What do you do???

[Proteus]

How do you guys & gals prepare your water prior to water changes???

how long do you age it for? do you aerate it? add things to it???

8)

[flukes]

I have a 200ltr drum that i have raise in my laundry, i fill it up and add my water de-chlor. Then i throw in about 5 airstones. I start to use the water after about 2 days. For some reason i get massive changes in my ph after ageing (7.6-7.8 before 6.6-6.8 after) Most people wont get a change like this it must just be something in the pipes. Anyway because the drums is higher than the tank i just run a hose from the bottom to fill it up, I used to heat the water but now i dont bother because i only do 15% more time a week, rather than 25% less times a week. For draining water out of the tank i have hooked up a PVC pipe with a ball tap the first time i siphon the water out, when i take the amount i want out i just turn the tap off. From then on i dont have to siphon i just turn the tap on.

Seems like a bit of work but when i get such a large change to make perfect conditions for discus, with out using any chemicals except the de-chlor it is worth it. (i could probably do with out the de-chlor too but just too be safe i use it)

Many people dont have as much steps to preparing water, but with such a difference this is actually easier for me doing 200lts at once then 2x10ltr bottles each time. This might not be for you but get a glass of tap water test the ph, then put a bit of paper over the top and let it sit for 2 days, check the ph again. If there is a substainable amount of change maybe it might be worth ageing your water for a longer period of time. Some peoples water can change over night some take 2 days, it all depends so in your glass check the water ever day until you get 2 days after each other which result in the same ph and that how long you have to age waterto get it to its aged state.

Why age water?
Well for the most obvious reason like in my case if put my tap water in at 7.6 ph and over 2 days it drops to 6.6 this is a large change in a short time so i would rather this change to happen outside of the tank out of harms way for the fish.

Hope this helped it is good to see how your water reacts with the ageing of water that could be the reason why when you test your tap water its 7.0+ and when you test it in the tank the next couple of days its 6.8-. Many people look for other reasons like driftwood or Co2 when it could simply be the diference in ph as the water ages.

Good luck and just test your water in a glass - its not hard!!
Cheers
Scott

[Mattzilla]

i have a 200ltr tank and i change about 70 ltrs every day.

this may sound like a lot but i think it helps to keep my discus healthy.

i age my water in a large bin (currently looking for a cheap 100 - -150 ltr barrel if anyone has one or knows where to get one???). i heat and airate...i have the heater set to about 2 or 3 degrees lower than the tank temp. i add prime to get rid of chlorine and chloramines and sometimes add goe liquid to remove metals etc. has anyone else used geoliquid??? some people swear by it and others say it is garbage...i am undecided.

i age my water anywhere between 6 and 24 hours.

to be honest i can't even remember what ph my tap water or tank water is. i don't bother anymore...my discus are used to it and i think a constant ph is better than trying to adjust it and muck around with it by using chemicals

cheers

matt

[flukes]

Iam undicided on Geo liquid aswell, although i did get a bit of a shock when i saw the cloudyness the first time.
And i totally agree with the no chemicals bit, this is where beginners fail alot, Thinking they must get there ph to the stage of 6.5-6.6 and using mass amounts of chemicals to do it. Discus would rather a constant ph pf 7.2 then a Ph that varies because you trying to get it right on 6.6.
Australian, well melbourne mainly for me dont know about the rest has good too perfect water for discsu so try not change a thing, un lees its way off. A ph of less that 5.8 id do something about and a ph higher than 7.8 i would also do something about, but i have heardof people keeping there dicsus at ph's of 7.6+ so it can be done but its a bit too far off the mark.

Cheers
Scott

[Lily]

And i totally agree with the no chemicals bit, this is where beginners fail alot, Thinking they must get there ph to the stage of 6.5-6.6 and using mass amounts of chemicals to do it. Discus would rather a constant ph pf 7.2 then a Ph that varies because you trying to get it right on 6.6.

to be honest i can't even remember what ph my tap water or tank water is. i don't bother anymore...my discus are used to it and i think a constant ph is better than trying to adjust it and muck around with it by using chemicals

wow, I have kindred spirits :) Couldn't have put it better. I think my pH is 7.8. And 7.8 is where it will stay, cos these are the happiest discus I have ever kept.

You guys all do a real lot of work, I feel a bit embarrassed. I use nitrates as one guide to whether I need a water change (realising that there is stuff other than nitrate that could be building up in there). My other guide is gut instinct (women's intuition??).

You will all laugh when I tell you my water change practices. You'll probably insult and lecture me too, but it's working. I have a 10L watering can. Once a week I take out 10L (yes 10L) of water and then fill the watering can with tap water which I add de-chlor/ammonia/chloramine to, stand it for about 15 hours (ie a work day :( ) then add the new water.

actually, please don't lecture me!! I was the hugest advocate of water changes for so many years, and I tried implementing my old philosophy with the discus but even a very slow 25% change made them majorly unhappy for a longer time than I could justify. Black discus on hunger strike, not happy jan.

What I do now works for me, but I think this is to do with the light stocking levels in my tank, and the lushness of the plant growth. I will of course continue to monitor things to make sure they are functioning as they should be. as soon as my approach stops yielding results I will adapt it to suit. I expect that this will happen as the discus get larger.

L

[flukes]

10lts i wont say a word :x
:wink:
what ever works...thats the main thing.

[Mattzilla]

yeah flukes hit it right on the nose...whatever works.

discus will get used to whatever w/c statergy you use. they get used to whatever water quality you maintain so as long as you do the same amount on a regular basis then your discus will be fine and happy too.

matt

[Proteus]

I am also one of the advocates of whatever works...

but here is some food for thought...

if you had 2 tanks of equal size, continue your water change regime on one, but on the other do 5-25% partial water changes daily with aged/treated water... I gaurantee you you Discus in the higher frequency tank will be bigger, healthier, and more colourful...

Not saying the Discus in the other tank doesnt fit that description of fish...

something to think about, but there will be NO lecturing or criticism on this forum... so Lisa, you are safe... if we feel you are slightly off track we will try and put you back on track, with valid reasons, not just becasue we THINK it is right...

[Lily]

Thank you all for not lecturing - especially as I already know the theoretical error of my ways!!


if you had 2 tanks of equal size, continue your water change regime on one, but on the other do 5-25% partial water changes daily with aged/treated water... I gaurantee you you Discus in the higher frequency tank will be bigger, healthier, and more colourful...

Maybe so, but then I might compromise the growth of the plants, which are a big part of the good water quality I presently have. or I'd be forever re-adding trace elements, and ime the more chemicals you chuck in a tank the bigger the chance of a stuff-up. the CO2 would be a bit trickier too if you were always taking out water saturated with oxygen and co2 and adding new water. If I was willing to spend lots of cash on a state of the art co2 system I'm sure it could be configured to be foolproof but I'm not (willing, or foolproof!).

So I agree with you that this would definitely yield better results in a bare bottom tank, or a tank with some plants, but not necessarily in a healthy planted tank which is to a large degree, at the moment, a successful eco-system.

I don't advocate my approach, it's certainly against some rules I long lived by, but as long as it's working for me I won't mess with it.

I'm not being argumentative, by the way! Just "discus"sing.

[Annie]

I also am to "what ever works".
But I am also, one of "those believer's" in water changes bring happier and healthier fish.
I think with time and experience everyone developes there own ways with the tank and fish/plant balance. I still hear stories from people that have tanks who have NEVER changed their water and just "top" off. :shock: I just cringe..but their fish adapted and are still living... and they think I am crazy and work too much on my tanks. Which I just laugh at, because most of the time, tank changes and rearranging and adding new tanks is very relaxing and fun to me, not so much "work"... :wink: