I'm about to rip my hair out strand by strand thankyouverymuch

[kindafishy]

Giant cloudy frigging bacterial bloom -- my tank is under siege!! First it was a massive diatom problem, now this. My tank looks like crap. I am *this close* to losing it.

Recently, in an effort to rid myself of an ugly diatom situation, I ripped out nearly all my plants and planted new more low-light friendly ones. Started doing CO2 instead of a crappy bio system. Scrubbed diatoms off leaves, rocks, glass. And I think I may have upset my tank's equilibrium in doing so. Uh oh.

So, the water column is totally cloudy. Like, milky cloudy so not algae. I have done massive water changes and vacuumed the gravel, and it doesn't get any better. I am feeding a bare minimum. Oh, and BTW, the diatoms are not totally gone either. Terrific looking tank, I'm so proud!!

And MEANWHILE....as if that is not bad enough....my male apisto has decided that amidst all this, NOW would be a good time to spawn. Really, he is not the sharpest crayon in the box. He is running poor girl fishy ragged, which is pretty poor timing given the minimal feeding. Fish Gods please help me!

Anywho...can I get some suggestions about what I should do about the bacterial bloom? Do I wait it out? If so, HOW LONG?? Do more water changes? Avoid water changes? Get a UV sterilizer?

 

[jcolon]

First thing's first ... How old is the tank and are you using tap as your PWC? If so and your tap comes from groundwater, chances are your "BA" .. aka diatoms may not go away if your PWC has silica in it.

Milky cloudy is usually a good sign as it's a bacterial bloom that could help to seed your tank with BB. I'd just stay on top of PWC's, these blooms go away on their own. I don't find UV sterilizers to be absolutely necessary IMO. Better milky white instead of green ... IMO.

 

[kindafishy]

First thing's first ... How old is the tank and are you using tap as your PWC? If so and your tap comes from groundwater, chances are your "BA" .. aka diatoms may not go away if your PWC has silica in it.

Milky cloudy is usually a good sign as it's a bacterial bloom that could help to seed your tank with BB. I'd just stay on top of PWC's, these blooms go away on their own. I don't find UV sterilizers to be absolutely necessary IMO. Better milky white instead of green ... IMO.

Thanks for your reply. I did a fish-less cycle in September and have had fish in there since Oct 7. I was fully cycled before adding Mr and Mrs Fishy, so the sudden appearance of bacteria seems weird to me.

My tap water is not from a public source, but from a spring fed well on our property. We live in the Vichy region of France (as in the bottled water Vichy), so it is very pure. Nonetheless, I have no idea if there would be any silicates in it. Are there tests for this? I do know that I can't seem to get rid of this brown crap, whether it be diatoms or brown algae (some days I think it is the former, some days the latter, some days I am convinced that I have a little of both!).

 

[jcolon]

Thanks for your reply. I did a fish-less cycle in September and have had fish in there since Oct 7. I was fully cycled before adding Mr and Mrs Fishy, so the sudden appearance of bacteria seems weird to me.

My tap water is not from a public source, but from a spring fed well on our property. We live in the Vichy region of France (as in the bottled water Vichy), so it is very pure. Nonetheless, I have no idea if there would be any silicates in it. Are there tests for this? I do know that I can't seem to get rid of this brown crap, whether it be diatoms or brown algae (some days I think it is the former, some days the latter, some days I am convinced that I have a little of both!).

Actual Brown Algae is a Marine (salt water) multi-cellulare algae. Your "BA" are diatoms that need silica to form their shells which is which how it gets its brownish color ... so if it re-occuring, chances are your PWC source has silica and since silicates make up a huge portion of the crust chances are you have it in your water.

Although it's not always recommended to get algae eaters to solve algae issues ... Otto's absolutely devour "BA" and if your case your tank could support one or two long term.

 

[kindafishy]

Actual Brown Algae is a Marine (salt water) multi-cellulare algae. Your "BA" are diatoms that need silica to form their shells which is which how it gets its brownish color ... so if it re-occuring, chances are your PWC source has silica and since silicates make up a huge portion of the crust chances are you have it in your water.

Although it's not always recommended to get algae eaters to solve algae issues ... Otto's absolutely devour "BA" and if your case your tank could support one or two long term.

Yeah, I am thinking you are right about silicates. I would love to add otos to my tank, but honestly I think I have the meanest apisto on the planet, and can only imagine the carnage if I were to add another living creature to the mix. He's a scary little dude.

Since I live in an remote area, RO water would be pretty much out of the question. Seriously no idea where I would obtain that sort of thing here. Would a UV Sterilizer be a possible solution???? (I do know where to get one of those!)

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I had a nasty bacterial bloom in my 70 a while back. Tried everything to clear it. Gave in and got a UV sterilizer and it cleared over night, never to return. I don't even use the sterilizer anymore. It got water in the wrong parts and I'm scared it'll short something.

 

[jcolon]

Yeah, I am thinking you are right about silicates. I would love to add otos to my tank, but honestly I think I have the meanest apisto on the planet, and can only imagine the carnage if I were to add another living creature to the mix. He's a scary little dude.

Since I live in an remote area, RO water would be pretty much out of the question. Seriously no idea where I would obtain that sort of thing here. Would a UV Sterilizer be a possible solution???? (I do know where to get one of those!)

I believe UV sterilizers are more for free floating algae. Diatoms are more a surface issue.

 

[aqua_chem]

They still use the water column to spread. They have to get around somehow.


You're tank is practically new. You can look forward to diatoms for at least three months. Its a normal part of a tank establishing itself. Out of curiosity, what kind of substrate do you have?

Milky cloudy is usually a good sign as it's a bacterial bloom that could help to seed your tank with BB.

Those are different types of bacteria. Those are rapidly multiplying heterotrophic bacteria. Our BB are slowly multiplying chemolithotropes.

 

[kindafishy]

They still use the water column to spread. They have to get around somehow.

You're tank is practically new. You can look forward to diatoms for at least three months. Its a normal part of a tank establishing itself. Out of curiosity, what kind of substrate do you have?

Good Lord, 3 months?!? Ok, at least I am reassured that what I am going through is somewhat normal. BUT do expect a lot of complaining / whining from me for the next couple of months then!!

For the substrate, I have a layer of JBL something or other (Manado, I believe?) and then a layer of regular old black aquarium sand.

Those are different types of bacteria. Those are rapidly multiplying heterotrophic bacteria. Our BB are slowly multiplying chemolithotropes.

That is what I thought. Are they imminently harmful to the fish? For the moment they don't seem to be bothered (jughead is trying to spawn), but knowing my aquatic luck of late I can see this going south pretty quickly...

 

[aqua_chem]

Good Lord, 3 months?!? Ok, at least I am reassured that what I am going through is somewhat normal. BUT do expect a lot of complaining / whining from me for the next couple of months then!!

For the substrate, I have a layer of JBL something or other (Manado, I believe?) and then a layer of regular old black aquarium sand.

Not sure what JBL is, but the sand is probably (likely) silicate based sand, which might leech for a bit.

And I ment three months total. Maybe more, maybe less.

That is what I thought. Are they imminently harmful to the fish? For the moment they don't seem to be bothered (jughead is trying to spawn), but knowing my aquatic luck of late I can see this going south pretty quickly...

No they are not. They could potentially out-compete your BB, but I've never heard of that happening. They feed on organics in your tank, and once the population explodes, they eat through all the organics until they've exhausted them all and the population goes back to a normal size. To me, it's a sign that your tank is still establishing itself. Most tanks will cloud up at some point in the beginning.

 

[kindafishy]

So do I just wait out the bacteria bloom, doing minimal water changes, or should I be going nuts with lots of water changes?