Start all over?

[Ron Hudson]

Ultimate goal for 120 gal planted was to eventually achieve water quality for discus w/ temp 82 degrees.  Starting tap water very soft.  Thought, after watching multiple videos, that i needed to put some crushed coral beneath my gravel as a substrate (1 ").  Now 7 weeks after planting my aquascape with 2 large pieces of drift wood, lots of tannis!, lots of plants that are growing well, and good lighting, my ph is 8.2 +, GH & KH 300.  Corey says just look at plants and algae (life) and not at numbers.  Do i need to start over, remove the crushed coral layer, and put just gravel?  Or should i sit tight, feed my plants easy green and just wait?  (Ammonia 0.50, nitrites 0, nitrates 0).  No live things yet except hitchhicker snails from plants orders).   Hate to start over but would really like to try for discus some day. (and time is short as I am 74!).  HELP!

[lefty o]

if the plants look good, and your test numbers arent out of whack, dont mess with it.

[Brian]

What is the PH, and hardness at the faucet?  What are the water parameters at local pet shop or water discus are in now?  crushed coral- well over time it will decrease in its buffering capacity.  Start with some large water changes and see if that works.  
Couple things I would like to point out.  Not a discus expert- only have kept and spawned them last 8-9 years.  I have found  my fish (unless hatching eggs) - did just fine- maybe better in tap water that is 7.4-7.6 and stable.  
Smaller Discus say 3.0 inches and less cheaper- but can be harder to keep.  Smaller can/might mean  higher temperatures (84–86) and more food and more water changes.  And also i find discus do better in a seasoned aquarium (not cycled) but seasoned.   Say a tank up and running for 7-9 months.  So if wanting tank mates maybe start with them.  Get the tank to settle in.  You could at the same time get discus and place  in bare bottom tank and while in quarantine slowly start to condition them and acclimate them to your water.   
you have a lot to think about..   good luck.   
but first check water parameters they are in now.

[Eric R]

I've personally never kept discus. @Daniel has a discus thank however.

[gardenman]

I use crushed coral in my tanks as my water has high iron hardness, but quite literally no calcium hardness. I don't generally mix it in the gravel though I simply add it to my canister filters. That gives me more control over it. If you're planning to get your discus from an online vendor (aquabid, ebay, etc.) you can typically email them through the site and ask them what their pH and water parameters are. You may be surprised to find that some are raising the discus in water not unlike your own. (Hint: Don't tell them your parameters first or they'll magically have the same parameters to get you to buy their fish.) If you're getting your discus through a local store, things get iffier. It takes days/weeks for a fish to adjust to new water and unless a local fish store has had them for a while the discus are likely still adjusting to that store's water. The store could have water exactly like yours, but if the discus have only been in that water a few hours or days, it doesn't really help a lot. 

[Daniel]

I keep my discus in soft hot water because I can, but many, many people keep discus in hard water. 82 F is a couple of degrees lower than I would personally want to go.

If I had a recipe for discus it would be this"

• 84 - 86 F water
• get the discus nickel or quarter size if possible
• feed a varied diet, but include something like live blackworms frequently to help them grow fast
• don't worry too much about water chemistry other than it should clean water however you achieve that

Warm clean water and good food go a long way with discus.

[MBStevens]

Knowing the OP's original parameters (He's my dad!), I'm thinking it might be best to go back in and take out the crushed coral.

Original tap water: 6.8, kH 40ppm, gH 25ppm. Ideal (comparative to his current crushed coral-induced situation) for discus, rams and tetras which he is wanting to keep.

I'm afraid the crushed coral is just going to make things unnecessarily difficult when we could just go back to the original water and get some ideals going for him.  

Am I right in thinking we should start a redo? It'd be worth it to get those ideal parameters right? 

Edited March 21, 2021 by MBStevens

[Eric R]

 

13 minutes ago, MBStevens said:

Original tap water: 6.8, kH 40, gH 25.

Is that ppm instead of degrees for kh and gh?

Edited March 21, 2021 by ererer

[MBStevens]

Just now, ererer said:

 

Those numbers for kh and gh seem very high. That's in degrees not ppm, correct? How did you measure this, by doing the API titration tests?

 

Sorry no, that was ppm!! Quite low degrees, 2, or 3 degrees each I think? 

[Eric R]

Yeah it's slightly less than 20ppm to 1 degree (17.85 I think). A lot of people (a lot of Americans maybe?) report tests in dkh not ppm. I should have guessed that.