Very Hard Water

[zsgenon]

The water from my tap here in the states is around 15 degrees in both carbonate and general hardness. I know this is much higher than what discus prefer, but it seems like most of the advice here says that consistent water is a better goal than ideal water. I was wondering if water this hard could cause problems, and if so, what some of you guys would advise for safely bringing down the hardness.

[chris_d]

firstly its not the type of water that discus would be in normally..that is, in its natural environment. And we aquarists try to simulate that to what is ideal. 7-6.5. The discus' immune system is centered to cope with pathogens at that range, going too above, or below that range can impair its abality to handle disease well. (Just imagine your living environment been changed dramatically). Howerever there are some who claim to raise discus with hard water, its 'horses for courses i guess' and whether you hold true that principle mentioned. As for ways to soften water there are 4 ways 1. Distillation 2. Reverse Osmosis 3.Deionisation(use of chemicals) 4. Peat moss
For the exact method you can search through the forum to find what you need.

if you need more info i recommend you to look at this site http://article.discusnews.com/catagory-01.shtml