Using peat to lower ph?

[Mr.Pleco]

Hey everyone.

I'm looking to lower my ph in my tank. My tap water is naturally hard, 8.0. I'm looking to possibly keep Discus if I can figure out a way to keep a more neutral ph that is consistent.

I've heard if you filter water through peat it will lower ph but will tint the water color. I'm not really worried about discoloring. I have enough filtration that I don't think it'd be too much of a problem.

I wasn't sure if the drop was gradual or if peat lowers it pretty quickly.

If anyone knows any other ways besides chemicals and RO, I'd love to know!

Thanks for your help!

 

[GodFan]

I think peat is the best way. I have read that it lowers it but I never heard about the tinted water. Now as far as how fast it drops I wouldnt worry about it. I have something in my filter to raise hardness and it has never cause harm by changing the parameters to fast.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

I think peat is the best way. I have read that it lowers it but I never heard about the tinted water. Now as far as how fast it drops I wouldnt worry about it. I have something in my filter to raise hardness and it has never cause harm by changing the parameters to fast.

I'm just worried about when I do wc's it would flux some. Don't want to stress fish, especially if I get discus.

I was thinking about putting some in a pouch and putting it in my canister.

 

[GodFan]

I'm just worried about when I do wc's it would flux some. Don't want to stress fish, especially if I get discus.

I was thinking about putting some in a pouch and putting it in my canister.

Well I dont keep discus and I know they are sensitive but IMO it should not flux enough to hurt them. I keep red chgerry shrimp, kihli loaches, scarlet badiss, and snails in a planted 26 gallon and I have done water changes and also redid the stuff so it would work better and nobody seems stressed. I even did a 100% water change with just the shrimp and maybe a couple otos and they are still fine.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Well I dont keep discus and I know they are sensitive but IMO it should not flux enough to hurt them. I keep red chgerry shrimp, kihli loaches, scarlet badiss, and snails in a planted 26 gallon and I have done water changes and also redid the stuff so it would work better and nobody seems stressed. I even did a 100% water change with just the shrimp and maybe a couple otos and they are still fine.

I have co2 and a ph controller so I'd test run it for awhile to make sure it would stay stable.

thanks for your help!

 

[GodFan]

No problem. Good luck!

 

[bs6749]

8.0 is perfectly fine for discus. I've kept and bred them in 8.2 "liquid rock" with KH/GH off the charts it was so high. The main thing about water is consistency and I can tell you that 8.0 is not bad at all. The most important thing to keep in mind with discus is to buy quality stock, and to also remember that discus like clean water. Change it often and they will thrive. Slack on the changes for a while and they will become prone to becoming sick and getting internal heximita/other flagellates. Do you have a source where you are purchasing your discus from? I can give you contact info of several extremely reputable and professional gentlemen throughout the country if you don't have anything in mind.

 

[Mr. D]

Do you know anyone in southeastern pennsylvania?

 

[Mr.Pleco]

8.0 is perfectly fine for discus. I've kept and bred them in 8.2 "liquid rock" with KH/GH off the charts it was so high. The main thing about water is consistency and I can tell you that 8.0 is not bad at all. The most important thing to keep in mind with discus is to buy quality stock, and to also remember that discus like clean water. Change it often and they will thrive. Slack on the changes for a while and they will become prone to becoming sick and getting internal heximita/other flagellates. Do you have a source where you are purchasing your discus from? I can give you contact info of several extremely reputable and professional gentlemen throughout the country if you don't have anything in mind.

I went ahead and bought some peat to test it out. I put it in my canister.

I actually searched craigslist for the hell of it and found someone wanting to get rid of their discus. I called the guy and he bought a few from where I buy my fish..and I've been eyeing the discus there.

He has a lot of 7..few large ones and some smaller ones. He said 1 doesn't look so good but the rest are healthy and great.

He said he'd sell me all of then for $250, so I couldn't pass up that deal knowing that large discus are $130 a piece at Marinewarehouse, medium at $90 and the small ones are 3 for $150.

I know I'm well overfiltered but you think a sump (700gph pump), Fluval 405, and Fluval U3 in the sump will be more than enough for 7 Discus?

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Do you know anyone in southeastern pennsylvania?

My aunt and uncle live in Penn? lol

 

[Mr. D]

Na the bs69 guy said he knew some people selling discus all over didn't know if he knew a breeder around here, lol... Wow, 150 for 3small... it's like 100 for 4small at my lfs

 

[Mr. D]

That's a great deal for big ones tho anywhere

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Na the bs69 guy said he knew some people selling discus all over didn't know if he knew a breeder around here, lol... Wow, 150 for 3small... it's like 100 for 4small at my lfs

Haha, yeah I realized that after I re-read his post.

They look nice but they are somewhat pricey and if I get get 3 large, a few medium and small for $250 I can't pass that up

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Discus for sale

here's the link. Not sure if all of them are in the pictures or not but they look nice.

 

[Mr. D]

Yeah just the 3 large alone make that deal.... Thanks I'll check them out right now

 

[Mr.Pleco]

For sure. I'm glad I searched discus. He said he was going to look into trading them to a store until I called.

 

[Mr. D]

Yeah, my lfs gets there's from a breeder... Wish I knew who, lol

 

[bs6749]

Do you know anyone in southeastern pennsylvania?

Near Baltimore, MD if that is not too far of a drive for you. His name is Hans and he deals with Stendker discus from Germany. Some of the best discus in the country. He isn't a huge fan of pigeon blood types of discus but he has some nice classic styles and sometimes imports wilds. It's been a while since I've talked to him. Very nice guy with a top notch operation. If I lived where you do, he would undoubtedly be my first choice.

Discus Hans USA

If you are looking for more of a spotted type/pigeon blood based discus I would recommend others. Hans has some of the best blue diamonds around though if you like a classic discus.

 

[bs6749]

I went ahead and bought some peat to test it out. I put it in my canister.

I actually searched craigslist for the hell of it and found someone wanting to get rid of their discus. I called the guy and he bought a few from where I buy my fish..and I've been eyeing the discus there.

He has a lot of 7..few large ones and some smaller ones. He said 1 doesn't look so good but the rest are healthy and great.

He said he'd sell me all of then for $250, so I couldn't pass up that deal knowing that large discus are $130 a piece at Marinewarehouse, medium at $90 and the small ones are 3 for $150.

I know I'm well overfiltered but you think a sump (700gph pump), Fluval 405, and Fluval U3 in the sump will be more than enough for 7 Discus?

Did you buy them yet? Do you have any pictures of them? If you have pics, please post and I can critique them if you'd like. Those prices seems high unless they are high quality. Remember, you get what you pay for and you could be buying someone else's problem. I can help you avoid that. His price seems scary to me, and not in a good way. It seems like an indicator that you would be getting unhealthy/runt fish.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Did you buy them yet? Do you have any pictures of them? If you have pics, please post and I can critique them if you'd like. Those prices seems high unless they are high quality. Remember, you get what you pay for and you could be buying someone else's problem. I can help you avoid that. His price seems scary to me, and not in a good way. It seems like an indicator that you would be getting unhealthy/runt fish.

No, I haven't bought them yet. I get paid Wednesday...so I'll go the end of the week. There are 4 pictures in the link in one of the replies.

He said he's only getting rid of them because he wants to concentrate on his SW tank. He has 2 150's and doesn't want them both on his electric bill anymore and really needs the fish gone. I can ask him for more pictures. He said only 1 wasn't well off but the rest were.

The prices I mentioned were from the actual store. I'm getting all 7 discus for $250.