1 dead discus and ph high!

[arjones]

hi guys. slight problem. I've just lost my discus this mornin. I've had her 6 months but had my tank as a discus tank for a year now. although so many of you will think this is bad my ph has always been about 8.0. I know they prefer soft water but my first discus ever bought were being kept in the shop in local tap water of 8.0 so i kept my water parameters as this. I've acclimatised 5 more discus into this water and all seemed fine for 6 months untill today. It was the least dominant fish that died and was never an aggressive eater. Im pretty sure it was just one of those things cos my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all 0 and can't find a cause. She was a 4" fish and im slightly worried that living in that ph for only 6 months has killed her. Is it possible for the ph to kill her over this amount of time? i was under the impression that although i will never breed discus in that ph they will be happy and healthy if well acclimatised. BTW the others all look happy and healthy and are all eating fine.

[mistakes r crucial]

If they've been in that Ph for 6 months then I can't see that as the reason your fish died. There is no doubt that Discus prefer a lower Ph but there are plenty of people that have bred Discus in the mid 7's and kept them for a very long time in the 8's. Personally I wouldn't do it and I've never had to but it can be done so I would be looking for other reasons/conditions.
MAC

[arjones]

thanx form your imput its put my mind at ease a lil bit. If i was to use ro water to lower the ph and hardness would it be safe to start doing my water changes with a third RO water( i do 25-30% water change weekly)

[mistakes r crucial]

What are your water params as far as hardness are concerned?
MAC

[arjones]

sorry took so long to reply. the answer is i actually don't know because ive never tested it but its quite high. doesn't hardness normally correspond to ph? anyway thanks for you comments but ive decided to leave things as they are for the minute because my remaining discus seem fine and im going away to uni soon and don't want to overload my step-dad i don't think he could cope with Ro water bless him. However with the death of my last one the 'daddies' of the tank have found sum1 new to pick on. movin the tank round hasn't helped is there anything else i can try other than addin another discus?