water conditions for discus

[kinezo]

hey all
just wanted to ask....
alot of ppl say discus come from very soft waters.. well, what do you guys use to soften ur water for ur fish...
whats melbourne tap water like?
i live in melbourne and some of the LFS say their discus is already conditioned to melbourne water... is that ok?

also keeping PH steady... someone told me i can use sea shells but how do i use them... just a few questions
please help
thanks heaps..
kinezo

btw this is like my first post..... found this website by accident.. and boy its a great one heheeh
cheers

[Merrilyn]

Hi Kinezo and welcome to the friendliest discus forum around. Melbourne water is just fine for discus, just as it comes out of the tap. You only need to add chlorine remover and age. Adding sea shells or shell grit will make the water harder, and prevent pH crashes,(Melbourne water is VERY soft). I also use it when I am raising fry, as the extra minerals and calcium aids strong bones. But you don't want to add shellgrit when you are trying to spawn discus, only when the fry are free swimming.

HTH

[Bronx19]

Whilst on this topic, could I get get some feedback on the affect of Ammonia and temperature on PH?

I am fishless cycling now and have noticed that with the increase in temperature to 28 degrees and addition of large ammounts of ammonia, my PH has gone sky high, up to 8.2.

Is there a reason for this?

[Aurora]

Ammonia is a base and so has a high pH. So when you add it to the water the pH of the water is going to increase.

In answer to the first post. If you live in Melbourne you dont have to worry about softening the water, you have to worry about hardening it. My water comes out of the tap at 0 gH and 0 kH. You will probably have to use a kH powder or some other product to increase you carbonate hardness to avoid pH crashes. The carbonate in the water will act as a buffer to keep the pH steady. Other than that it is great.

[flukes]

Read the fishless cycle article in the articles forum. Dont even bother testing ph during a fishless cycle, as the ammonia will change it significantly. Wait till the cycle has completed and you have changed all the water.

I normally change 50-75% over 3-4 days too make sure, then i do a ph test. If needed you may need too add more ammonia too keep the bacteria living before the fish are introduced but if the bacteria has developed properly then it should be all gone in 24hours..