Peat

[lakesurfer59]

40 gallon tall. Over hang lighting.

I've put peat pellets (mesh bag) in my canister filter. Along with some round porous stones. My tap water is 7ph. I've had this running now for three weeks. I color of the water turned slightly yellow/brown. The bottom of this tank is heavily planted. I brought the recommended plants for a discus tank from one of my other aquariums.
There are (16)neons, 4 glass cats and 2 platties living in the aquarium right now. The Platties are one their way out to another live bearer tank.

Now my question. My ph has actually risen from 7.0ph -to- 7.2ph. Why? Is it because mt cycle isn't finished seeing it is a new tank. (3 weeks). I'm trying to get to 6.8 ph.

The on thing I have done today is I added Blackwater extract. The guy at the store told me to try this before I try any chemicals, ie. ph down. I did this and my water has become far more amber colored. Of course I'm asking you after I've made this move. I'd still like some more in put.

The other thing I've done is added an air stone. Will this help. I understand Discus do not like a lot of air bubble activity. Any thoughts. I"m hoping this O2 bubbles will help in the process of bringing my ph down faster.

Any thought on this would be great.

[Gebhardt]

Hi

I am not sure why you want to drop your ph?
I keep all the discus at about 7.4ph.... tap water. and borehole water at about 7.8ph.
The only Discus fish i keep at 6.5 to 7ph is the breeding pairs and the only reason for that is to give the male enough time to fertilize the eggs.
ph of about 7.4 is fine and you will get fry and even successful fertilization of eggs on that ph.

Ok the ph might go up or down during times but i dont think its from the peat. I use full peat slabs i get from plant shops (just let them stand for week in water) and every time i use it it drops my ph about .5 in a week. another thing to use is driftwood in your sump and tank. It color the water bit but that's cool because the fish originate from that color water, they love it. and remember that co2 will drop your ph much faster and will help with plant growth but please remember that you will keep discus at about 30 degree temp and at that temp oxygen is less in the water. but if you put air stones in the tank you will lose the co2 again..... tricky but do able....

What sort of peat do you use? I would rather take out that peat and add a lot of drift wood to tank and filter. (small pieces works best in sump filter) But like I sed before.... its not worth it to play with ph if your not a serious breeder....

Ps: Stay away from ph buffers!!!!!!

[lakesurfer59]

I've been lead to believe that I needed 6.8 ph before I could even consider keeping a discus. My water now is steady 7.2. The temp is holding at 80F. Everything is clear as a bell. The tank is heavily planted. So with in the next week or so I'll go grab the discus. The local store has a nice selection now. How many should I get for a 40gallon tall?

[Gebhardt]

Hi

I can tell you now that every client i visit for checkups on there tanks are running a ph of 7 to 8. no problems.
If you read alot about Discus you will see that in nature where they originate from, during rainy season the ph go above 8.

Ok about 40 gal tank......

read this: (all of it) please it the do and donts about discus)

http://www.sadiscus.co.za/DicusData.php

here is a part of it:
"Discus fish are large fish and should therefore be kept in a big aquarium, about 50 liters for one mature discus fish is a good guideline. Because the discus fish is a schooling fish it should be kept in small groups with a minimum of 5 discus fish. If we calculate a little further we come to the conclusion that a tank of 250 liters is a minimum size to start with for discus fish. The discus fish is a high shaped fish and when selecting an aquarium a higher tank is recommended. Discus fish require tanks with at least 250 liters capacity and minimum dimensions of 120x50x50cm........."

[lakesurfer59]

Thanks very much. Happy New Year Also.

[Gebhardt]

Thanks.

Happy new year to you to.
may your fish be healthy and full of color.

Blessings