Using Salt To Prevent Bacterial Blooms?

[Brette]

Just had another bacterial bloom, who knows why. Water stats were great and the tank very clean. My fish were sick at the same time as the bloom was happening, no coincidence I'm sure.

Anywho, i'm sick of this. Twice in 4 months. Thinking of keeping some level of salt in my aquarium to prevent any further outbreaks. Any idea if this will help?

 

[OldMan47]

I have the idea that it will not prevent it. I only like to use salt as an ich medication. The rest of the time I don't put it in my tanks. I keep freshwater fish so I should really never need salt.
BTT gave a fairly good write up on bacterial blooms here if you want to read up on it. http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=246850

 

[Colin_T]

If the water is going milky cloudy then you are feeding too much and don't have adequate filtration. If the fish keep developing bacterial infections then your tank is dirty and the fish are stressed.
Make sure you don't wash the filter materials out under tap water and do regular partial water changes and gravel cleans. Clean gravel and clean filters means cleaner water. Regular water changes help to dilute the nutrients that stress fish and also lower the pathogen count in the water. This means less bugs in the tank that can affect the fish.

If you do want to use salt to treat the fish then use 1 heaped tablespoon per 20litres of tank water. Don't use salt if you have Corydoras catfish or Discus in the tank.

Bacterial infections in fish are often a secondary infection and gain access to the fish via an open wound, or if the fish is seriously run down. Feeding the fish a balanced diet and keeping the tank conditions good should prevent this from happening.

A U/V steriliser can be used to help prevent bacterial infections attacking fish.

 

[waterdrop]

Going on the possibility that your filtration rate is too slow, do you have any info on the litres/gallons per hour rate of your filter? Sometimes it can be hard to find this information. You can do some web searches and/or look for information from the company that makes it. Often companies will state a tank size the filter is good for. This is not the info you want. You want to find the actual L/H or G/H of the filter. If you can't find it via your owner's manual, the web or phone calls, then try the members here. Once you've got that information, post up your tank size and the rate so that the members can discuss the pros/cons of various rates with you.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Brette]

Once you've got that information, post up your tank size and the rate so that the members can discuss the pros/cons of various rates with you.

It's an eclipse 2 hood with biowheel filter on a 25 gallon tall tank. There sems to be a lot of water movement. The water stats are always perfect. 0 all the way. I have 4 medium sized fish in there now. I do not oferfeed, I feed sparingly and I'm definetely not overstocked at 4 fish. Often after I do a water change or vacuum the gravel my water goes cloudy/white. It's annoying and it's NOT good for the fish. The bacteria consume vast amounts of oxygen and end up depriving my fish, who are gasping.

I ended up taking the tank apart again and washing it all. Fish are fine now but still in quarantine tank.

I've been kicking around the idea that my tank might be too clean, and that the glass cleaning and vacuum cleaning i do weekly isn't good for my tank because I'm disturbing the good bacteria and also kicking up crud when i vacuum that the "bad" bacteria eat, hence the bloom as they multiply while they feed. The only other thing i can think of is maybe the bogwood i have in there (which i have put in the oven for a half hour to free it of any potential baceria) might be rotting in te tank and causing a bacterial bloom? would the water stats reflect that though?


totally, utterly confused.

 

[waterdrop]

And you're not using zeolite or anything weird in the filter, right?

I suppose, if desparate enough, you might try going a couple months -without- the wood and see if you can detect differences.

I agree it sounds like a puzzle. It also sounds like you've got pretty good surface water movement from the filter, right? And you're not saying your nitrate(NO3) level is also zero are you? That might make us worry that somehow you are not really cycled, although with 4 fish in there maybe your overall nitrate production would be small enough to be taken away by your frequent water changes. And your tap water stats are?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Brette]

And you're not using zeolite or anything weird in the filter, right?

nope.

And you're not saying your nitrate(NO3) level is also zero are you? That might make us worry that somehow you are not really cycled, although with 4 fish in there maybe your overall nitrate production would be small enough to be taken away by your frequent water changes.

Yeah my nitrate is at 0. You think after all these months (4) the tank isn't cycled because I've never had enough fish to really make a cycle start up?

I thought I was being prudent by being way understocked and doing water changes. Maybe I was wrong.

And your tap water stats are?

Not sure about that, will check at home.

 

[waterdrop]

No, I don't really think you're not cycled after 4 months. Just since you had a problem I felt it might pay off if we go poking around at everything. How often and what percentage water changes do you do? Your maintenance habits sound excellent but just to make sure, you only squeeze or dunk biomedia in tank water, not tap water when you clean the filter, right?

Have you checked your test kit expiration dates? Which test kit? What are the 4 fish? (just trying to get more data so the members might come up with more ideas...)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Brette]

No, I don't really think you're not cycled after 4 months. Just since you had a problem I felt it might pay off if we go poking around at everything. How often and what percentage water changes do you do? Your maintenance habits sound excellent but just to make sure, you only squeeze or dunk biomedia in tank water, not tap water when you clean the filter, right?

Have you checked your test kit expiration dates? Which test kit? What are the 4 fish? (just trying to get more data so the members might come up with more ideas...)

~~waterdrop~~

• usually a 20% water change weekly, with some vacuuming
• I usually never touch the filter when i clean
• Bought the test kit 2 months ago
• 3 diamond tetras and a checkerboard cichlid

Funnily enough, i just read about someone having the same trouble as I do with bacterial blooms after they do a water change. In the stickied "everything about bacterial blooms" post. Sounds exactly like my situation.

 

[waterdrop]

But when you do touch the filter, what is your procedure? What brand and model of test kit?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Tolak]

I posted in the stickied bacterial bloom topic, one of the situations may apply to yours; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry2216518

 

[Brette]

I posted in the stickied bacterial bloom topic, one of the situations may apply to yours; [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry2216518"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry2216518[/URL]

Tolak thanks so much for this! I'm going to take your suggestions and add more dechlorinator and do smaller water changes. The water that comes out of the tap actually smells a bit a tad like chlorine quite often, so I know they add it.

 

[waterdrop]

I think it was Tolak that got me double-dosing Prime on my water changes during fishless cycling too and I think its a reasonable possibility this might have helped your problem. Good luck!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Tolak]

Depending on the weather, which is also somewhat seasonal, my water varies between no smell to smelling like an overly maintained swimming pool. As a matter of habit I run some water in the utility sink, giving it a sniff before water changes.

It pays to learn as much as possible about your water supplier. I could write a small book about Chicago's water supply, what with a river that runs backwards, usually, pcb contamination that stays on the bottom of the lake, usually, and the occasional e-coli bloom in the summer.