# Water Change in Planted Tank with CO2 Injection



## mr_convitbau (Jan 7, 2009)

I am keeping some discus. After reading some threads on simplydiscus.com forum, I have a few concerns about WC in a planted tank.

All the threads over there have pointed out that the consistency in water parameters is one of the ultimate keys in keeping discus.

I have a planted tank in which pressurized CO2 is turned on in the morning and off at night. As everyone knows, in the morning, the pH goes down due to the injection of CO2. At night, the opposite occurs when CO2 is turned off. There is, consequently, a fluctuation in pH.

Someone in the forum also suggest that it is a good idea to age the water before WC. I totally agree with it in a sense that we can obtain water with consistent pH after aging it for a period of time.

If you do not have a planted tank with pH changing by CO2 injection, then I guess that the pH in the storage and the main tank does not differ much, assuming you do WC regularly. WC change, thus, creates no problem IMO.

My concern is, with the pH fluctuation in my planted tank, what is the best way to do WC without creating too much stress on discus?

PS: I do 50% WC once a week since I am dosing my tank following EI method. My cardinal tetras are absolutely fine with this schedule and pH fluctuation. IMO, they are quite hardy after passing the initial acclimation period. They handle the WC without any problem. My discus, however, do struggle after each WC since they are much more sensitive to fluctuations in water parameters than tetras. I want to keep my discus happy .


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

Unless you have a huge PH diffrence between the tank and the WC water, I would not worry about it.


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## Karebear (Oct 6, 2008)

What type of water are you using when you do the water change? I am up in washington state and use the ei method for my discus and they have no problem with 50% tap water changes, in fact they enjoy the new water. I see you are in california, are you using tap? What type of water conditioner?


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## mr_convitbau (Jan 7, 2009)

Karebear said:


> What type of water are you using when you do the water change? I am up in washington state and use the ei method for my discus and they have no problem with 50% tap water changes, in fact they enjoy the new water. I see you are in california, are you using tap? What type of water conditioner?


Yes, I am using tap with Amquel+ as the conditioner.


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## Karebear (Oct 6, 2008)

Can you try filtered water? It would take the contaminants out that is in the tap water. could be what is messing you up.


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## mr_convitbau (Jan 7, 2009)

Karebear said:


> Can you try filtered water? It would take the contaminants out that is in the tap water. could be what is messing you up.


What do you mean "filtered water"? Do you mean I put the water in a separate tank equipped with a filter? And then use that water for WC?


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## Karebear (Oct 6, 2008)

At my store we filter all aquarium water thru a filter to remove the chlorine and heavy metals. We have to replace the actual filters once a month. The brita water filter does somewhat of the same job, however it may be too slow for you. I know in california you can buy filtered drinking water for quite cheap, something like $.20 per gal. I believe that those places are doing the same thing my store does. There is a huge difference in the taste of the filtered water for drinking which should mean a huge difference in the water purity.


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## m3177o (Jan 16, 2009)

mr_convitbau said:


> What do you mean "filtered water"? Do you mean I put the water in a separate tank equipped with a filter? And then use that water for WC?


i think he meant

1- buying water from your local water store.
2- using a pur water filter to filter your water for your fishie.

btw, wasssup mr_convitbau. remember me? mr hairgrass? lol...


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