Water parameters for Discus

[brad58]

Hello, I live near Seattle Wa. tap water here is soft but PH is about 7.8, I aged the water and PH stayed the same. Questions
1. Can I raise Discus with a PH of 7.8

2. How much will bogwood in the tank and peat in the filter lower my Ph.

3. If it does lower my PH , will the fish get stress during water changes using my 7.8 tap?

4. I know bare bottom tanks are easy to clean, any thoughts on using sand as a substrate.

5. What about possible tank mates, thinking maybe some corys.


Any info you guys may give would be appreciated............Thanks

 

[fattubwhale]

There is no reason to mess with the ph your ph is perfectly fine for raising Discus! Are you planning on keeping domestic or wilds? When it comes to substrate it's all personal preference most go BB some use sand others use pebbles... I like bare bottom now, if I was going to set up a wild tank I will use a little sand! tank mates I have cardinals, BN plecs. And sterbais.

 

[brad58]

Thanks for the info, the fish store I have been thinking about buying my discus from has a great selection of fish, probably 25 tanks of discus. Most of his fish are domestic, he did say they may tolerate my PH better than wilds, not sure if that is a sales pitch.............

 

[3dees]

many discus are raised and bred in PH of 86. stability if more important and thats why peat can be bad. it will lower your ph but only for a while. it's like carbon, it needs to be changed often. your ph will swing if you forget or use more or less when you change it.you will also have to use a barrel to hold water for wc's and match it's ph before using it. if you must lower your ph, use R/O. gravel IMO is the worst substrate for discus. it traps too much food and crap. sand is easy to care for. for raising juvies, bare bottom is best because of all the feedings. most tetras and cories are fine with discus. one problem is some don't take well to the higher temps that discus are kept. I would wait til they are adults before adding other fish. as adults you can lower the temp. I keep my adult wilds in 82 with lemon tetras ans cories.

 

[DIDYSIS]

Ph should be fine, lots of water changes, they like consistency with everything

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