Adrienne Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 how big are the discus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manindernz Posted July 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 i have been told they are year old. other issue i am having is my tap ph is 7.8 but in tank its 6.0 ..? silica sand as substrate and no deco only 2 driftwood in there why its so low.. ? is it part of cycle ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 The production of nitrite ions during cycle can cause a ph drop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 A pH of 6 is fine for discus - much better than a pH of 7 or above. Tanks drop in pH as they mature unless you put something in them to raise it. Driftwood will also drop your pH but over time, not quickly. In a tank with a low pH ammonium is present rather than ammonia. Ammonium is a non toxic form of ammonia however your test, unless you have a kit that tests for both, it will show as ammonia. The toxicity of nitrite however, is not affected by your pH. If you get a reading then it is bad. One thing to note - in a cycled tank it is rare to have a nitrate reading of 0 unless you have a large number of plants in there. Generally you can tell your tank is cycled when you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and your nitrate starts to rise. Once it starts to rise you need to aim to keep it under 20, preferably around 5. This is done by regular waterchanges. So if your discus are a year old they should be around 12cm or more in size and once weekly water changes of around 50% will be sufficient as long as you do a good job of syphoning out any waste when you do it. One thing about discus is that they like pristine water conditions and do better in bare bottom tanks. You might need to water change more often than once a week to keep it like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manindernz Posted July 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 allrighty i wont do 50% wc i will keep doing 25 to 30% wc just so i wont shock the fishies :f77: thanks Adrienne Thanks for the helpful write up !! i am testing water everyday ammonia nitrite and nitrate are 0 atm i do have plants in there not heavy planted tho. i will keep up with water changes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.