Gotaloveaqua Posted April 3, 2016 Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 I have been testing my water today with the intention of figuring out the ph difference between my tank water and the tap waterMy tank is a stable and constant 6.6Tap water is 7.0-7.2 (depending on the day. I think rainfall has an impact on this).Other levels are:Ammonia/Nitrite: 0Nitrate: 5I would like to know what the cause of this difference in ph might be? I have plenty of plants (no Co2) and driftwood in my tank. My current stock are seemingly unaffected by the difference when I do a water change which is a good 20-30% weekly.My concern is that I am planning to keep discus and I am aware of the extra sensitivity to water parameters...Any thoughts on this? Is it common or an issue? Thanks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 3, 2016 Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 Driftwood can make the water acid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gotaloveaqua Posted April 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 Thanks, in that case do I need to do anything about it for future discus keeping? My main concern is that the water change might be harmful because of the large ph difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxxi1 Posted April 3, 2016 Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 If ur doing more constant smaller water changes then the ph will move naturally and slowly the fish most like won't even know the difference alternatively u could age water in a barrel if need be but I don't think discus are that finicky if the pet shops can do big cold water changes and et away With it. Here in wellington the oh out the tap is always 7.6 to 7.8 so pretty high. And I have bettas and killifish... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gligor Posted April 3, 2016 Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 I think you'll be fine. I've got discus and I do 30% water change weekly direct from the tap with using Seachem Prime in the tank before adding the tap water. The discus are never phased. I haven't tested the pH difference between the tap and the aquarium water, but the aquarium is around 6.7 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gotaloveaqua Posted April 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 Okay thank you for the advice. I will look at doing more regular and smaller water changes for this tank when it is set up and if things are still going well I will ease up and do a larger water change weekly keeping an eye on the ph throughout. I just want to get this right first time without much collateral damage if possible - Discus are quite the investment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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