is RO water absolutely necessary for Discus?
Ed, I presume you’re lost as to the meaning of “RO” water(?). RO water is short for “Reverse Osmosis water,” a process by which pure water can be obtained. There is an apparatus offered in a number of similar styles (& capacities), by some leading manufacturers of aquarium equipment, which converts mineral laden tap water into pure mineral-free water with the use of a permeable membrane which allows only the pure water to pass through and retains the minerals in the “waste water.” Nothing wrong with this waste water BTW, if you want to use it for Rift Lake Cichlids which prefer this type of mineral-rich water.
This “RO water” is often used as a diluter of tap water to greatly reduce the mineral content of the aquarium water meant for soft water loving fish such as are found in the Amazon Basin (Discus, Angels, Tetras, etc.), especially when breeding these fish. With some of these fish (Discus, for instance), their eggs will not hatch if the mineral content of the water is above certain criteria. Part of the reason for these eggs failing to hatch is that when they’re exposed to hard water, the egg shells harden too fast to allow them to be fertilized. Mineral content in the water = electrolytes, and electrolytes = conductivity. For Discus eggs to hatch properly, the conductivity of the water must not exceed 90 microseimens, which is equivilent approximately to water of a GH of 3.5 (around 60 ppm of any combination of calcium, magnesium and boron salts). Ray
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