Bacterial Bloom

D

Doublette90

AC Members
Dec 19, 2002
54
0
0
55
Edmonton,Alberta, Canada
2 weeks ago when I was doing my weekly maintenance, I uprooted some plants that had to be moved and it disturbed quite alot of the substrate. A couple of days later my tank started to get "foggy" looking. It is not green (used the white cup check), and it doesn't look like debris floating around. It is like very tiny tiny "bubbles". So I'm thinking it is a bacterial bloom, caused by when I disturbed the substrate too much, am I correct? If so just how long does it usually last? I did my weekly water change last night and this morning the cloudiness hasn't changed for the better or the worse. This is my first tank and I still consider myself a newbie so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Some background info: 20G tank, AC 150 Filter, 55W PC Lights, Hagen CO2 system using my own mix, temp 76 - 78 degrees. PH 7.2, Ammonia = 0, NitrIte = 0, Nitrate = less than 20 always. Fish: 3 Sterbai Corys, 8 cardinal tetras, 1 dwarf gourami, 1 siamese algae eater, 2 ottos, and some ramshorn snails. Plants: Cabomba Caroliniana, Vallisneria Americana, Vallisneria Spiralis. Weekly 7 - 10 Gallons water changes. This tank has been running for 11 months.

Thanks,
Debbie
 
You're right about the cause--the disturbed litter has probably caused a bacterial bloom. Pulling up the plant forced the debris into the water column, and all the bacteria that were probably restricted by the low-oxygen levels in the substrate are now blooming to consume the new food source.

I would just ride it out. The bacteria are only there because there is food available, and will soon go away. A few additional water changes may help, may not--depends on how much material is still in the water column.

Adding some rotifers, daphnia, scuds, or similar FW microfauna will help, since they will eat the bacteria that are floating around.
 
Since it's bacterial in nature, probably not. Bacteria are seldom negatively impacted by low light levels.
 
Just to go into further detail of bacterial bloom, I pulled this out of my data-base of fish facts:

Why is my aquarium cloudy?
When your aquarium's water is cloudy and grey colored, it means that you have a bacterial bloom in your tank. A bacterial bloom is when the bacteria in the tank multiplies at such a high rate and in such high numbers that they can cloud the water. This bacterial bloom is caused by an excess of nutrients in the water. Usually, the water goes cloudy when you: first set-up the tank, do a water change, over-feed the fish, add new fish into the aquarium, and introduce a contaminant into the tank. When you first set-up a tank, the fresh new water has lots of nutrients and trace elements in it. Bacteria will use the nutrients and trace elements to grow and multiply and thus, cloud the water. When you do a water change, the fresh new water added to the tank can cause cloudiness. When we over-feed our fish and find uneaten food in the tank, this food will soon begin to rot. The rotting process will release a large amount of nutrients into the water. Again, the water can become cloudy. When we add new fish to our tanks, we can get cloudy water. This is because with the increase in fish, we get an increase in fish waste, which is a very good nutrient for bacterial growth. One more reason a tank can go cloudy is by the introduction of a contaminant that the bacteria can use as a nutrient. Unwashed dirty hands, liquids, and chemicals are a few examples of sources of nutrients. Please note that in a filtered and aerated aquarium, the actual bacterial bloom is in itself not harmful to the fish. It is merely unsightly. However, the actual cause of the bloom may be harmful. If left alone, the cloudiness will go away, usually taking from a few days to a few months, depending on your specific situation.



How do I get clear my tank?
To clear the tank and to keep it clear, we must control the amount of nutrients in the water. In the case of a new tank or water change, we recommend that you wait for the bloom to subside. It will take just a few days (usually 1-5) to clear. In the case of over-feeding, we recommend that you give your tank a water chagne and to clean the gravel thoroughly of all uneaten food. Uneaten floating food must be removed also. The addition of a liquid bacterial supplement will help clear the tank quickly. The use of activiated carbon and other chemical filtration media will also help clear the tank by removing the excess nutrients from the water. After adding new fish to your tank, you can add a liquid bacterial supplement to help with the processing of the additional waste. This can prvent the tank from going cloudy. In the case of a contaminant, the best thing to do is to give your tank a water change and add a liquid bacterial supplement. Please be aware that even with the water changes and the addition of a bacterial supplement, your tank will still need a few days to clear. Nothing short of a 100% water change can clear a tank immediately.

(c)Totally Fish
 
IMHO & IME, the large majority of the "bacterial supplements" on the market are snake oil and do nothing to restore or create biological balance in a tank. On the contrary they do increase the bioload so are as likely to prolong episodes such as the bloom from substrate disturbance and released nutrient load as they are to clear it, or perhaps more likely.

If your fish are showing no respiratory symptoms of distress (rapid gill movments, or hanging near the surface to get the most highly oxygenated water available), just ride it out with increased mechanical filtration cleaning without disturbing biofilters. If there are respiratory issues, serial large scale changes will dilute out the nutrient load. Diatom filtration will remove the bacteria producing the cloud, but then water changes are still needed to remove the excess nutrient or the cloud of bacteria may redevelop.

HTH
 
aquariumfishguy: Thank you for the information. Please forgive my "newbie-ness" for asking this but the thing I don't understand is how adding more bacteria is going to clear the tank faster. Doesn't a bloom mean I have enough or too much already? :confused:

RTR: My fish have shown no signs of distress. The bloom is all but gone now. Thanks.
 
D90 - blooms are usually an overgrowth of only one or a few species which happen to be able to take advantage of the particular nutrient mix available. If this is in response to something like a medication knock-down when many of the tanks normal microbial species are lost, re-innoculation with heterotrophic bacteria would be great - if the supplements were reliable. But in your case there was no knock-out of the normal microbes and infusorians, just a big extra nutient source. You would hope for and expect a quick return tonormal conditions, just as you have had. Congrats.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom