Slime coat washing off?

[geleen]

When I add the new water, with a garden hose, to the tank some of the discus appear to be shedding what looks like slime coat.
I directed the water away from them but they stayed somewhat close (3 ") anyway.
Is this normal?
Is it harmfull?
I am thinking I need to get a garden spay attachment to prevent this; what do you folks think about this?

Thanks
John

[DiscusOnly]

What is the PH of the water coming out of the faucet. My guess is there is a big change in PH between your tank and the water you are adding. I hope you know the param of the water you are adding directly to your tank

[kaceyo]

When you use water that isn't aged, and is under pressure, like city water is, it's got alot of desolved gases in it, mostly C02. When the pressure is released the gases bubble out of solution a bit like the bubbles when opening a can of pop, and can get under the slime coat and lift it off of the discus. This is one reason why it's a good idea to age the water before using it in our tanks. Although it won't hurt the discus as long as you keep the WC's down to 50% or less, there are other benifits to aging the water such as temp adjustment, dechlorination and pH stability.

Kacey

[Harriett]

Kacey is right; you can mitigate the problem to some extent by offgassing the water when you fill the tank: a gardening water wand will shoot the water into the tank more like a big rain, and when the water hits the surface, it offgasses a fair amount. A little bit of what you're seeing is ok, but if you do big water changes you would actually see gas bubbles develop in the fins which is stressful to the discus--they can take up to 24 hours to resolve.
Try to aerate the water and stay at 50% tops.
Harriett

[Graham]

Are you de-chlorinating the water....

[geleen]

Thanks folks this is helpful.

I will experiment with aging and also a wand to add the water.
The prime goes in with the first drop of new water. PH here is fairly stable and only varies 0.3 from tap to aged.

Temperature outside not so -40 last night :(
John

[Apistomaster]

This is usually not a problem but you may find it is less likely to happen if you mix the prime dose in a pint of water then add it to your tank before topping it of instead of just adding the Prime directly to the tank from the bottle.

[MSD]

I'm curious Larry, if you put the Prime in the tank which is many gallons of water, why mix it in a pint of water first? Is this so you don't over dose?

[Graham]

Not Larry but I'll answer for him anyway.:)...Most de-chlors including Prime are heavy and you'll see them sinking to the bottom when added to an aquarium. Putting them in 1st is an ok way to do it as long as there is enough current in the tank or from the additional water coming in to mix then together. The de-chlorination is done in an instant.

Premixing in a bottle just allows for easier mixing in the tank

You would be very hard pressed to OD with a de-chlor of any kind

[MaryPa]

Is it safe to use a garden hose to fill the tank? Don`t the leak out the vinyl vapors? I know I heard somewhere they were bad to use but I can`t remember why.:o

[kaceyo]

I know they make hoses just for RV's and campers that are safe for use with water for human consumption. I have one for my tanks that I got at Home Depot. I also know of people who use regular garden hoses but I wouldn't risk it myself. If you do use one make sure to flush out any water that has been sitting inside the hose before using it to fill tanks.

Kacey

[Graham]

I've been using garden hoses both at home and in commercial/retail setting for 40 years as far as I know I haven't hurt anything yet.

Something that I always do though, is flush the stagnate/dead water out of the hose 1st before using it. After that there's nothing that could leach out fast enough to hurt anything

G

[Wahter]

I've seen some recycled hoses with tags saying "not to be used for drinking". I think they were made from old tires.


http://www.never-kink.com/default.asp?never_kink=69
"Many non twist hoses are made from recycled tires and should only be used for watering and not for drinking."

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/gr_general_info/article/0,2029,DIY_13847_2277349,00.html
"A warning note: Not all hoses are considered safe to drink water from. Most carry warnings about the materials used in the hose."

Hope that helps,


Walter

[Apistomaster]

I used to use garden hoses and never had any problems but I switched to RV drinking water hoses about 20 years ago.