Tank Water...

[dcarmau]

Hi!

My Water Source is a large (5200AUGallon) Poly Tank, catching water from my roof, I live about 1km from the sea. I was wondering if this water was "pre-aged" or whether I should still age it?

My Discus tank is looking rather poorly at the moment. Going from a sparsely populated 3' (140L) aquarium to a 6' (300L) aquarium will do that!
my current livestock Tally:
1 Blue Turquoise
1 Red Cover
a few Black Neons
3 Kribensis Cichlids
3 Anubias plants, 1 large, one small on driftwood, one small free
Testing my tank showed a pH reading of 6.2 which concerns me mildly, however the tank did house a number of other fish, Angels, Kribs, a Silver Shark (my partner and I swapped) and I'm wondering if that might be part of it, knowing that Discus are Acidophiles I'm only concerned if I'm told I should be. (I've just tested the other tank, and it's pH is the same.)

Plans at this point are:
Planting, lots of planting.
This includes things like a substrate change (considering peat base, currently it's a gravel), and perhaps CO2 injection. (getting testing kits etc tomorrow)

new tankmates... considering a small pleco, perhaps a Flash Pleco (L204) if I can find one, some Rams, and a friend has suggested some Electra Blues, however I know these are Lake Malawi Cichlids and am concerned about agression... I digress.

Should I be concerned about my tank's pH level?
Considering my plans are there things I should do before implementing them?

[Merrilyn]

YOur water from your tank is already 'aged' so all it needs to do is settle so any dust or debris settles to the bottom of the rainwater tank, and you can use it.

Rainwater is by nature, soft and acidic. Test your rainwater tank, and you'll find it will be nearly the same as your fish tank.

Don't add peat, that will make the water even softer and more acidic, and you will have problems with pH crashes. Add some calcium to your water, in the form of shellgrit or crushed coral to help buffer the pH.

As for tankmates, rams would be good, as would a few more of the tetra species. Bristlenose catfish make good and interesting tankmates for discus. Have a look in the "Tankmates Forum" of this site for some more suggestions.

Electric blues are definately NOT a good tankmate for discus. They need totally different water conditions to thrive (hard and alkaline) and would be way too aggressive for your discus.

[Phlipper]

Tank water is very soft and contains no nutrients at all, so it's not suitable for plants, and I think even for Discus pure tank water would not be healthy long term. You really need to raise the PH if you can using what Lady Red has suggested, or I have found a reliable cheap alternative are those little white tank conditioning blocks sold in shops, or usually sold in the pet section of supermarkets. They look similar to weekend fish feeding blocks, but dont get the two mixed up. The conditioning blocks contain various trace elements to raise and help stabilise your PH, I find them quite effective and cheap, at about $2 a block which should be good for about 2 weeks. Prior to using these I was getting a few worrying PH crashes mainly due to Co2 dosing, but now they seem to of stabilised it reasonably well and my PH stays around 6.8 happily 8-)

You can also buy PH buffering solutions from fish stores, but will pay a little more, and this is likely the best solution, but if the budget is tight give the conditionoing blocks a go, it may be just the solution for you ?

[dcarmau]

Thanks to you both for the great advice, Lady and Phlipper. I've tested our Water Tank (from our tap at least) and it's 7.0 exactly (well, as exact as a Bromo Blue test ever is, anyway.

I was going to buy the pH buffer today anyway, as well some (more) test kits (kH for one). To that list I'll add some Shell Grit for sure.

*Smiles* Lady, thanks for the pointer to Tankmates, but I've been there till ungodly hours of night when I really should be studying! :D it's a great place!

Like I said, I had concerns about the Electric Blues, and thought "well, ask the experts!"

Thanks heaps you two!
*sings*
I'm off to see the fish-shop! the wonderful fish-shop of Tas!*/sings*

[Phlipper]

:lol: :lol: well off ya go then, and dont forget to take Toto for a walk first. :lol:

[dcarmau]

Grabbed the stuff, well, the Conditioning block and the gH/kH test kit. (Also some Harlequin Rasboras and a Bristlenose Catfish, figuring I can take them out of quarantine when the main tank stabilises.)
interestingly, my LFS says "we can't sell shell grit and only sell Marble Chips by the 25kg bag" I'm thinking I'll go to the beach and grab a few shells, adding them slowly to avoid a pH spike. Is it ok to add them in my Filter, Shells really look out of place in all but a few tank environments.

Thanks again folks!

[Phlipper]

Yep I think the crushed shells contained within a pouch and placed into the filter would be fine, depending on what kind of filter naturally. 8-) I often use the toe section of an old pantyhose for filter medium bags, after a good wash first...............you dont want your fish getting "Athletes Foot" :lol: .......and if the missus catches you with a pair of pantyhose....well ???......you can make up your own story :lol: :lol:

[dcarmau]

Lol, If I have a Missus I'll be interested to find out how I got one!

We use Pantyhose as pouches for our filter carbon anyway, (it's not the right shape to stay in our Canister Filter trays on its own)

And washing the shells goes without saying, except, as has been pointed out in other threads, you never know who's reading! :D

[dcarmau]

thanks for the help by the way! the Conditioner blocks are doing a good job, 3 "squares" (1/2 a block) raised my tank from 0dH- 1dH over 24 hours! I've added another 2 squares, I'm aiming for a dH of around 2.

It should be noted I'm using this as a temp measure until I can walk to the beach and get some shells... I'm not a fan of chemicals unless necessary.

[Phlipper]

I think the conditioning blocks are pretty natural as well, in as much as they contain natural occurring minerals..........but the beach is for free :P

[dcarmau]

yeah! and within walking distance, not to mention pretty!

[Phlipper]

I'll get to Tassie one day, a good mate of mine was born there and visits hios folks there every year....must get there soon 8-)