Bacterial bloom... waiting it out

[Natalie Griffin]

This is driving me nuts ! I can't get rid of this bloom. It initially had a green colour which led me to believe its algae so I used algae exit. Great ! It went ! Then it was back but white. Used crystal clear and purigen...... its still here ! 75% water change followed by a week of 10% ..... BOOM ! It's back.
Wait it out ?

 

[Byron]

If this cloudiness is whitish it could be a bacterial bloom, or it could be a diatom or organics bloom.

The algae treatment might well have killed off bacteria and caused a bacterial bloom, just a possibility. Never use these products, they are dangerous. I hope there were no fish in the tank. And never use water clarifiers, especially if fish are present; these do damage their gills. Purigen is (I assume) safe from that aspect, but it didn't do anything when I tried it.

Diatom and organics blooms are rare but I had one in my 90g tank (one of 8 tanks) that lasted for a few years. I have no idea what was causing it, but the organics were very high in that tank in spite of a very low fish load and minimal feeding, weekly 70% water changes, and live plants. You could see the brown organics clinging to the floating plant roots.

 

[Colin_T]

How long has the tank been set up for?

The easiest way to get rid of an algal bloom (green water) is by reducing the light or adding lots of live plants to use the light.

As Byron mentioned, the algicide might have caused the bacterial bloom by killing the algae and the dead algae then broke down in the water, encouraging bacteria.

Stop using chemicals, and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or two. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

 

[Natalie Griffin]

If this cloudiness is whitish it could be a bacterial bloom, or it could be a diatom or organics bloom.

The algae treatment might well have killed off bacteria and caused a bacterial bloom, just a possibility. Never use these products, they are dangerous. I hope there were no fish in the tank. And never use water clarifiers, especially if fish are present; these do damage their gills. Purigen is (I assume) safe from that aspect, but it didn't do anything when I tried it.

Diatom and organics blooms are rare but I had one in my 90g tank (one of 8 tanks) that lasted for a few years. I have no idea what was causing it, but the organics were very high in that tank in spite of a very low fish load and minimal feeding, weekly 70% water changes, and live plants. You could see the brown organics clinging to the floating plant roots.

Thank you for your reply. Fish have been present during treatment. Algaexit states it isn't harmful to fish, plants, mollusks etc. I was really worried about using crystal clear. 3ml ( 1 per 10 gallons ) and a top up 24 hrs later but fish seem healthy and have come through it ok. I have watched several YouTube videos where people have waited it out which worries me as I'm concerned about ammonia spike. I have just bought a new 20 gallon tank intended for 2 baby axolotl who are currently in 30L. I'm thinking about transferring fish from bloom tank to the new tank temporarily so I can drain theirs and start again. ( axolotl will be fine in 30L for a couple of weeks). I wonder if I will transfer bloom by doing this though

 

[Natalie Griffin]

If this cloudiness is whitish it could be a bacterial bloom, or it could be a diatom or organics bloom.

The algae treatment might well have killed off bacteria and caused a bacterial bloom, just a possibility. Never use these products, they are dangerous. I hope there were no fish in the tank. And never use water clarifiers, especially if fish are present; these do damage their gills. Purigen is (I assume) safe from that aspect, but it didn't do anything when I tried it.

Diatom and organics blooms are rare but I had one in my 90g tank (one of 8 tanks) that lasted for a few years. I have no idea what was causing it, but the organics were very high in that tank in spite of a very low fish load and minimal feeding, weekly 70% water changes, and live plants. You could see the brown organics clinging to the floating plant roots.

I have just looked up diatoms and smear algae. I don't think it's either of these. It's just a white cloud floating annoyingly in the tank. It was originally green so I think you could be right about your algaexit theory. Btw I have no intention of using crystal clear again. I used out of desperation but it had absolutely no effect and the stress of watching for I'll effect on fish just isn't worth it

 

[Byron]

Algaexit states it isn't harmful to fish, plants, mollusks etc.

I was really worried about using crystal clear. 3ml ( 1 per 10 gallons ) and a top up 24 hrs later but fish seem healthy and have come through it ok.

If you believe that, you probably believe smoking is not dangerous at all. No disrespect intended, my point is that manufacturers can say something is safe, but just because the fish do not turn belly up does not mean it is "safe." Every substance added to the water in a fish tank--conditioner, plant fertilizers, water treatments, medicines, chemicals--all of these get inside fish, into the bloodstream and internal organs. Regardless of what they may then do or not do once inside, the obvious fact is to avoid getting them inside to avoid additional stress on fish. If they are essential, like conditioners to dechlorinate, use them, but no more than necessary. Nothing is ever really safe for fish. The fact that fish "come through it OK" does not mean they were not affected. As someone who has researched fish physiology a lot, I can assure you they were.

Whitish blooms are usually harmless to the inhabitants, even if they appear ugly to us. Ammonia is possible, depending upon the cause, but not common. Water changes may help but sometimes they aggravate the issue because your tap water is sometimes very high in organics you cannot see, and when added to the aquarium the various species of bacteria that feed on organics (different from the nitrifiers we tend to always think of alone) multiply rapidly to feed on the organics. These bacteria can multiply within minutes, unlike the nitrifying species. Once they have things under control, the water will clear. Unless of course there is some other issue like the one I had in the 90g.