Cloudy water with water changes

[mmorris]

Hi all,
I'm new to discus but not new to fish. I do 50 percent water changes every other day on a 55 gal. tank with six 3-4 in. discus. Within an hour the water becomes cloudy, really obvious when viewed end-to-end, but clears up entirely by the following morning. I assume there is a bacteria bloom but I don't know what to do about it or if it is harmful. The water perimeters are the same whether cloudy or not:
ph: 6.8
ammonia-0
nitrite- 0
nitrate- 5-7
temp.- 86
filters: penguin 110 biowheel without biowheel (yardsale find!) and Whisper 40 power filter. Both were cycled when I set up this tank.
There is a thin layer of gravel on the bottom, which I hoover each time.
The water is from the tap, is adjusted carefully for temp. and treated with Jungle Start Right. I also lower the ph from 7.0 with Wardley's sodium biphosphate. I don't have a place to store that much water for 24 hours.
I have tried 25 percent wc daily for two days and no change, and I tried once to change the water without hoovering and again, no change. Any and all advice would be appreciated! Martha

[billeagan]

If you water is cloudy with in an hour of changing water and clear by the morning I doubt its a bacteria bloom.

What kind of water do you have? (lake, well?)

[lhforbes12]

The water is from the tap, is adjusted carefully for temp. and treated with Jungle Start Right. I also lower the ph from 7.0 with Wardley's sodium biphosphate. I don't have a place to store that much water for 24 hours.

And right there is most likely your problem. The Wardley's is causing something in your tap water to precipitate out, hence the white "bloom" which disappears. My advice is to discontinue the Wardley's and see if that solves your problem. If it does, just don't use it any longer. Discus are quite happy in water with a pH into the 8.0 range. If you check your pH once the "bloom" has cleared you will most likely see that your pH has risen again.

Larry

[mmorris]

Thanks for that guys. I suppose my water is resevoir- I don't think it is well. I'll drop the Wardley's and see what happens. The ph doesn't change once the water clears. I was so hoping someone would say `too many water changes!' Hmmm. Martha

[marilyn1998]

Use Prime for your dechlorinator, too. THe biocarb stuff is clouding your water.

[lhforbes12]

Thanks for that guys. I suppose my water is resevoir- I don't think it is well. I'll drop the Wardley's and see what happens. The ph doesn't change once the water clears. I was so hoping someone would say `too many water changes!' Hmmm. Martha

Martha,
Sorry, the SD motto is; "water changes, water changes, and still more water changes for healthy discus.

[mmorris]

Martha,
Sorry, the SD motto is; "water changes, water changes, and still more water changes for healthy discus.
I knew that. Perhaps I should have added a smile. Humor doesn't translate well in print without one. :) Martha

[mmorris]

I did a wc a few hours ago without the Wardley's and the tank is, again, cloudy. I will change to Prime when I get to the LFS and see if that makes a difference. I have another 55 gal. which is a heavily planted community tank and four other tanks with Blue Gularis and they never cloud up with water changes. The differences are that firstly, I do much more, and more frequent, changes with the discus tank. Secondly, the water in the discus tank is warmer. The community tank is 76 degrees. I also don't use the Wardley's with the other tanks and so it's elimination made great sense as a solution to the problem except that...Martha