WATER FOR GENERAL DISCUS KEEPING

This is how i keep my discus healthy and happy. First is PH i have read many books they all say different things. Going on my own experience i say keep your ph below neutral which is 7 the books will say its ok to keep discus above this but in my experience they will live but they never look happy. They will breed in water with high ph but i would rather know they feel happy. Personally i like to keep my fish in a ph of 6.5 or lower. Under 7 being acid and above 7 being alkaline. When you first decide to keep discus it stands to reason that your ammonia must be zero and your nitrite, your nitrates should be as low as possible hence the frequent water changes. I don't use ph test kits i use a meter also i use a tds meter instead of gh & kh kits. These meters are not expensive my ph meter was £20, tds was £25, by the time you buy 4 or 5 kits you might as well buy meters which only need batteries changed . I change about 40% of my water every other day in the 400 ltr tanks and 75% daily in the 120 ltr fry tank this works for me. My adult fish spawn about every 7 days unless they have fry then they stop till i take the young away and give them the cone back. When i just kept discus and did'nt breed them i kept the water slightly harder about 6 to 7 gh and 3 to 4 kh. But now they have started to breed regular i keep the TDS below 100ppm. You should have a well mature filter or sump before you think about getting any discus also they hate water turbulence what i do is join 3 spray bars together and drill the holes a bit bigger then put them along the back of the tanks this gives a gentle flow.