You say you have hard water like mine. Does that mean you have a PH this high or does that mean you have hard water with a PH of 7.8-8.2 like typical "hard" water? And do the discus breed as regularly as those keeping them in soft water?
I'm open to suggestions on how to keep my Armatus alive.... If you can honestly think of something besides the PH that I haven't thought of over the last 3 years then I'm all ears. I've had 11 Armatus. I have 1 circling the drain (not eating) and one still acting normal. All the rest dead. The biggest one was grown to 10 or 11 inches in softer water prior to me moving here. Moved here, dead by 14. The next batch of 5 none made it past 10. Next batch of 5, the largest is circling the drain at 10 inches. I highly doubt this is a coincidesnce. Is it possible they are not able to pull enough O2 out of the water to maintain growing, then at 10+ inches they just can't get enough O2 to stay alive? Maybe being smaller they require less O2 and in turn live just fine but then once requirements go up they just aren't able to meet the requirements? All of them tend to show signs of swim bladder issues if that means anything to anyone. The "Characin stuppor" is what I call it. Seen similar signs in older larger Odoe, and Dorado.
Maybe the rays would be fine. Maybe they would be even better at lower PH.
I've had adult mature rays for over 2 years, probobly closer to 3. I've had one litter of pups. I think that maybe the water is contributing to this. I've lost a pretty good number of rays...... We as fish keepers set the goal to mimic natural enviroment. I highly doubt the Amazon ever encounters PH even remotely close to this. There has to be repercusions from long term exposure to this. They may adjust, but I highly doubt that they do this without repercusions like a lowered imune system. Maybe they'll live in it, but find it hard to believe they would thrive in it. The only way to find out is lower the PH and observe. For waht it's worth I've messed with PH down in the past in softer water then this and it would last 6-8 hours then bounce right back up again. I was up to using an entire bottle in a few days on a 55 gallon tank.
As far as how the hell the PH is going from 7.5 at the plant to 8.5 out of the tap, then up to >8.8 in the pond/tanks is a mystery to me, it is also unexplainable by the water dept except "maybe buildup in the pipes". I have yet to hear any logical explanation from a hobbyist either. I belive the water pipes here are galvinized. Don't quote me on that, I'm no expert, but IF I had to guess that would be it.
I'm open to suggestions on how to keep my Armatus alive.... If you can honestly think of something besides the PH that I haven't thought of over the last 3 years then I'm all ears. I've had 11 Armatus. I have 1 circling the drain (not eating) and one still acting normal. All the rest dead. The biggest one was grown to 10 or 11 inches in softer water prior to me moving here. Moved here, dead by 14. The next batch of 5 none made it past 10. Next batch of 5, the largest is circling the drain at 10 inches. I highly doubt this is a coincidesnce. Is it possible they are not able to pull enough O2 out of the water to maintain growing, then at 10+ inches they just can't get enough O2 to stay alive? Maybe being smaller they require less O2 and in turn live just fine but then once requirements go up they just aren't able to meet the requirements? All of them tend to show signs of swim bladder issues if that means anything to anyone. The "Characin stuppor" is what I call it. Seen similar signs in older larger Odoe, and Dorado.
Maybe the rays would be fine. Maybe they would be even better at lower PH.
I've had adult mature rays for over 2 years, probobly closer to 3. I've had one litter of pups. I think that maybe the water is contributing to this. I've lost a pretty good number of rays...... We as fish keepers set the goal to mimic natural enviroment. I highly doubt the Amazon ever encounters PH even remotely close to this. There has to be repercusions from long term exposure to this. They may adjust, but I highly doubt that they do this without repercusions like a lowered imune system. Maybe they'll live in it, but find it hard to believe they would thrive in it. The only way to find out is lower the PH and observe. For waht it's worth I've messed with PH down in the past in softer water then this and it would last 6-8 hours then bounce right back up again. I was up to using an entire bottle in a few days on a 55 gallon tank.
As far as how the hell the PH is going from 7.5 at the plant to 8.5 out of the tap, then up to >8.8 in the pond/tanks is a mystery to me, it is also unexplainable by the water dept except "maybe buildup in the pipes". I have yet to hear any logical explanation from a hobbyist either. I belive the water pipes here are galvinized. Don't quote me on that, I'm no expert, but IF I had to guess that would be it.
