bacteria bloom

JPKeenan

JPKeenan

AC Members
Jul 20, 2009
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looked over and noticed yesterday my 30g (which has high ammonia levels) is cloudy. It is a sign of a bacteria bloom from what I have read.

I am wondering if I should do another water change or let the bacteria breed some more.

a little history of the levels in that tank:

8/3 water change 1800hrs
8/3 tests 2315hrs pH 7 - ammonia .25 - nitrite 0 - nitrate 5
8/7 test 1215hrs pH 7.6 - ammonia 4 - nitrite .25 - nitrate 10
8/7 water change 1315hrs
8/9 test 2040hrs pH 7.8 - ammonia 2 - nitrite .5-1 - nitrate 40
8/12 test 1115hrs pH 7.4 - ammonia 1 - nitrite .5 - nitrate 20

so it seems like the tank is stabilizing after 3 days. Should I do a water change and throw things into chaos again?
 
Water changes are always good, they can only help and will not cause harm to your cycle. I would suggest more frequent cycles since it seems your tank is not stabilized and your bacteria colony is not able to maintain the bio-load.
 
added 6 new fish on Saturday, all seem healthy. I am going to check again in a day or two. I am/was more worried about the ammonia levels but they seem to be going down.

With the cloudy water (bacteria bloom) I wanted to see if it was a decent sign or not. Seems I tend to over do it and it clears up (last time) when I change the water. Last time it got cloudy like that I did a 50% change and the water cleared up but the ammonia level also went high again.
 
I had the same problem! Well, I still have it I think... I did a good 75-80% w/c , sifted all the sand, cleaned out my filters, plants and decorations... i think thats doing something good. good luck!
 
You really shouldn't be adding fish to a tank thats already showing ammonia and nitrite.

Your probably going to want to do some daily water changes to keep the ammonia, nitrite lvls down. I'd start with 30% a day and see if thats enough.
 
Slowly getting the rates of the toxins down. two 50% water changes in 2 days.

Going to do another 50% over the weekend. Will use the water to clean out a 55g tank I got.... Save on the water bill ;)
 
great job, keep up with the WC's and your parameters should level out in no time.

Good luck, try not to skip out on them, your fish will certainly benefit.
 
I rushed into the 30g tank too quick :( Only let it sit cycling for a week or so and didn't have a test kit when I put my first fish in it.... the chem levels are high but with the water changes they are starting to level down...
 
how did you 'cycle' the tank?

i am going to jump ahead and assume a bit...sorry...since the tank is not cycled, cloudiness is normal. this is not a bacterial bloom. since it has fish in it you are going to want to make sure that your ammonia is at 0 with a lot of water changes or else you are going to end up with a bunch of dead or unhealthy fish and i dont think you will want to do that.

good luck...keep askin questions!
 
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