Discus slime?

[tgirl6868]

This is the second time I've seen this and I don't know why it is happening, maybe someone can anwser this.

When I clean my tank I notice one of my fish loses its slime its like its just peeling right off of her and floating away in the tank. What is happening? What is causing this? And why does it happen?:confused: :confused: :confused: I tried to take pics of it but couldn't get a good one.

[brewmaster15]

Hi Tamara,
When you do a water change with unaged water...theres often alot of dissolved gases like C02 in it.. These gases can lift the slime off the discus. If you look you'll probably see alot of air bubbles on the filter sponges and other surfaces of the tank.

hth,
al

[tgirl6868]

Thanks Al.

I guess It wont harm my fish right. I've always used unaged water

[bikhu]

Are you aging the water first? What you describe sounds like a reaction to too much CO2 in the water. Aerating the water helps to dissipate the gasses. That is why some people often refer to this process as gassing off the water. If this is the situation the slime coat will quickly repair itself but you might want to consider aging your water as the CO2 effects the pH of the water (makes it more acidic) and then as the gas is disipated the pH rises... in and of itself not a big problem but the constant fluctuation makes for instability and possible stress.
HTH
peter

[tgirl6868]

I never age the water i dont have any where to keep it.

[pcsb23]

I never age the water i dont have any where to keep it.
An option then would be to make sure that the incoming water splashes as much as possible, this will at least get rid of some of the CO2, you may find smaller w/c more often works better when you cannot age your water.

[tgirl6868]

An option then would be to make sure that the incoming water splashes as much as possible, this will at least get rid of some of the CO2, you may find smaller w/c more often works better when you cannot age your water.



Thanks for that info.