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Re: Another Discus issue



> When keeping a reef I only used RO water.  I'm now putting together a 75 gal
> planted Discus aquarium.  My RO filter of course eliminates nearly all
> minerals, additives, etc.
> Is RO water a good or bad choice for a planted aquarium... should some trace
> minerals be added to the water?
> 
> Thanks!
> John

Cater to the plants and you'll have a very nice set up. RO is not needed
unless you like big hassles and lots of extra work. You'll have to make the
RO then add the GH/KH back to it then add it to your tank etc. Why remove
things that you need anyway? You'll need some Kh (4-6 is fine) Gh about the
same. You can check out the archives as this one has been addressed not too
long ago. Discus are this frail delicate fish that die instantly with any
changes nor do they REQUIRE any temps of 86F.They will do fine in the basic
plant tank at 80F. So will the fish that also live were Discus are from.

A friend recently insisted that Rummy noses required soft water etc to
thrive and that he had had a difficult time raising them. He had a number
die etc. Same with his Discus. He had RO and likely could not get his
mineral balance right each time he did a water changes and always messing
with that introduced more user ERROR than help as is the often the case.
Simplified set ups are the least prone to failure. Complex ones are not.
We all get lazy go on vacation etc so minimize your work load.
 
My Rummys are fat healthy and I've never lost a rummy nose or Discus for
that matter. Jumping is about the only way to die in my tanks or old age. He
feeds his live tubifix worms, I feed mine flake and Frozen brine etc. I have
an algae free tank full of healthy plants , he has some very interesting
algae species quite evident all over. Worms all over in his gravel swaying
in the currents like hair. You can do the RO route and succeed but is it
required? No way. Will it help? No, not really. You may try lowering your
KH/GH for awhile to induce breeding if that's your goal, feeding some very
clean worms/live brine etc but for general keeping this is a hassle and
certainly not needed. Focus on CO2, pH & KH instead. Check out the table off
the Krib on this potion. You kept reefs so you know how to test and blow
large sums of money:) Plants are different and many think they can do much
of the same and equate the two. Corals are critters and plants are plants.
They are different. P shouldn't be absent nor NO3. You'll be testing namely
pH/KH/NO3/Fe but mostly just NO3 and pH.
Got a problem? Check out your CO2 relationships with pH and KH. If it is
good then look at NO3 and P then iron last. Water changes help even the
mistakes you make during the week out and reset your tank each time.
Lighting can be 2-4 watts a gallon of 5000-6700K range of light colors if
you use CO2. 
Hope this helps, 
Regards, 
Tom Barr