Really strange thing happened after water changes.

[Patr1ck]

Hey all,
OK, here's a weird one. After doing water changes on my 90 gal planted tank, the water after @ 5 mins would start getting cloudy, then a few small white threads would appear floating in the tank, then more and more until the tank was full of these small white threads everywhere. Then they would accumulate so much that they would start to clump together and form larger threads. Then they would stick on the plants, the wood, the fish, everything. At this time the water is no longer cloudy, just full of thread looking things. After that they would dissapear completely as if they dissolved into the water. All of this would happen in the course of an hour.
I promise I'm not on drugs.:vomit:

Thanks,
P

[Don Trinko]

It could have been dirt and small worms that came out of your filter while the power was off and then got sucked back in after you turned the power back on. If it was it is time to clean the filter! Don T.

[MostlyDiscus]

Were those threads moving? Do you use discus buffer? Ed

[Peachtree Discus]

do you have a hob filter? a planted tank is inherently more difficult to keep clean than a bb. so, planted + hob filter (+ overfeeding) = planaria. based on the info presented, i agree with Don T. the cloudiness sounds like you turned on a hob filter and the nasties overflowed..causing the cloudiness for a short period.

[Graham]

hard to say what that was,,,but Ed might be on the right track..something came out of solution. What are the pH, GH and KH numbers. :confused:

[Patr1ck]

Yes, I have a HOB and a canister but this happened multiple times, even after the filters were cleaned.
The threads were not moving. It was as if the water became so saturated with whatever was making it cloudy that it then began to precipitate forming these threads. I dont use discus buffer. I use ro water and ro right.
Also right after the filter is turned on the water stays clear for @ 5 mins, after that is when it starts to get cloudy. Nothing was noticed coming out of either of the filters when they were turned back on either. The ph was @ 7.0 in the tank and 6.5 in the replacement water. the kh is 0 degrees. The tds was @175ppm. I dont know the gh. Could there have been some kind of reaction beween the tank water and the water from the holding barrel?

Thanks guys for looking into this.

P

[MostlyDiscus]

Are you treating your system or the water storage barrel? I have used DB but not ro right. Ingredients in RO right? Ed

[Graham]

KH 0.0ppm??? anyway check out what the GH is The right combo of chemistry can get it snowing in a tank when calcium carbonate or another carbonate element drops out of solution

G

[noogiec]

I've seen this a few times in my tanks. I add water directly from the tap (same temp as tank water). In colder months, occasionally the entering water contains millions of very tiny air bubbles (looks like a cloud). These bubbles stick to everything, including the discus. They seem to pull off thin strings of the mucus coat, hooking on their fins, on the plants, etc. Everything is gone in 30-60 minutes. Never seemed to have any negative effects on the fish. It only seems to happen in winter months (happened last week).

[Patr1ck]

I've seen this a few times in my tanks. I add water directly from the tap (same temp as tank water). In colder months, occasionally the entering water contains millions of very tiny air bubbles (looks like a cloud). These bubbles stick to everything, including the discus. They seem to pull off thin strings of the mucus coat, hooking on their fins, on the plants, etc. Everything is gone in 30-60 minutes. Never seemed to have any negative effects on the fish. It only seems to happen in winter months (happened last week).

See, Im really not on drugs. :laugh:

I treat my storage barrel. Ro right says chlorides of calcium, sodium, magnesium, and potassium are in it. The new label on the jars says the same except for the sodium. I dont know if they changed their formula or are leaving that one out of the list. "0 kh", well I guest it could be 1 degree. It only takes one drop to change the color to the end color in the test vial.

Thanks
P

[Don Trinko]

At one time I tryed to control my ph. When I added the chemicals it would cause calcium to precipitate causing a similar effect. Don T.

[MostlyDiscus]

ov10pat,

Test your barrel and see where that at in terms of KH and GH. I used to treat my water storage before but now I treat the water during the change. Dose to the amount of water being changed from your tank instead and see if that helps. Ed

[jpjagged]

do you have dogs or any furry animals?
do you take anything out of the tank during a waterchange and lay it on the carpet or a towel?

when i first started keeping fish i used to do that and lay my towel down on the carpet and take things out to rearrange them and clean them if need be and it would pick up stuff from the fabrics and then it would end up in my tank resulting in hairy stuff in my tank that was sticking to everything plants and decor....

[Patr1ck]

[QUOTE=jpjagged;486178]do you have dogs or any furry animals?
do you take anything out of the tank during a waterchange and lay it on the carpet or a towel?QUOTE]

We have 2 dogs but they are only allowed in the laundry room (not close to the fish tank) when they come inside. During the water change nothing comes out of the tank except water.:laugh:

[Diskees]

Take it from an old guy . Only use tap water without any additives . Don't try to change the PH . As a matter of fact don't change anything . If you don't change the water you can not make any mistakes . All you have to do is to try to have water that is close to PH 7 . Any small fluctuations do not matter . You will see that your discus will like this . Better than having water changed all the time . Even if you stay as close to the water that you used before , you will notice that there are differeances . Only when the discus are going to spawn you have to do a few changes , but I will tell you about that later . Kees

[Diskees]

May I make one remark about the above . A change of water ( condition ) is not the same as a waterchange . A waterchange is a renewal of the water ( of the same quality )used in the tank . A change of water is a change of the condition of water ( by adding chemicals or conditioners ) . Diskees

[Roxanne]

KH 0.0ppm??? ... check out what the GH is ..G


Have you done this?

[Patr1ck]

This issue that I had was happening a couple of months ago. I talked with the lfs people and one guy had heard of it but was going to do some research and get back to me. He was their aquatic plant buyer/caretaker. Since then, they have chosen to do their plant functions in house instead of being contracted out, so I was unable to hear from him. To get to the point, I have changed things in my tank, but not until after this issue stopped happening. The Kh is no longer at 0 its @4degrees. The Gh presently is @6degrees, but like I said that was changed after this concern quit.

Thanks,
P