Water Changes

Hi guys... Well MY Discus are still fine.
Its been a week so i want to do a 20% water change, And maybe a little vacume of the gravel.

How does one do a water change for these fish?

Should i prep the water in advance? Fill it and let it stand for a day or so?

On my other tank , i just use tap water and some dechlorinator..

With this Discus tank im not to sure of just using tap water,as i dnt want to mess up the water balance.

So how do you guys do your water changes?:bigsmile:

 

hi zippy. Yes you will have to prep the water. I dont know where you are from so its hard to say what your tap water is like. I'm in Gauteng and here its no good. I use borehole water which i had tested and suits discus. I pre-heat the water to within 1 or 2 degrees and then add it to the sump where it gets pumped into the tank. Sometimes I do a change using only RO water to keep the overall hardness of the water down. However, if your discus are fine now, use the same water mix you used when you set up the tank. Just age it a day or two, an air stone will help, add dechlorinator if you need to, and just make sure the temp is very similar. It doesnt have to be exact, just feel it with your hand.

 

Hi Marco!
Thanks so much for the advice!, Im in Durban
I to have no idea what our water Quality is like here.
Basically when i first filled the tank all i did was Fill up a Huge bin with water, add dechlorinate and let it sit for 5 days. Added that to the tank through the filter and well let the tank run for an hour, thereafter added the fish, the good thing at that time was that the tank was already set up and running all i did was add the water.

 

Do you have any idea what the ph of your tank water is at the moment? Anyway dont stress about it too much. Your fish will be a good indicator. If they are unhappy they will go dark, (except if Pigeon blood) not eat or be very skittish. Its much better to keep Discus water clean and stable rather than fidgeting to try get it perfect as far as parameters are concerned. What I also sometimes do, and it does help, though in small increments, is add a box type power filter filled with peat moss to the ageing water. I keep enough in the bin for two to three 10% changes and fill it up every time after use which means it continuously gets filtered through the peat. It only softens it a slight bit though.

 

Sorry for this slight hijack, but I'm sure it'll help Zippy too - where do you get peat from? Is there any specific type to use, and are there certain things in peat your have to avoid? Is there anything you have to do to peat before adding it to your filter?

 

In the past and still I use peat granulets that I get from a LPS. Its imported from Germany and is HELLISHLY expensive. Prof Dirk suggested to me that I get Canadian peat from a nursery though. Just make sure NO fertilizer or pesticide was added. He did mention that it is often hard to find.

 

Hi , Salmon u read my mind! i was about the ask the same question, I have heard alot about peat but had no idea where i could find this. Thanks Marco,
well i now have a large (new) black Bin filled with filtered water ( water from the water filter we have in the kitchen) Added a bit of Dechlorinater to it and left my old heater in there to heat it . Ill let it stand for a day or two before doing the water change.
I hope to use that for top ups and water changes.
The Ph at the moment is around 6.6 or 6.7 , im using a red sea brand water tester kit.

 

Hi Zippy. That sounds good. One thing I, re-read my post now and it gives the 'wrong' impression. "hellishly expensive" is a subjective opinion. The peat granulets I get in the region of +-R100. I find its expensive because you have to change it every 2 to 3 weeks if it gets filtered with the power filter. Peat looses its ability to release tannins quite quickly so thats why I think there must be cheaper options. I'm going to look for Canadian Peat today. I'm in PTA, i can PM you if I find some. One other thing. Prof Dirk might disagree about this, and I want to make it clear that this is NOT nescessary, its just what I do. My discus are mostly in bare bottom tanks which is why I can do this. I change +-10% every day, cleaning the bottom of the tank also. Discus grow very quick this way, and I feel more comfortable with my water. I do this partly because I feed them up to 6 times a day so thats why I do many small changes.

 

Zippy, first garden centre I went to I found Canadian peat. Unfortunately its in a see-through bag so there is no telephone number I can forward you. It worked out half the price for 5 times the volume so its definetly a better option. Hope you can find it there.

 

I'll take a look around some garden centres here, too, and I'll let you know if I find any. Good chance I'll be going to one today.

 

Thanks Salmon and Marco, Ill may be going to the Garden Centers tomorrow morning, Hopefully i should find something There are 3 large ones around me so ill try n visit them all.