creating the perfect planted/ Discus water with RO

[JackBlasto]

I use pure RO water (no tap water at all) and add to that water in two 40 gallon trash cans:

Magnesium
Calcium
Discus Trace
Flourish

Outisde of the trash cans I dose the actual tank with

Potassium Nitrate (KNO3)
Mono Potassium Phosphate (KH2PO4)
(omitted as my particular substrate provides) Potassium Sulfate (K2SO4)
Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO4)
CSM +B

QUESTION is am I missing ANYTHING you pro plant people would see as a red flag that would cause me problems down the road?

Because of this I THINK I have ABSOLUTE control of the water content and know EXACTLY what's in there.... I am scared I'm missing something (like iron since it's pure RO BUT I think this is covered when I dose the CSM+B)

I know there are products available that restore RO water but when I'm shaping the water content to be for Discus and want control over softness and also be able to omit things like potassium (because the substrate leeches it) I really feel this is the absolute control freak way of doing things.

Anyway, through 9 months of careful trial and error this is the mix I've come up with that I believe restores the RO water to a good balance but I'd love to hear someone else's opinions.

 

[Billbug68]

Are you breeding? Are these wild caught discus?

I've seen you post a lot recently about water parameters. I have no true discus knowledge, but I thought if they were tank breed, they really aren't that picky? I may be sticking my foot in my mouth, but I think you may be over thinking things? No?

And what substrate leeches potassium?

 

[JackBlasto]

I am most certainly overthinking it but now that I've gone this far and understand the nutrients and have the dry ferts/scales/membranes/basement space etc I figure why stop now and maybe I will successfully get some breeding action You're right though and it definitely is overkill at this point.

The substrate I have found to leech potassium is aquadurt... aquarium plants.com seems to be the only distributor and is where I got it. I wish I didn't get it now that it's in there because I have now researched and found others with similar problems of it leeching ALL kids of uncontrollable stuff BUT I guess that's why it's good for plants and if you're not trying to control a strict environment it might be great? For my situation with Discus and the water actually getting harder as it sits without water changes I have found the substrate to be an annoyance but it's not easily changed and I'm not ripping it out.

 

[Billbug68]

It seems like you have everything in order. Now you just have to test to make sure you're keeping params stable and where they need to be.

 

[JackBlasto]

Here is what they say is in there:

TYPICAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
component weight %
volatile free basis
SiO2....................................76.72
Al2O3..................................11.28
CaO......................................0.63
MgO.....................................2.04
Na2O....................................0.10
K21O....................................1.26
Fe2O2..................................6.51
MnO.....................................0.01
P2O5....................................0.11
TiO2....................................0.52
FeO....................................0.82
Loss on Ignition.................2.20


I have a potassium meter made by Hanna Instruments for freshwater... It is calibrated... RO water reads zero when tested... Tap water reads minimal amounts... tank water ALWAYS reads over 100 ppm which is as high as the meter goes. If I test directly after a 50% water change I can get the readings to show as low as 30 ppm but give it a few days and the Potassium levels will be crazy high... There is no way to conclude why this occurs after months of me eliminating factors EXCEPT the substrate. I stopped dosing ALL potassium in the tank at one point and the only way to get it down was water changes. There is something super funky about that substrate.