Yellow water

[mcgreg]

I am new with discus and my english is not good.
I started with an 150L tank and and external water filter with carbon,sponges,and biological material at the top.The first 2 weeks all was fine and i wait that the tank has made his cycle before i putt in discus but then in the 3 week the water is become yellow! I dont know why. My water rates this time are:Ph=7 gh=8 kh=5 ammonia=0
Nitrite=0 Nitrate=5
I have plants and mangroove roots inside the tank but the roots are in the tank from the beginning and i dont think the yellow water came from that.I use bacterial too (biotrace). any idea what is happen?

[Polar_Bear]

You need to do regular water changes. The yellow is probably coming from the discus themselves. You did not mention how many are in your very small tank, but hopefully it is not more than 5.

[accessj]

Hi:

I too had yellowish water about 2-3 weeks after I placed in driftwood roots. My water had a slight mustard color. The parameters tested good - just like you. It actually looked cloudy. The fish were very happy. I didn't think it was from the roots at first - but now i believe that the tannins in the roots have slowly leached out and tinted the water. I took a sample to a very experienced fish keeper. As soon as he looked at my water, he said right away that it was from the roots since I didn't soak them before I put them in the tank.

Are your fish happy? Errect fins - swiming around - eating well?

The fish actually like this type of water - the tannins leach out of the roots.

I have chose to let water changes slowly clear up the water. However, he did say that charcoal will clear up the water - but charcoal is not recomended for Disus tanks. You can read about charcoal this on this forum. I may put a charcoal filter on for a short time.

good luck, Judi

[mcgreg]

first i want to answer to polar bear,i have this time 3 big one and two little. I change the water every week the 1/3 of the tank with reverse osmosis and then i put inside electrorights and bacteria.Now to accessj do you mean that your water become yellow for 2-3weeks and then it is clear again or you put the roots inside and after 2-3 weeks the water become yellow? I think my discus are not happy because the fins maybe errect but they dont swim a lot around (they are in the corner) and they dont eat much well,they wait the aliment to go to the ground to eat they dont go to the aliment at first(beefheart,high quality flakes for the color). with charcoal you mean carbon?

[Ardan]

Hi,
I agree with Larry (Polar Bear). More water changes would be best, in that tank I would do at least 3 water changes every week of 1/3. More times is better as it is a bit crowded and the discus like very fresh clean water.


hth
Ardan

[accessj]

hi

Yes it sounds like you have another issue - than just tannin leachin out of your roots. I ment that my water gets yellow about 2 weeks after putting in driftwood.

The water changes should help

[Don Trinko]

I had the same thing with drift wood. Eventualy the water changes will remove the yellow color. Carbon in your filter will also remove the color.
I also agree that with your bioload you need more than 1 30% change a week. Don T.

[mcgreg]

ok i will do more than one time water change a week and then we will see the result thanks a lot to all, gregory

[Don Trinko]

It will take time for all the color to come out of the wood. Probably close to 6 weeks. Don T.

[April]

do an 80 percent wc daily for awhile...and add a bit of salt..i bet they might start smiling soon..take out the roots for now. they arent happy. discus need extremely clean water.. flake food also makes water yellow...if they arent swimming around and coming up for food..then they arent happy. wait much longer..and they wont eat and will need medication and high heat. in a small tank..they need tons of water changes especially with 5 of them.

[Apistomaster]

I can't agree with using salt in a healthy discus tank. It goes against every effort and expense of using RO water besides providing no useful purpose.

All wood continues to leach out tannins and lignins but the amount diminishes over time. These are not bad substance to have in discus water at all. It is purely a matter of aesthetics.
Regular and substantial water changes are always a good idea. I don't use carbon very often but it does not not take very much to remove the color from your water.