Adult discus, once 5in should be kept in soft water but still not at breeding conditions as they may still be growing but don’t need the minerals like young discus fish.
Soft Water: Water with a low concentration of dissolved salts.
Solid Substance: A material that has definite form and shape.
Somatic Growth: Growth of the body, exclusive of gametes.
Soft Water: A water condition with very small amounts of dissolved salts.
Spawning: A term used for breeding.
Soft Water - Water with a low content of dissolved minerals and solids. Usually Acidic.
Sparring - Aggressive encounters between two fish (usually males) involving Display, Lip-Locking, or other forms of contest.
Soft water is not only a recommendation but also a requirement. This fish will not do well in neutral or hard water.
soft water, which is generally acid, at 3°GH or 50 ppm;
medium water, which is neutral or slightly alkaline, at 6°GH or 100 ppm;
hard water, which is highly alkaline, at 12°GH or 200 ppm.
Soft water with pH around 5. [153]
Etymology:
Named after the Greek goddess Persephone, from the overall blackish color of the fish. [153] ...
Very soft water, and a temp of 75°F is used to encourage spawning. Use dim lighting during spawning. The female will lay eggs on a flat surface. These fish spawn best in the evening, laying up to 500 eggs.
Very soft water is not conducive to the addition of carbon dioxide because sufficient carbonate hardness is needed as a pH buffer.
Breeding Soft water, with 1º - 2ºof hardness, Ph of 5.0 - 6.0 and a water temperature of about 82º f. Use Java moss or a synthetic substitute over the bottom of the tank and reduce the lighting. Cardinals usually spawn at twilight.
Slightly soft water is preferable but in no way vital - this is a hardy fish.
Husbandry Information
Feeding ...
If you have soft water, you might think of adding some of the Rift Lake salts that are designed for tanks containing cichlids form the Great Lakes of Africa.
Rasboras prefer soft water and if possible you should use a peat filter bag in your filter, (Tetras will benefit also.) They will eat flake, frozen as well as live food.
If you live with soft water then you may need to raise it before you add aquatic animals to it. Measure the KH value and if it's less than 4d (71.4ppm) then add some of the items below to increase it.
Some fish prefer soft water, others prefer hard water. Keeping a soft-water preferring fish in harder water (and vice versa) is stressful.
Figure 4. EwaMarine soft water proof bag in use by Jake Adams for taking Top down pics in the Penn State Aquarium. Photo by Gresham Hendee.
Figure 5. Top Down pictures taken using the Picture tube
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If something prefers hard or soft water, it is GH which is important. The carbonate ions (CO3--) are a component of alkalinity, also known as acid buffering or carbonate hardness (KH).
People with very soft water (i.e. with carbonate hardness (often referred to as `alkalinity') below 2 KH) should probably not even attempt this method as it would be very difficult to maintain a stable pH near neutral.
If you have soft water, choose soft water fish. This is especially important if you water is outside the 6.5-7.5 pH range. Changing the natural hardness (or pH) of your tap water can be hard work and often takes the fun out of keeping aquariums.
They like soft water ranging from 2-15 dH, and require a temperature of 73-82°F (23-28°C).
SB: Hyphessobrycon fish are usually peaceful, schooling fish that are easily maintained in a community tank with other schooling characins of a similar size.
Soft water of a degree of hardness between 6.0 and 8.0 along with a pH between 6.6 and 7.0 should be used. Plenty of hiding places like plants, rocks, or driftwood should be offered.
It can't live in soft water because it needs the salt to build its shell. It is a livebearer snail which is fed exclusively on algae and food remainders which make it an excellent scavenger for any tank.
OTHER BREEDING INFO: Large Aquariums and soft water are prerequisites for succesful breeding. If you are going to spawn these fish in a shoal then the tank must be of at least 51G (200L) capacity.
pulcher is native to southern Nigeria and to coastal areas of Cameroon, where it occurs in warm (24-26 °C, 75-79 °F), acidic to neutral (pH 5.6 - 6.2), soft water (12-22 mg L-1 [CaCO3]).
Is it hard water or soft water, high PH or low PH? This will make a big difference to the sort of fish which will be happy living in it.
Rosy Barbs should be kept in slightly acid and soft water, with the pH from 6.3 to 7.3, and with a colder temperature from 65 to 74 degrees fahrenheit. The can be fed flake foods, but prefer freeze-dried foods.
Peat filtered soft water is required, frequent waterchanges(Weekly 30%).
Besides soft water, which should have low nitrate values, Corydoras caudimaculatus is hard to get to breed. Frequent coldwater/freshwater schocks for a prolonged period may result in succes.
All the species prefer clean and soft water, with a light acid pH. The temperature of the aquarium water should be between 22 and 26° C. They like well planted aquariums, with zones where you can have morning light coming from Sun.
Snails are very tolerant of water conditions, thriving in a very wide range of hardness and pH, though extremely soft water can slowly dissolve the snail's shell, resulting in a thin and brittle shell that will not protect the snail as well.
Breeding the Cardinal Tetra requires very soft water in the 1-2 dH range with a pH of 5-6 and low lighting levels. The female may lay as many as 130 eggs, and the adults should be removed at this time.
Praised for its peaceful nature, the Black Neon Tetra is a great addition to any soft water community aquarium. The distinct coloration of the Black Neon Tetra complements the shaded green and yellow hues of most freshwater plants.
Use very soft water and lots of floating plants which can be used as substrate for the eggs. Sometimes hard substrates are used. The males guard the eggs until they hatch. Incubation time is about 1 week. Males are usually good guards.
If a plant does well only in soft water then don't use it if you have harder water conditions in your aquarium, as it won't grow as well as it would in soft water. The temperature of the water also plays a factor.
The species on Sri Lanka prefer slightly acidic to slightly basic pH and medium hard to hard water, while those native to Borneo and the Malay Peninsula that occur in blackwaters prefer very acidic and soft water.
In soft water conditions the pH can rise rapidly to more than 9.0 on the scale.
Strong plant growth can be a cause of this condition.
Over planted aquariums can raise the pH because the plants rob the water of too much carbon dioxide; ...
The Marble Hatchet breeds in soft water (about 5°), and a low pH (about 6.0). A diet of fresh mosquito larvae and fruit flies may trigger spawning and the depositing of eggs on floating plants.
Plumbing replacement with new copper pipe can be potentially lethal, especially with soft water. It would be highly recommended to add double doses of Aqua Plus and use generous quantities of carbon to help remove copper.
It needs soft water with a pH between 5 and 7.2. Make sure to perform regular water changes and fertilize regularly with a liquid fertilizer that contains iron because iron is important for healthy growth.
Tiger Barbs are able to handle a variety of water conditions, although they do better in soft water. Since they're a very active fish, wide open areas are needed for swimming.
Medium hard water can be used, but it's recommended to use soft water. Peat filtration and shady tanks with a dark soil really get the fish to show their colors.
Use a temperature at the upper end of the scale and fairly soft water. Breed as a pair in a tank with fine-leaved plants, among which the eggs are scattered. Remove the adults after spawning to prevent the eggs being eaten.
' Soft water can cause pH crashes which can stress fish in your aquarium. The result of the test is measured in degrees (dH) and the type of fish and plants you have in your tank should dictate what the acceptable reading should be.
These fishes should be kept in small species tanks filled with moderately acidic and soft water. Starhead killies prefer rather cooler water with temperatures around 22 degrees centigrade.
To induce the spawn you simulate the rainy season by creating a strong current with powerheads or similar, turning the heater off and doing daily water changes with cooler soft water (e.g. rainwater or R/O water) of about 20%.
Tank Conditions: Discus require soft water, use appropriate water conditioner, 80° F. to 84° F.
If they are kept in favorable conditions (slightly acidic, soft water with frequent water changes) discus will breed readily in the aquarium. The fry will feed on a mucus layer secreted on the parents' bodies for the first week after hatching.
They do best in soft water with a pH of about 6 at a temperature of 78°F. They will take most frozen and prepared foods but be sure their diet contains a significant amount of vegetable matter.
Oleg Kiselev has reported that soft water, low pH, and high temprature can induce spawning of A. agassizii.
It is not an easy plant to maintain and suffers from rotting off at the base of the leaf stalks if conditions are not right. The plants enjoy soft water and a good supply of nutrient rich clay in the substrate.
If copper sulfate or potassium permanganate are used, treatment levels may have to be adjusted, depending on water chemistry. In soft water, 0.
in rivers like the Amazon which flow through rich vegetation (e.g. a rainforest). Plants at the water's edge leak "tannins" into the water - the same thing that dyes your water when you make tea. Tannins are acidic and create the soft water ...
Some captive-raised discus fish will adapt to harder water but most prefer very soft water. A large aquarium is necessary, especially if keeping more than one discus. An absolute minimum of 10 gallons (38L) per discus is recommended, preferably more.
the GH went up 1ppm over my tapwater at the end of this 3 day period which I figure will have no bearing on my allready very soft water I use...
However, mixing the proper proportion of this zero-soft water with hard water yields the desired hardness - for example, adding one gallon of 0 dH to one gallon of 16 dH results in two gallons of 8 dH.
The level of general hardness in tap and bottled water depends on the source of the water and the treatment processes it has undergone. Hard water (>200 ppm) is high in calcium and magnesium, while soft water (50-100 ppm) is low in these minerals.
Needless to say that your fish won't live for very long in it, however freshwater fishkeepers will have very soft water to reconstruct as they wish for breeding or maintaining purposes.
 See also: Water, Fish, Aquarium, Plants, Species
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