Ph,Kh,Gh?

[BigFoot]

Hi All


I am new to discus and this board I was wanting to know what do you run in terms of kh ph and gh? Some people tell that grow out of juvies is good in water of a Ph of 6.0 to 8.0 and a some high hardness would you agree or diagree with this? Thanks

[DR.V]

6.0 - 8.0 thats a big range !! Discus prefer pH 6.5 but I keep my discus at pH 7, this is tap water without adding anything like pH down.

Where do you live ?? Sydney's water have a perfect hardness, so you dont have to mess around with this.

HTH

[BigFoot]

I live in Cincinnati Ohio, USA. So what PH and water hardness does this forum recondmend?

[BigFoot]

Ps I am not asking about breeding pars as i know this is much different just about growout fish.

[DR.V]

What is your tap water's pH ? Do you age your water ?
Sometimes after you age your water for about 24 hours, the pH will change slightly.
I would suggest around pH 6.5 - 7.

[BigFoot]

Yes i do age my water in a 55 gal barrel for 24 to 48 hours. The ph is running at 8.0 after ageing.

[Mulisha]

Well maybe adding some peat moss to your aging drum to lower the ph down a bit becuase a ph of 7.5 is fine so your close to be being perfect but like they say "It's better not to have the perfect PH is better to have a stable one".

HTH :)

[BigFoot]

Well maybe adding some peat moss to your aging drum to lower the ph down a bit becuase a ph of 7.5 is fine so your close to be being perfect but like they say "It's better not to have the perfect PH is better to have a stable one".

HTH :)

The most logical question i can think of now is how long will take the ph to drop using peat? cuz i like to change at least 30% a day in all my tanks reguardless of the fish.

[Mulisha]

You will really have to try it and see how you go i know "Sera Super Peat"
works well so maybe trying something like that :lol:

[DR.V]

Yeah "sera super peat" works great.
Also a bit of driftwood in the tank would also helps.

[FishLover]

I live in TN, USA and having the same problem. I use a cannister filter rated 350 gph filled with peat to pre-treat my water for 5 hours for my 44 g container, using an air stone at the same time. That brings my ph down to about 7.0, my tank water is about 7.2 and 44 g is about 40% of my tank water. There will be a slight drop in PH for the first day(7.09) but it goes back to 7.2 and stays there. I think what's important is how many times the water pass the peat, that's why I have the 350 gph filter and it works. I also start with really hot water (115+F) and wait the temp comes down to 89 F so I don't have to use a heater. I use the cooling time to do the peat treatment. My tank temp is set at 88F. Another reason for hot water is it is a bit softer than cold water so your peat does not have to do all the work. I think it is cheaper to heat up the water than buying more peat. This is by no means a cheap solution but it works for me.

My tap water is 7.5 and goes to 8.1 after 24 hours of aging without any treatment. Long hours of peat treatement were able to soft the water so it would not shoot up to 8 the next day like it used to be. Don't use ph down because the water is hard enough to come back in few hours and you will have a big swing of PH.

I do have 2 big pieces of driftwood in my tank and a small amount of peat in one of the cannister filter too.

[BigFoot]

First of all thanks to all that have posted on this subject. Even thou peat may soften the water this i don't think would be a good solution if you want to run multiple tanks. I would like to run a lot of tanks so I need to find a better solution. What about Ro and tap water mixed?


Ps I have a ro unit so this would not be a promblem

[FishLover]

RO water works fine with tap water mix. In that case, you should be able to use PH down to adjust your PH level without any problem.

You may want to add something like Discus trace elements into the mix too.

I don't have place for the RO water and that's why I have to use the peat.

[Ben]

I am lucky to have soft water, but i still use an RO unit, %10 ro water and %90 filtered tap water mix.

Sodium biphosphate works well in lowering the PH.
SB is the ingriedent in PH down.

Ben

[BigFoot]

Would Seachem Acid work in place of the ph down?