cloudy water

[gogoravah]

My water seems to be cloudy now and my fish are acting strange. They hang out at the back of the tank instead of swimming around. My ph is 6.0, ammonia and nitrites are 0 and nitrates are 10. What else could be causing this? and what should I do to fix it?

[Chad Hughes]

My water seems to be cloudy now and my fish are acting strange. They hang out at the back of the tank instead of swimming around. My ph is 6.0, ammonia and nitrites are 0 and nitrates are 10. What else could be causing this? and what should I do to fix it?

Has your Ph always been 6? That's pretty low. Is that tap or filtered (like RO)? What, if any, changes have you made to your tank or water change regime. How long has the tank been up?

A bit more info will be necessary to help. Thanks!

[gogoravah]

My tank has been up and running for about a year with these discus.. Before that the previous owner had it running for several years. My ph has been 6.0 for many months and I came to these message boards for help with raising my ph. Almost everyone said that 6 was a little low but as long as it was consistent it was ok, so I have left it alone. On May 25th I changed the carbon cartridges in my filters, which I do once a month and I do at least a 25% water change every week, sometimes more, with treated tap water.I recently switched from stress coat to prime to treat my water. Also, I took out some angel fish that were becoming too aggressive for my discus and found them a new home. Since then it seems like the discus have been acting strange, but before that was when the cloudiness started to show. I also had a fish have some erratic swimming all of a sudden last week and then died. Any thoughts?

[utiliy]

i would try at least a 50% w/c...i dont use carbon.

[Chad Hughes]

I think I would change 100% of your water and see what that does for you. What is your water source? It is strange to have tap water with a Ph so low. Do you happen to know what your TDS is?

Best wishes!

[diamond_discus]

My tank has been up and running for about a year with these discus.. Before that the previous owner had it running for several years. My ph has been 6.0 for many months and I came to these message boards for help with raising my ph. Almost everyone said that 6 was a little low but as long as it was consistent it was ok, so I have left it alone. On May 25th I changed the carbon cartridges in my filters, which I do once a month and I do at least a 25% water change every week, sometimes more, with treated tap water.I recently switched from stress coat to prime to treat my water. Also, I took out some angel fish that were becoming too aggressive for my discus and found them a new home. Since then it seems like the discus have been acting strange, but before that was when the cloudiness started to show. I also had a fish have some erratic swimming all of a sudden last week and then died. Any thoughts?

Wow, my water is at 8.0/8.2 pH .. and for years I have been trying to find ways to "lower" my pH ... and you are actually try to raise your "pH" ... How I wish we could "merge" our water to make it 7.0 pH ..

Where do you live that can provide that kind of water ?

[gogoravah]

I dont know what my TDS is. It is very strange because when the water comes straight from the tap its an 8, but 24 hours after being in my tank it is a 6. Im so clueless! Anyway, I just did a 75% water change and we will see what happens with the cloudiness!

[diamond_discus]

I dont know what my TDS is. It is very strange because when the water comes straight from the tap its an 8, but 24 hours after being in my tank it is a 6. Im so clueless! Anyway, I just did a 75% water change and we will see what happens with the cloudiness!

Where do you live ? Do you process your water ? or what do you have in your tank to make it go from 8 to 6 ? My water stays at 8 forever ...

[rickztahone]

I dont know what my TDS is. It is very strange because when the water comes straight from the tap its an 8, but 24 hours after being in my tank it is a 6. Im so clueless! Anyway, I just did a 75% water change and we will see what happens with the cloudiness!

are you aging your water when doing your water changes?

[Chad Hughes]

I dont know what my TDS is. It is very strange because when the water comes straight from the tap its an 8, but 24 hours after being in my tank it is a 6. Im so clueless! Anyway, I just did a 75% water change and we will see what happens with the cloudiness!

That is very strange. Typically Ph rises with CO2 gass off.

[Scribbles]

What is your KH? Did you do a wc with water with a PH of 8 in a tank that is only 6? This will definately stress out your discus (or worse). If you put some water in a bucket and airate it for 24 hours what is the PH?

Chris

[Chad Hughes]

Buffering chemistry...it'll drive you crazy, :) and I don't know the answer:)

Graham,

I have to say that I nearly got emotional when you said you didn't know the answer. It was like finding out the Santa isn't real! LOL! Joking!

Anyway, do you think it's possible that the water in question could have extremely high GH and little or no KH? This is the only thing that I can think of that could possible cause such a Ph shift.

Other than that, I'm without a clue!

Best wishes!

[DavidH]

Are you using anything for chloramines, Chloram-X does this to my water, buy my KH is just about 0
Dave