Is this what a bacterial bloom looks like? *Pics*

[Fishmom84]

Hello all! So I have this 10 gallon tank with 3 glo dannios and I woke up one morning to see that the water was cloudy. Well, by the next day it was so cloudy that I can hardly see anything inside! It's a milky color and you can actually see the mysterious substance swirling around in there and I was wondering, is this a bacterial bloom or something else? I tried doing a water change and putting in a new filter, but no change. Also, about a week ago 1 of the 3 original dannios I had died or jumped out and I never found a body so I wonder if that had something to do with this. The tank has been running for over three months now and the water tested fine, no nitrites or ammonia. Thanks in advance!

Link to short video of tank https://youtu.be/I_4b0KFpgb4

 

[Autumnsky]

Hello,

Yes, this is a classic bacterial bloom. I had one which looked like pearly specs swirling around in the tank. You have a couple issues which this is a visual result of.

The death of fish might indicate the problem of not having a cycled tank.

The bacterial bloom will not be a problem for your fish, but unsafe levels of ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte will and often have deadly consequences.

Read this and it will explain the nitrification cycle, which is not a 24-48 hour waiting for the tank water to mellow.

This will help sooooo much to get you to a place you can keep fish alive and happy in their tank! There are a few other links in the article all the information in the articles could be useful!

Do not throw away any more filter pads. Time is needed to cycle through the bacteria life cycles.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/guide-to-starting-a-freshwater-aquarium/

Every time your rinse the filter pads in untreated tap water, some or most of the good bacteria which have been growing are killed. Chlorine and chloramines kill bacteria in out water so we can drink it with out parasites, etc. Also kills our necessary BB.

Your tank is not cycled now because of the new filter pads, and probably the cleaning.

https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/fishkeeping-answers/why-wont-this-cloudy-water-clear/

 

[fishwonder]

Here is some information to help you with your cloudy water.
[FONT=&quot]http://aquariumscience.org/index.php/6-2-3-bacterial-blooms/
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Tap water does not kill bacteria. If it did it would be labeled as a disinfectant. Drinking a disinfectant... well you would die.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Rinsing Biomedia In Tap Water[/FONT]

http://aquariumscience.org/index.php/6-9-tap-water-rinsing/

 

[Autumnsky]

Here is some information to help you with your cloudy water.
[FONT=&quot]http://aquariumscience.org/index.php/6-2-3-bacterial-blooms/
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Tap water does not kill bacteria. If it did it would be labeled as a disinfectant. Drinking a disinfectant... well you would die.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Rinsing Biomedia In Tap Water[/FONT]

6.9. Tap Water Rinsing

Your 2 article references mention using tap water and it is fine. The other says don't rinse off all the brown gunk you need it for proper filtering and a home for BB.

This thread is not the place for this debate for this particular option. The OP may ask away if you have the information they need. I appreciate there is more than one way to do things. Fishmom84, if this tap water rinsing is fine direction interests you please, further that discussion.

In particular to me, preserving the most amount of BB possible is a goal I have.

For someone who is having problems with a tank. Following the most cautious route would be the best practice imho.

The information about the sludgy gelatinous goo is an intriguing filtering method. Presently I have been considering how to use the K1 media in my 80G Innovative Marine tank. It IS very interesting.

Here is one of the videos, from Aquarium co-op.

You can check into it if it interests you Fishmom84!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you been able to get any tank water parameters?

 

[Delapool]

One extra is that most bacterial blooms I’ve had were where the tank was a bit unstable (been a few years so have to think back). So for example where getting just a slight ammonia reading (not really of concern but something going on). As the tanks got older, more stable and I suspect the bacterial populations sorted themselves out and more bullet-proof.