Bacteria bloom (white cloudy water) in water change tub?

[20 20]

My boy is getting a bacteria bloom in the water he prepares for doing water changes for his 75 gallon discus tank, and was wondering if anyone had any idea's as to what is going on. We've got a 32 gallon Brute rubber trash can that he uses. Yesterday, he emptied it out, and filled it with 65% tap water and 35% RO/DI water. He's got a power head in it for aeration. He's also got a heater in it, but had it set a bit high, water temp was 90. He keeps the discus tank at 85 to 86. This morning the water is cloudy white, the sign of a bacteria bloom. He tested the water, ammonia and nitrite are zero, nitrate is around 10. PH is 6.0. Does anyone have any idea's about what's causing this? Has anyone had a similar problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[G-1000]

Hi Mate,

I would give the storage container a very thorough scrub on the inside of it with a bleach (household bleach out of the bottle is ok) solution.

Make sure all traces of the bleach are gone before adding water back into it again - then see if the same thing happens again.

That should fix the problem.

G

[20 20]

That's what we did, but without the bleach. So far so good. If it happens again, it'll be cleaned with bleach. Thanks for the reply!

[sting]

does anyone know what to do if bleach does poison discus? because i believe that is what happened to my fish, and now they are dying!

[Merrilyn]

Sting, I've answered your post in the emergency room.

[MaryPa]

Always use a dechlorinator after bleaching. I dechlorinate then air dry.