Bacteria Bloom/white Cloudy Water

[DjLeethul]

Hey guys,

I've been reading up on a bacteria bloom as I can and I've read many conflicting reports on it. I heard that you should not do anything and the cloudy water will eventually go away. I've also read that you would need to do a 50% water change daily then reduce it to 30% in a week or so.

On both of those answers, I've also read why each way is bad.

So this brings me here. My fish tank is a 29 gallon freshwater set up with: 4 tiger barbs, 2 clown loaches (I know that they are going to get bigger and outgrow the tank, they will be switched later to a 55 gallon), and 4 serpae tetras. Water temp is 78 degrees and the pH is 7.5. The white cloudiness is concentrated at the top of the aquarium.

I have also cleaned the gravel twice and did a rough estimate ~ 40% water change. The cloudiness is still there and when I checked my filter, it was completely brown. There was also a slight slimy feel to the plants in my tank and some on the sides of the aquarium. All of which I have cleaned.

What should I do


Sorry for all the details. Thank you all for your help.

 

[Dave Ehl]

how long has the tank been running? did you cycle the tank first? it sounds to me like the tank is going through a cycle. all you can do is wait for it to go away. daily water changes will help to remove the excessive nitrates from the tank going through a cycle.

 

[Corleone]

What are ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings? Usually, a bacterial bloom is caused by ammonia in the water. The bloom itself is harmless, but the ammonia isn't.

The only compelling argument against doing water changes with a bacterial bloom is that it's the bacteria catching up to ammonia levels. This is bunk because the bloom isn't your regular nitrifying bacteria, it's heterotrophic bacteria that don't normally process ammonia. They do so very poorly, hence why they can reproduce until the water is milky white and still not keep up with the fish. The bacteria you want in the filter reproduce too slowly to bloom, and don't do well free in the water column, they fix themselves on surfaces.

Since they're harmless either way, and will reproduce almost faster than you can get them out (if you do a 50% water change, they'll be able to return to their original numbers in about 15-20 minutes), you can ignore the bloom itself, but not the water conditions that caused it. Just do normal water changes to deal with ammonia as is standard.

 

[DjLeethul]

The tank has been running for over a month and the ammonia levels are between 0.00 and 0.02. According the my test kit, the nitrate and nitrite levels are 0 or close enough to it to not get a reading. The ammonia level just suddenly jumped today and I noticed the water to be cloudier than usual. I have had a 10 gallon tank and did the same cycling method I used for the 29 gallon. My 10 gallon tank is crystal clear and I never had a problem.

During my water change, I noticed that the ammoina levels did drop to the current levels but are still high.

Would you suggest a 25% change daily until the ammonia levels disappear?


Thank you all for your advice and help

 

[Corleone]

Yes, if ammonia spiked like that, it's probably just a mini-cycle. Any recent new additions?

Do a more thorough than usual gravel cleaning, there might be some food in there decaying. Account for all your fish, if one recently died it could be in the tank releasing ammonia. If you have invertebrates of any kind, account for them as well as you can, too. IME they seem to make a faster impact on water quality than dead fish, and most are ammonia sensitive, so if you have a lot of shrimp you may have a chain reaction. Aside from any factors like that, daily water changes (shouldn't need more if it stays as low as you say, but you do want to keep it as low as humanly possible), it ought to clear in a few days at most.

 

[DjLeethul]

Yes, if ammonia spiked like that, it's probably just a mini-cycle. Any recent new additions?

Do a more thorough than usual gravel cleaning, there might be some food in there decaying. Account for all your fish, if one recently died it could be in the tank releasing ammonia. If you have invertebrates of any kind, account for them as well as you can, too. IME they seem to make a faster impact on water quality than dead fish, and most are ammonia sensitive, so if you have a lot of shrimp you may have a chain reaction. Aside from any factors like that, daily water changes (shouldn't need more if it stays as low as you say, but you do want to keep it as low as humanly possible), it ought to clear in a few days at most.

I actually just added the clown loaches today (after the ammonia spike), which is why I was a little frantic to the water conditions. Other than that, the tank has been pretty normal for the past week until the "spike" just recently.

I guess I will complete another gravel cleaning and a water change. The fish seem to be as active as ever and the clown loaches have settled in nicely and are swimming around as well.

 

[WILDER]

I was told not to touch the substrate in a cycling tank, but don't know how true that is.

 

[Corleone]

I'd imagine that would matter more for undergravel filters, since messing with the substrate would be like cleaning the filter, and might set the cycle back. With most filters, the only thing in the gravel to take out is uneaten food and other detritus.


Edit: While I'm still on the thread, I missed this bit from the OP:

The cloudiness is still there and when I checked my filter, it was completely brown. There was also a slight slimy feel to the plants in my tank and some on the sides of the aquarium.

The brown stuff is the "good" bacteria. You don't want to bother them unless you need to (if the filter's flow is reduced). The slime is probably the biofilm, which forms on just about all the surfaces in the tank. It's harmless, but I don't think cleaning it off is harmful. If I remember right, the bacteria in a bloom come from the biofilm. Normally they break down waste into ammonia. Under the right conditions, they become free swimming and start processing ammonia (albeit poorly, as I said above).

 

[backtotropical]

Hi,

Have a read at the 'Bacterial Bloom' link in my sig below. That should help you a lot.

Usually, a bacterial bloom is caused by ammonia in the water.

Not quite Corleone, but a common misconception. The bloom actually causes the ammonia spike, not the other way around. Many people think that when there is ammonia present, the filter bacteria reproduce to cope with it, causing the bloom, however its actually not even the same bacteria in a bloom as in the filter. All is explained in the link.

Also, biofilm is what is said to make a tank 'mature', so it really is important not to clean it off. Thats why it is usually said that you should only clean the front glass of the aquarium.

Cheers

BTT