I am often asked… “How effective is peat moss at producing beneficial water for Discus fish?”

Peat moss is certainly not required to be kept in the Discus aquarium… It can have a benifical affect adding tanic and humic acids to the water. These acids help lower the pH and soften the water. Peat also has an anti bacterial (so I have heard) effect on the water, lower the numbers of harmful pathogens that may affect your discus fish. Peat adds a tea colored tint to the water, which the native water to discus also contains, making a more natural environment for them. When using peat, use the tea making attitude. A bag of tea will only make so much tea… a portion of peat will only leach so much of essence before it needs to be replenished. Peat can be added to a canister filter, which is the most effective way to get it’s benefits for your discus tank. Another method is to put it in cheese cloth or old hosiery and place it in the discus tank or preferably over a water flow source to obtain maximum flow through to release the properties. As far as what types of peat to use for your discus tank, peats from eastern Canada, generally contain the most tannic and humic acids. These peats can be purchased at most garden centers. Make sure that the products you buy don’t contain anything besides pure peat. Another safeguard before trying them out on your discus tank is to filter the water on a tank of cheaper tetras to make sure you have a good batch of peat… All of this said, we have not used peat on any of our discus tanks in years. I have found that Reverse Osmosis water is the easiest most effective way to produce ultimate discus breeding water. For most of the year we are blessed with very high quality soft (60 ppm) water right out of the faucet. We do have a 2000 gallon a day RO unit for use during times of the year when the water quality drops below optimal Discus fish quality. This happens after periods of very little rain (droughts) or during a cold winter where the main water supply (lake Monroe) receives very little feed water.

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Another question that comes up quite often is… Is a water softener good for producing Discus fish quality water?…

Generally speaking,no. Water softeners, generally use zeolite or some other ion exchange resin. These resins use salt to recharge them… basically they work by replace the calcium and magnesium in the water with sodium. Sodium is not a friend of the Discus fish. I have a customer that had one trouble after another with his 220 gallon discus tank. I tried trouble shooting with him since his Discus tank had been doing fine for quite some time. The deductions, what new has occurred? The new water softener… after he took his tanks water supply off the softener, there have been no problems since. I have heard this report from many a Discus keeper. This gets us back to the “should I keep salt in my Discus aquarium?” The answer is only if needed. If you have Discus fish that have injuries to the skin or fins, salt (one cup per 100 gallons) works wonders. Salt is very effective in combating a host of problems from fungal to bacterial and Viral. Salt however should not be used on an every day basis. I recently have had a customer that experienced problems with his discus fish developing a fungal outbreak on there bodies and eyes… I asked him numerous questions trying to help him figure out where this outbreak was coming from… I had him send me pictures of the affected fish and in one of the pictures of his Discus I noticed that the piece of driftwood in the tank was sporting a one inch plus growth of fungus over it’s entire surface! This wood was white and spongy looking in appearance (rotten). Once the affected driftwood was removed and a good salt bath was employed the Discus fish went back to normal. Keep this in mind, driftwood is great for the discus aquarium. Just make sure that the wood you are using is solid in structure (no soft, mushy spots) also make sure that it does not have a distinct mushroomy smell (fungus). There are many types of fungal infestations that can grow on driftwood that produce toxins and harmful spores that can wreak havoc on your Discus fish or other tropical’s.

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I am often asked… Is well water OK to use for Discus fish aquariums?

The answer is… it totally depends on your well. Discus fish like to be kept (optimally) at a pH of 6.0, a hardness of around 60-120 ppm TH. So keeping in mind there is a huge variation in water chemistry depending on the geology of the surrounding area. Generally the water in wells tends to be of a higher pH and hardness. Another factor with well water is surface run off! Discus fish as well as any other tropical fish do not tolerate pesticides or herbicides in their water… Generally after a heavy rain pollutants work there way through the ground into the well and in up in your discus aquarium. This can lead to stress, causing the discus to quit eating properly, loss their normal color or possibly even die. The solution to this problem is run your well water through a Reverse Osmosis (RO) filter… these filters remove up to 98.5% of contaminants from the water. This leaves a pure, pH balanced(water comes out of the units at around a pH of 7.0) softened water… perfect for your discus aquarium!

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