Best water parameters?

[Nathan]

hi im just wondering what the best water parameters are for keeping dicus, also what are the abreviations for each thing, sorry i dont know a whole lot about water chemistry.

thanx
nathan

[sharn]

best water params are stable ones, they can adjust to a wide range as long as its stable. i think people normally keep them around 6.5-7 ph.

kh is carbonate hardness and is the measure of calcium in your water (i think im remembering this right lol) and is basically your buffer. a low kh means you can have potentially nasty ph swings which are very bad for your fish. 2-5/7 degrees kh would be ok id imagine.

gh is general hardness, a low ph normally goes hand in hand with a low gh and vice versa but im not sure what happens if its insanely low and your ph is normal.

ph is well ph lol, the measure of acidity and alkalinity (i think im on the right track for that lol)

ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte are just that. ammonia and nitrIte should always be 0 with nitrAte preferably under 10ppm.

degrees to ppm is 1:17.9 ie 1dgh is 17.9 ppm gh.

ppm is parts per million, d is degrees.

and i think thats about all my brain can think of for the night hehe. HTH