Bacteria Bloom - White Cloudy Water

[bkbjmb]

Just came across this site thanks to Google. Looks like this is the place to get answers

We set up a 30 gal tank one week ago today. Added Proquatics Water Conditioner and Bacteria Starter immediately. Let tank sit for three days fishless and tested water parameters. Everything checked out great except the pH was a little higher than we hoped for at 7.6. Added AP's Proper pH 7.0 which took it to neutral. When I went to the lfs to get the Proper pH I saw Tetra's Easy Balance. Thought no water changes for six months sounded great so I bought some. I added the EasyBalance to our sparkling clear tank. This is where things went horribly wrong. The water started turning milky white within an hour. Tetra's web site indicated that this might happen so we did not worry and added three Buenas Aires Tetras and two Silver Hatchets that night. Next day the water was really white. Back to the lfs to get Hagen's B-Clear. B-Clear has been in the tank for 72 hours now and it's still milky white.

I know how I got myself into this mess (using too many chemicals), now how do I get myself out? The water parameters are still fine except for the pH that shot back up to 7.6. The five fish do not seem to be stressed and they are eating very well. Do we just let nature take it's course and let the tank cycle? Should we do a water change sooner than later? Any advice would be deeply appreciated. My wife was all excited about getting this aquarium so now I'm feeling guilty for screwing it up.

By the way, the filter is an Emperor 280, no live plants, mixture of course and fine gravel.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[LondonGman]

using too many chemicals

Yes

Do we just let nature take it's course and let the tank cycle

Yes

Should we do a water change sooner than later

yes
No panic, just leave the tank alone and change water with ONLY dechlorinator as an additive and everything should hopefully be OK.
By the way welcome to the website

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya and welcome to Aquariumadvice bkbjmb

Heh, its rather amazing how much crap is out there for a simple fish tank isn't it? And if you're like me, without having the info first it all looks so necessary!

Actually, very little of that stuff is needed/works. My first suggestion is to do some water changes to get most of all those chemicals out of the water. Maybe 20% a day for the next 5 days with treated (dechlorinated) water, making sure to match the tank temps. Your tank is nowhere near cycled, so it won't have a necessarily negative effect there; just means it will take a little longer to cycle.

Buenos Aires tetras are hardy lil buggers, and silver hatchet actually come from a pH of 8.0 so your pH of 7.6 is fine; I wouldn't mess with it. Can the Ph stuff

Easy Balance is a joke IMHO. There is nothing out there that can take the place of gravel vacs and water changes. Remember, everything that goes into the tank STAYS there unless you take it out. Even food, although it winds up in a different form *grin* If you don't vaccum it out, it will sit and rot in the substrate. Yuck.

B-Clear and all those other "water clarifiers" aren't amazingly useful either IMHO. What they do is cause all the crud floating in the water to clump, supposedly so they can be caught in the filter. What usually happens is the stuff clumps and falls into the substrate, and lays there till you take it out (by gravel vacs).

And you haven't screwed anything up; you're talking to the woman who cycled her first tank with 2 angelfish and had NO idea what she was doing LOL. You're doing the right thing by going for info so you CAN do the best for your fish

Lastly and most important, you'll need to understand the nitrogen cycle to keep your fish happy and healthy. I strongly suggest you read this site; it will explain what happens during the cycle, why its so important, and what you can do about it: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html Also, if you haven't bought nitrogen test kits yet, make that your next fish tank purchase. Be sure to get ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests; the vial/liquid tests are much more accurate then the dipstick ones.

Oh and btw, nice choice on the Emperor; love the bio-wheel filters

 

[LondonGman]

Your PH is down to your area water supply and 7.6 is not bad. Do not bother with PH unless you intend to keep PH specific fishes. Aim to add zero chemicals to tank. The cloudiness may be down to bacterial bloom. However, nature is not ready in your tank, as the waste from the fishes are not been broken down quickly enough so you will have to give your fish’s fresh water more regularly than you would when the tank as settled down, (cycled)

I will suggest around 50% water change twice a week for next 2 weeks then reduce 20% twice weekly for further 3 - 4 weeks then 20% a week forever. Something similar to that to ensure that the fishes are not swimming in ammonia.

I know it is tempting to fiddle with your you fish tank but leave it. The fishes are in a new tank and stress ca reduce there resistance to disease and………it get worse from there on in. Just change water.

Is that right Advisors, works for me.

EDIT, as i spell check you post Allivymar, congrats on Appointment, ask for extra kudos ration as yours going down fast

EXTRA EDIT: use Allivymar, water change routine as it is more thorogh. But do nothimg else for next couple of months

 

[Allivymar]

LOL thanx Gman. Trust me; I answer so many posts, and add enough of my own to keep my kudos from dwindling too much. I'm noticing yours are getting a tad low, and you've been doing an awesome job helping folks; have a few more *grin* Btw, what are you doing up so late?

*agrees with Gman*

Yeah, nature, specifically the nitrogen cycle, is now where near ready in your tank bkbjmb (unless you've used Bio-Spira, which is the ONLY product which has the correct nitrifying bacteria). Its quite possible some of the products you've used have added enough nutrients for heterotrophic bacteria to have a lil party in your tank, causing the bloom.

 

[bkbjmb]

Allivymar and LondonGMan, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. We figured that the next step would have to be water changes to get the crap out of there. We will put that at the top of tomorrow's to do list.

We just got back home from having dinner and it looks worse than ever :-(

By the way Allivymar, we did purchase an AP test kit when we got the aquirium. I've been checking the amonia levels every couple of days. So far all of the bad stuff is in check. And thanks for the compliment on the filter. I spent several days researching before we purchased anything. The name Emperor came up time and again so I figured we couldn't go wrong with it.

Thanks again for the advice!

Brian

 

[Allivymar]

Anytime keep the questions comin!

A thumbs up on starting off with purchasing the tests kits when you started the tank. Once you get most of that crap out of there, I figure you'll start getting ammonia readings in a week or 2 Its a nice size tank; once the cycle is completed have you guys thought about adding more fish?