Help!
I’ve been analyzing my cloudy water problem, and it started after I got the RO system. I have a 75 gallon discus tank and have been using mostly rainwater for the last 2–3 years. That involves carrying it in buckets from the barn , where I have barrels under the eaves. Then bringing them upstairs to my study. That means my water changes have not been large. The discus have done all right, but no spawning.
Over 40+ years, I have kept discus multiple times and had a spawning pair once, but more often the discus died in a year or less. So I attributed their survival this time to the soft acidic rain water. More recently I read about discus sensitivity to nitrates, and made 2 changes:
Since I started using RO water and larger water changes it wants to stay cloudy, unless I run a DE filter, and then it clears up, but comes right back after I stop the DE filter!
This is distinctly different from my other tanks, which are harder water and lower temperatures, mostly for CA cichlids. They have lucky bamboo also, and are getting the same large water changes, and have similar nitrate levels, but don’t get cloudy.
I’m not sure if it’s algae or bacteria (tan colored material in the filter), but I read that bacteria prefer harder water, which gives them “everything a body needs” (Matrix).
What is it about the soft water that is causing the clouds? Any ideas???
I’ve been analyzing my cloudy water problem, and it started after I got the RO system. I have a 75 gallon discus tank and have been using mostly rainwater for the last 2–3 years. That involves carrying it in buckets from the barn , where I have barrels under the eaves. Then bringing them upstairs to my study. That means my water changes have not been large. The discus have done all right, but no spawning.
Over 40+ years, I have kept discus multiple times and had a spawning pair once, but more often the discus died in a year or less. So I attributed their survival this time to the soft acidic rain water. More recently I read about discus sensitivity to nitrates, and made 2 changes:
- I added lucky bamboo growing with tops out of the water. This brought nitrate levels down rapidly to 20-40ppm, but generally not under 20.
- I bought a residential RO system and started doing larger water changes.
Since I started using RO water and larger water changes it wants to stay cloudy, unless I run a DE filter, and then it clears up, but comes right back after I stop the DE filter!
This is distinctly different from my other tanks, which are harder water and lower temperatures, mostly for CA cichlids. They have lucky bamboo also, and are getting the same large water changes, and have similar nitrate levels, but don’t get cloudy.
I’m not sure if it’s algae or bacteria (tan colored material in the filter), but I read that bacteria prefer harder water, which gives them “everything a body needs” (Matrix).
What is it about the soft water that is causing the clouds? Any ideas???
