# Bacterial Bloom?



## russbush (Mar 29, 2012)

Hi Everybody,

I have a 20 gallon established, moderately planted tank. Although I have what I now realize are probably too many fish -- there are 16 of them -- everyone has been very lively and happy for months. I do partial water changes pretty much weekly but have not been vacuuming the gravel--I incorrectly thought that the plants would be using all the detritus as food. The water has always been hard and the pH has always been high, no problem. Ammonia and nitrate levels have been nil; nitrate OK. I use tap water for water changes and there is no ammonia in that either. Sometimes the town water has chlorine in it which I test for and treat when necessary. The water has always been a little bit "milky" looking but since it didn't seem to be bothering anyone, I left it alone. Everything was just great until....

A couple of days ago the "milkiness" suddenly became very bad and the ammonia and nitrite levels went through the roof. The fish were all at the top, gasping. I googled and it seemed to me that I had a bacterial bloom. I put some Tetra Water Clarifier in but it didn't help. Then, I took all the fish, plants, rocks, and gravel out of the tank. I washed the gravel until water that I put in the bucket with the gravel had no ammonia. Then I put everything back in the tank. Now it looks milky like it used to and the ammonia level is about 1 ppm--not good.

Prior to the eruption of the bloom, I had not added any new anything--no new plants, fish, etc.

I've had one of those styrofoam 3D backdrops from Plantrax in my tank from day one. I don't know if this could have anything to do with it.

I have no idea what is going on in there. Do you?

Thanks,

Russ


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

Hello Russ,

It does sound like you are overstocked. I'm not sure on what could have caused it, but you should dose with prime to help with the ammo and nitrites. Washing your gravel(if you washed it in untreated tap water) could have killed off the bacteria living in your substrate, so you will probably go through a small cycle. I would do PWCs and monitor your water parameters carefully. if you have an airstone, or air pump, I would put it in the tank to help with the oxygen levels.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You need another tank. What fish do you have in there? It is good that you do have plants. Bottom line is that photosyntesis of plants and bio system combined are not keeping up with the fish you have and the waste they create. 

I would do another water change and stop feeding until it clears. Overfeeding can be a major contributing factor to what is going on. You should think about a very light feeding schedule to include skipping days during the week. A 20g tank can be hard to keep. Tip the scales one way or the other by just a little overfeeding to go with an already overstocked tank and it won't be overstocked for long.

Also, stop using chemicals to try and clear cloudy water. You'll just stress your fish greater.


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## russbush (Mar 29, 2012)

Thanks for your comments. I now have an airstone and also I will feed the critters less than I used to. I have been thinking of a larger tank and I know that they are supposed to be easier to maintain than a smaller tank, but frankly after this recent episode, I'm reluctant to invest in a larger tank.

As I mentioned in my initial email, I completely removed everything from the tank, washed the gravel until there was no more ammonia showing in the water I put in the pail with the gravel, then put the fish, plants, and ornaments back in the tank, and it still is cloudy (although not nearly as bad as before) and has a little ammonia.

I bought some API Ammo Lock a while back and noticed that the bottle said that it converts ammonia into a non-toxic form but that "aquarium water will still test positive for ammonia until it is removed by the biological filter". Does anyone know if Seachem Prime acts the same way. I'm asking because after I had cleaned out the tank as indicated in paragraph 1 above, I added the requisite amount of Prime, and a few minutes later tested the water with Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Ammonia Test Solution -- there is still ammonia in there. If Prime acts like Ammo Lock, then I suppose the test might test positive even if there is no ammonia. What do you think? Or perhaps Prime takes an hour or two or... before it works?

Yes, I have too many fish--a couple of small plecos, 8 tetra's, two guppies, and a small shark. But they are small, about an inch each, so it's not like there are way, way too many fish. And they certainly haven't produced enough waste since I cleaned up the tank yesterday to cause ammonia. By the way, nitrites tested negative.

Regarding a "mini cycle", I've never quite understood where the "good" bacteria come from? I don't remember ever having bought "good" bacteria from a store and putting it into my tank when I first started it up. Where do these "good" bacteria come from?

Anyway, it's very frustrating to have this milky-looking water and not really know what to do about it.

Help!!!

Russ


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

theres bacteria everywhere. all you have to do is add a source of food and it will grow.

what i didnt get about your post is that you said "Sometimes the town water has chlorine in it which I test for and treat when necessary". you should be adding something like tetras 'aquasafe' into every bucket you put in your tank. not only does it remove chlorine and chloramines but it binds heavy metals and help the fish stay healthy. 

anyway back to your tank, you should also be vacuuming the gravel every time you do a water change! no wonder you've had spikes in your reading, i suggest you just up the water changes, lessen the feeding and vacuum the bloody gravel! how much water change did you do per week before this happened?

i have a 30g tank that i do 50% min a week water change and get every last bit of poo i can out of there as its prob over stocked too, i also dont feed the fish 2 days a week. especially with having a couple plecos you gota be on top of it. a bigger tank is much easier to keep control of. for example a bit of rotting food in a small take can have devastating effects but in a big tank it would only slightly change the water conditions.

also you taking everything out of the tank may of (as well as what manafal said) killed off bacteria if you didnt have the decorations in tank water.

finaly regarding this ammo lock stuff. i cant help you there. i dont waste my money of all these lotions and potions. nothing time and water changes cant take care of.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I think what you had was a buildup of waste in the gravel (get a cheap gravel vac for water changes). It got to a tipping point, and you may have had the oxygen levels drop as the bacteria got to it first.
It's partly the result of overstocking, and partly the result of not enough water changes. I've had fish for 45 years, which has given me a lot of time to experiment and make my mistakes. The biggest one is doing less than 25-30% water changes weekly, or every ten days at most. 
Using chemicals is a waste of money and a stress on the fish. Water changes remove the symptoms more quickly, and let you get to the cause.
I don't recall the exact number, but right now, several pounds of what you think are you are bacteria living in your body. It's their world and we're just in it - they show up in your tank because they are everywhere and the tank provides food. By washing the gravel, you've wiped out a lot of them, and it can take a week or more for them to recover from that kind of mess. A gravel vac uses tank water and removes excess bacterial food without removing outrageous numbers of bacteria, so it'd be a better option next time.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Prime does lock ammonia so you would still test positive. But don't let Prime be the way you get rid of ammonia. That should be done with water changes.

I can understand what you say about getting another tank, but if there is a sensible stocking plan followed you'll be fine. Go for 75% stock and be happy with healthy fish and no issues like what you have now.


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## russbush (Mar 29, 2012)

Well thanks everybody. I still have a question: If I bought and "started up" a new tank, where do the good bacteria come from? Do you buy them at the store? If not, where do they come from?


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

I'm not exactly sure where or when the bacteria get into your tank, but it just appears after ammonia has been in the tank for a while.


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## Chandavi (Jun 12, 2012)

The bacteria involved in the nitrogen cycle are all around us. They can be found on any surface and even in the air around us. You don't _have_ to do anything to "create" the bacteria. They stay in very small numbers until they find a situation which is ideal for them to grow in. At this point, they grow into a colony as large as their food source will sustain. This is precisely what we want to see when "cycling" a tank. The process, as a matter of fact, is named after the nitrogen cycle. 

In order to jump start the cycle, however, it is commonplace to use ornaments, substrate, or filter material from a healthy tank. This is because the surfaces of these items will already have larger amounts of "good" bacteria living on them. Bacteria grow at an exponential rate, meaning 1 becomes 2, 2 become 4, 4 become 8, etc. If you start with a small number, you will eventually get to where you want, but this process happens much faster if you begin with a large number of bacterial cells, provided by material from a healthy tank.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I agree with the post above. A common (for me) trick is to add extra filtration media to a healthy tank's filter a couple of weeks before I set up a new tank. Then, I transfer half the media (uncleaned) to the new filter. That's a jump start. Shift over some decor, plants and even gravel, and you have seeded the tank.

I have wondered if beneficial bacteria get in in the guts of new fish, and they are known to come in with almost any decoration. if it's from a shop though - it may bring deadly bacteria too. 

Never buy into the 'we'll give you some water' thing some stores offer. I am very skeptical of the instant cycle products stores sell. 

We're lucky to live in the Age of Bacteria, and they are everywhere. They get into your tank and take off running.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

you could have inadvertantly introduced some toxin.

Otherwise it sounds like you have been "on the edge" for awhile and finally reached tipping point.

I would have killed the lights and stopped adding food to clear up the cloudiness. Perhaps that would have not only completely cleared up the water but allowed things to balance out as well to the plants were kept in control.

my .02


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I don't think you can depend on plants or beaslbob's particular approach to reach a balance. The glass box is an unnatural habitat, and it calls for intervention, especially when overstocked.
Vacuum the gravel, increase your water changes and keep fewer fish in there, and you'll enjoy it again.

It's weird - I have kept fish since I was a little kid, and in all that time, I only once had a bacterial bloom - in a new tank when I tried a bottled bacteria product. Otherwise, I have never seen a bacterial bloom here, in 45 years with fish. I have no point in saying that - I guess I'm just wondering 'out loud', but it seems a problem for a lot of people on forums and I'm shocked that something that can go wrong has skipped over me for so long.


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## Kenneth McLean (Jul 9, 2012)

Many thanks


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