Bacteria Bloom

[Guest]

Ok, How do you get rid of a bacteria bloom? My water was crystal clear and then I noticed it getting cloudy. Now 3 weeks later and 30 gals of water changed, I do not see a change...The water looks like I put a cup of milk in the water...I do not have a protien skimmer worth mentioning and I am waiting to get the bucks to get a good one...Is there anything I can do in the meantime to lessen the amount of bacteria in the water? Filters just aren't getting it...

My readings are good
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
PH 8.2
Temp 84
Light cycle 12 hours

 

[d9hp]

Not to discourage you at all, but my algae problems ended in failure. You can see in the photo gallery that my tank was crystal clear for two months, then it got super cloudy, I did water changes once a week. About 60%. Now I have a tank with two fire-bellied toad and a trash can full of decorations, filters, heaters, and other infected products. Dont worry all my fish died of ICK before I did this. The one survivor is in a one gallon tank with my betta, a Kuhli Loach.

PS Im sure you will do fine, ride it out. 8)

 

[Guest]

I have identified this as a bacteria bloom... My water is not brown or green, but white..this is indicative of a bacteria bloom from what I read. However, I haven't found much on how to get rid of it...

 

[reefrunner69]

Stop feeding for a few days. Syphon off as much detritus as you can from the LR and the sand (without removing the sand or disturbing the bed too much). There is enough waste in your tank for the opportunistic bacteria to feed on, what is your bioload, and how big is the tank and what are you usin to filter it?

 

[Guest]

I have a 55 Gal with an 11.5 gal W/D. Approx 6.5 inches of fish and 10 hermits. I only have 10 lbs of LR. I am using the W/D with no Filter Floss. I am using the Bio-Balls and the sponge though.. In trying to remove the floating bacteria, I attached my Aqua Clear 300 on it with sponge and filter floss. No resolve.. I have not tried the no feeding, though I did read that the bacteria bloom is in search of nutrients and all.. I also read that is sucks up all the oxygen if allowed to thrive.? Got to go now, I will give more info in a bit

 

[jasonit]

Just scale back the amount of food you are feeding and wait it out. Frequent water changes can be helpful, but don't over do it. My bloom took around a month to go away, after I cut back the amount of food.

 

[Hara]

you might add the floss for a few days too.

 

[Guest]

I removed the Filter Floss from the wet dry after it was backing up from being clogged...I thought about it and decided to remove it permanently. Maybe a bad idea? Is there iny place for it in a SW setup? I did this of course after the bloom took affect. I will back off of feeding for a few days and see if any changes are noticed. I also backed the lights off to only 6 hours per day.