Are algae and bacterial blooms normal in a new tank ?

[Xzap]

I remember my 29 gal had algae and bac. blooms for the first few months.. since then it's exceptionally clear.

I'm going thru the same thing with a tank that's about 3 weeks old, cycled. I do 25% pwc weekly and now more often.
I've got green spot, brown, hair, cloudy water.. and just got rif of BBA.

Is this normal til things get balanced ?

Dave

 

[TomK2]

I know the initial "brown algae" which are actually diatoms? are impossible to prevent.

 

[tetrin]

i'm yet to hear of a planted tank enthusiast who hasn't experienced some sort of algae in the tank.
it's very hard to balance all the nutrients and light levels from the word 'go'. also, algae is an unspoken language that your plants are using to communicate with you. i'm still trying to decipher it (unsuccessful so far ).

 

[Hoovercat]

I think Steve Hampton explains the algal side of the problem well here http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=60452 when he talks about algae being more capable of using ammonia as a nutrient. Maybe someone else can answer the bacterial part of your question.

 

[Xzap]

Sounds like I just need to give it time to balance out.
From Steve's post, this makes sense ..

"It should be readily apparent that inorganic nitrate, potassium, and phosphate doesn't cause algae, yet those are the elements needed in abundance to grow healthy plants."

Thx,

Dave

 

[malkore]

Yeah, patience is key. A new tank, even when properly setup, is likely to get small bouts of algae, as nutrient levels really bounce around for a few weeks until everything stabilizes.

 

[travis simonson]

The low oxygen levels in a cycling tank (due to the immature bio-filter) contribute quite a bit to diatom algae growth. And concurrent with low O2 levels there is an ammonia spike at the beginning of the cycling which contributes to the growth of other forms of green algae until the nitrifying bacteria bring it under control. Balancing things out becomes much easier once you have an established nitrifying bacteria colony in your bio-filter.

 

[czcz]

Anybody convert a non-planted tank with an established biofilter to medium or high light planted with proper nutrients? What was your experience with algae? Just curious.

 

[malkore]

I have. Only had a little nuisance algae, and then due to NOT keeping nutrients proper (namely nitrate was 0ppm) I had a BGA outbreak. Primary reason was it was my kribensis breeding 20g tank...only 2 fish so not enough nitrate production from them, and I was lazy about dosing for a month.

 

[newfishykeeper]

Interesting reading as i'm having the same problem with algae overload!
Should i be removing the algae from the bottom of the tank with a vacuum and wiping down the rocks etc that are covered, or just changing the water and let the algae sort itself out?

 

[Xzap]

Any feedback/suggestion on my #'s would be appreciated

The algae is coming under control now. I added 3 flying fox this week I'm doing frequent pwc's.

Before a 25% pwc on Friday, my numbers were:
5dkh
no3 10 ppm

I replaced my actinic lamps so now I'm running 2.9 wpg, 6500 & 10,000K.

Saturday I did a 40%pwc and my numbers AFTER the pwc were:
3dkh
no3 5ppm
I added 1/3 tsp of baking soda.

My pH has went up this week from 7.2 to 7.6.
I'm still running the small reactor, my bactoball type will be here next week.

no3 has been staying at 10 ppm so I haven't dosed anything other than Flourish 3 - 4 times a week.

I've included a pic taken right after the 40% pwc to show just how cloudy the water is. Compare it to the other pic taken at the same time of another tank.

I have pearling on different types of plants, which is confusing because I don't have enough dissolved co2 yet.

Thx,

Dave

 

[czcz]

Since it is a young tank, do you think it may be bacterial bloom? How about cutting back on pwc for a week or two since you aren't dosing often and the numbers are good?

Your hygro polysperma look real good by the way

 

[Xzap]

I do think it's a bac bloom cz. It just looks nasty.

Thx on the hygro, that was one of the main plants I wanted in this tank. I hope my lfs will buy them off me, I started off with 6 bunches and should have used 1 !

Thx,

dave

 

[sleepylof]

I had the same problem in my tank. I have a 26-gallon highly lit tank that inititally had few fish and no CO2 hooked up to it. I had this massive BBA growth that had me using a toothbrush to scrub it every other day.

Now I test and try to keep the nutrients at the "ideal" levels and use Flourish Excel. After the bleach dip and ruthless pruning the plants are slowing starting to grow back with minimal algae.

...So yeah, I think algae growth in a new aquarium definitely happens.

 

[Xzap]

Well, it's not a bac. bloom, it's an algae bloom. My water is extremely green.
I ordered a UV sterilizer today.

Thx,

Dave