you're breeding does pH/tds matter. Keep it simple, you want to be consistent, and anything that makes maintenance harder than it has to be, increases the risk of stressing your fish.
 
:iagree: I raised discus on straight tap water - it was between 7.6 and 7.8 ph out of the tap. They did fine - even w/40% w/c's. Don't start messing w/your ph unless you want to breed them and even then I would try a couple of spawns w/your regular water just to see what happens. Most discus today have lived their entire life in an aquarium - pet stores want to sell you a bunch of stuff that you really don't need. What discus REALLY need is a constant, stable ph, warm water (82 degrees minimum - 84 to 86 preferred) and frequent (at LEAST a couple times a week) water changes. I had very few problems w/my discus when I did these three things. Also - I wouldn't mix them w/a lot of other fish - they are more prone to certain diseases than other fish. The biggest mistake people make w/discus is putting them in a community tank that is too cool and too dirty for them to really do well.

HTH,
 
I agree with the other posters as far as ph goes. I do have a couple of questions for you though. What size tank are you putting them in? The general rule of thumb is 10 gal per adult discus. What size discus are you planning on getting? The smaller the discus the more feedings per day and the more water changes needed to maintain the water quality needed for the discus to grow to it's potential. How many? Unless you are buying a proven breeding pair of discus, it is necessary to buy at least 5, preferably more. This will disperse the aggression that will happen in the tank. As the saying goes, if you buy 3 discus......you will soon only have 1 discus.
 
ditto...no need to adjust the pH in most cases.....but if you do, get a barrel and pre-condition the water for your water changes.
 
ditto x2.., Unless you are doing extremely large water changes,like 90%, adding fresh water to tank water that has had the PH drop a bit should not bother the fish.And even then,the fish should be just fine.
 
Thank you everyone!

Snoopy65- I was planning to house these discus in a 55 gallon planted tank. I was unaware of the rule about 10 gallons per Discus or the rule of 5 discus minimum. I was planning on giving them more room than that but I guess if I'm required to get 5 discus I'll be a little tight on room.
 
I agree with snoopy. I have 6 ranging from 3-4.5 inches in a 55 gallon for now. They are fairly agressive fish and pick on each other fairly regularly. With six, I see it dispersed among the youngest/smallest. If there were only a few, one or two would be picked on unmercifully.

I agree with not messing with your PH. I do my water chnages straight from the tap. But, my water is stable. The ph only changes about 0.4 in 24 hours. Some people's tap water changes dramatically within 24 hours. These people either age water for their changes or use RO water.

No offense intended...as I'm new to Discus as well...I recommend a LOT more reading as you will find MANY different opinions and these fish are on the pickier side. Though I must say not as difficult as one hears. Try the SimplyDiscus website/forum. I have found it to be FULL of useful info. I think it will help you alot.

Good Luck!!
 
Stephcps- I'm glad everyone made me aware of the aggressive nature of discus fish. I had no idea. I knew they were cichlids but I figured their temperment would be close to that of German Rams. I'm dealing with a limited amount of data at hand due to the lack of serious fish keepers in Montana.

No offense taken, quite the opposite actually... I understand that I do not have all of the info necessary to properly take care of this fish... but I'm working on that!
 
I have truly found a great deal of info on Simplydiscus.com
They even helped me successfully treat my first illness in my group. I just had my first spawn!! Don't have high hopes for ir, but it's pretty cool anyway!!!
 
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