Water Requirements on Keeping Discus :)

[LiLDiscus]

Hi Discus Lovers,
I haven't got any discus but am hoping to get some juvis soon. I want to know what are the best water requirements (eg. ph,gh,nitrate,ammonia etc.) to keep discus....
With my current community tropical tank(all fish are alive and kicking)... do i need to add any special water treatements if i want to keep discus or can I straight away add some discus.
PS: Is there anything else I need to know about keeping discus.
I heard that discus prefer a light flow from discus etc.
Sorry if these might be noobie question..... :oops:

Thanks

Winny :lol:

[tank]

Hi Discus Lovers,
I haven't got any discus but am hoping to get some juvis soon. I want to know what are the best water requirements (eg. ph,gh,nitrate,ammonia etc.) to keep discus....
With my current community tropical tank(all fish are alive and kicking)... do i need to add any special water treatements if i want to keep discus or can I straight away add some discus.
PS: Is there anything else I need to know about keeping discus.
I heard that discus prefer a light flow from discus etc.
Sorry if these might be noobie question..... :oops:

Thanks

Winny :lol:
Hi LilDiscus
Welcome to the forum I do hope you get your juvies soon, these fish are spectacular fish to keep, i love em to death and so will you
there will be lots of advice here so wait for it and go with what works for you IMO ph range is 6.0-7.2 mine is 7 the rest no traces of am thats 0 and nit same 0 gh they do like it soft mine is very soft lots of driftwood and pete in my sump and water storage drum.WC WC WC WC WC WC WC
thats what i do everyday (big secret)and as far as flow well in the early days i had it going so hard water used to splash out the tanks they did fine and at times they seemed to enjoy the swim now i turned it down a bit. and they like it as well as far as a community tank goes i only have discus I dont like to anything else in the tank only 1BN .I hope this help a little

[Ben]

Hi Winny,

welcome to the forum!

Vince covered pretty much every thing there, just make sure you keep up the water changes! the most important thing when keeping discus!

if you have any questions please ask away!

cheers,
Ben

[Benny]

My only piece of advice would be, that keepin the pH low and stable is difficult without having your kH level stable.... If your calcium hardness is stable, it will keep your ph within a certain range and helps to prevent pH crashes which can be disasterous...

As far as ways of maintaining kH, theres shellgrit or various products available to alter it...


Regards,
Benny

[LiLDiscus]

Thanks for the great advices...
Whats KH? and is a suitable temperature for discus 25 degrees?

Thanks..

[Dee]

Hi LilDiscus,

KH is Carbonate Hardness also known as Temporary Hardness, KH will buffer (stabilize) your PH. In Melbourne we have very soft (low KH) water, which is great for breeding and not so great for general discus keeping and raising juvi's. Shell grit or a KH powder will raise you KH, be careful though ... too high a KH will send your PH upwards. Aim for around 3-5 degrees KH for general discus keeping. Here's a good link with some info regarding KH, well worth reading if you have soft water like we do in Melbourne. A low KH can result in PH swings downwards which isn't much fun for the fish. HTH

http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/water/hardness.htm

Cheers,

Dee :)