NEED SOME HELP WITH FRESHWATER

[full of questions]

i have a 29 gallon,with 3 discuss'es i have had
this up and running for 4 months the problem is
my NITRITE"S (1.5) amonia is 0 ph is 7.8. this
started about three weeks ago i have done three water changes,two of them being 10 gal and the
other being 15 gals.
it seems to help for a day then it's right back up
i even had two of my friends check thinging my
test kit was old. i also checked my water befor
putting it in the tang it was fine.(i also have
three live plants) any ideas. fish are still eating and swimming around fine. THANK_YOU

 

[tigerseyes01]

maybe it is the plants .. sometimes live plants can give off chemicals that would raise the perameters of your water try taking them out and then do a water change . see what happeneds... i hope it works for ya

 

[rolltide]

I have never had discuss but I think you are supposed to put peat moss in your filter system.

 

[dpittman]

Live plants are almost impossible to keep with Discus. You're ph is WAY too high. Get some Discus Buffer. These guys like extremely soft water and a ph of around 5 to 7.
Nitrites may be up due to inadequete filration. Keep doing water changes. Unlike Saltwater fish, Discus will be full grown at about year and a half. Force feed those things and do 50% water changes every other day and they will get BIG!
I have been keeping these things for years - got em from <a href="http://www.macsdiscus.com" target="_blank">www.macsdiscus.com</a> who lives near me.
Donovan

 

[fishymissy]

It almost sounds like something died in the tank or a portion of food has wound up underneath something and is decaying. Take a good look around the tank and see if there is a build up of debris somewhere. Are you using the gravel vac when you do the water changes?