Tropical Fish Forums

[queenbobby]

hi I'm selling my malawis and the ocean rock to change to discus set up.
I have pH of 605 in my tap water and even with 20lbs of cruched coral gravel I couldnt brng y pH up without adding sodium bicarb in at every water change what I wanted to know is can I keep the discus in the water with the coral gravel in as substrate>?
as the pH reads only 6.6? I was wondering if it effecst the hardness etc..
can any one let me know
also I have 260l aqaurium and oi have 2 external filters fluval 405 on it will thie be enough I think there both 900l/hr each?
wil I be able to do 1 weekly water change of 25%?
shall I start with just 3 and some cardinals?

[Marcos Avila]

Queenbobby, your typing above is pretty sloppy and annoying to read. Please be considerate to those who will read your post and try to help you, by revising and spell checking your message before hitting the Submit button, OK?

I would absolutely advise against keeping coral gravel in the discus tank. These fish require soft water, not just low pH, and this type of gravel does indeed raise the hardness.

With canister filters you shouldn't look at the flow rate, but rather at the tank size they're rated for. The 405 is rated for up to 400 L tanks, so two of them in a 260 L should provide excellent filtration.

A 25% weekly water change should be a reasonable starting point as long as you don't overstock, etc, but only your tank itself will be able to tell how much water changing it will need as it matures. Be sure to have a good test kit at hand.

I would aim at completing a population of 5 young discus (6-8 cm) + companions within the first month or so (assuming you're jump starting the cycle) and then letting them all grow together with no further changes.
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Success with a fish/tank is measured in YEARS, not months or weeks...

[beowulf]

Totally agree with the above post. If you want them to be the happiest, changing the substrate to something neutral at the very least will be required.