Bacteria Bloom and Seachem products question

[bcournoyer5]

Alright reefers, get ready for this mess. Last Friday, my tank couldn’t have been cloudier. Nitrites and ammonia were undetectable, and nitrates were 20ppm. I have attached the photo of it last week, that is the picture with only brown rock. I added around 55lbs of more rock in order to take away the “bacteria bloom” however things have gotten better, but I woke up this morning and it’s almost like it took a huge step back. I was wondering if dosing the seachem 2 part system of alkalinity and calcium. I have roughly 7 frags, so I would only do this every 2 weeks, and all the coral have been happy. Could the seachem products be causing my issue? Is this actually a bacteria bloom? My next guess is a algae bloom. What can I dose to take that away? All replies would be greatly appreciated. If it’s something else that you think please let me know. And I notice the more cloudy it is, the less my zoas like to open up. I have also noticed that by filter pads do turn a brown color, which there is also a brown coating on the glass.

 

[sbash]

I used that two part product for a short period of time, and did not experience any issues like this.

It is likely just a bacterial bloom and show go away in a day or so (hopefully less).

If it looks green (get a good look at it under normal room lighting), then it is an algae bloom. I had a bad algae bloom like that in one of my frag tanks. I used the Green Killing Machine to clear it up in about 48 hours. It is about $100, but a great tool for the tool box. Or if your tank is small you could run it all the time as a preventative measure.

 

[bcournoyer5]

I used that two part product for a short period of time, and did not experience any issues like this.

It is likely just a bacterial bloom and show go away in a day or so (hopefully less).

If it looks green (get a good look at it under normal room lighting), then it is an algae bloom. I had a bad algae bloom like that in one of my frag tanks. I used the Green Killing Machine to clear it up in about 48 hours. It is about $100, but a great tool for the tool box. Or if your tank is small you could run it all the time as a preventative measure.

My tank has been cloudy for about a week now. Is that normal for a bacteria bloom?

 

[sbash]

My tank has been cloudy for about a week now. Is that normal for a bacteria bloom?

I've never had a bacterial bloom last that long. Your original post says you woke up this morning and it was like you took a huge step back. I just want to point out the discrepancy in the information you are giving us. Accurate information and timelines are very important.

Algae clouds look green, sometime pale sometimes dark (in my experience). Also, are the corals opening up like they would normally?

If it really has been a week, the first thing I would do is run some carbon and a filter sock or filter floss. If it improves after 24 hours, give it another 24 and *****. This should take care of 'chemicals' as well as particles.

By that time it will be almost 10 days, and I would run my UV filter (as mentioned before).

What other changes have you made in the last, say 10 days? Did you adjust your lighting, cull your macros, move rock around, etc...

 

[bcournoyer5]

I've never had a bacterial bloom last that long. Your original post says you woke up this morning and it was like you took a huge step back. I just want to point out the discrepancy in the information you are giving us. Accurate information and timelines are very important.

Algae clouds look green, sometime pale sometimes dark (in my experience). Also, are the corals opening up like they would normally?

If it really has been a week, the first thing I would do is run some carbon and a filter sock or filter floss. If it improves after 24 hours, give it another 24 and *****. This should take care of 'chemicals' as well as particles.

By that time it will be almost 10 days, and I would run my UV filter (as mentioned before).

What other changes have you made in the last, say 10 days? Did you adjust your lighting, cull your macros, move rock around, etc...

I know I’m sorry about being all over the place. I added new AI Prime HD lights to my 120 around Christmas time. A few days later a bacterial bloom formed and went away after about a week. There has been no problems since. Then about 3 weeks ago, I adjusted the lighting schedule and the coral seemed to love it, so I kept it. Then last week Friday, I woke up and the tank looked like it was in the picture above, with no white rock. So I added 50lbs of live rock and that seemed to make things better, things really started to clear up. Then this morning, I woke up and like I said the cloudiness increased again, but not like it was in the beginning. So this is on the second week of the bloom. Hope this timeline helps. Sorry about the one before.

 

[bcournoyer5]

I know I’m sorry about being all over the place. I added new AI Prime HD lights to my 120 around Christmas time. A few days later a bacterial bloom formed and went away after about a week. There has been no problems since. Then about 3 weeks ago, I adjusted the lighting schedule and the coral seemed to love it, so I kept it. Then last week Friday, I woke up and the tank looked like it was in the picture above, with no white rock. So I added 50lbs of live rock and that seemed to make things better, things really started to clear up. Then this morning, I woke up and like I said the cloudiness increased again, but not like it was in the beginning. So this is on the second week of the bloom. Hope this timeline helps. Sorry about the one before.

And yes all coral are happy

 

[sbash]

And yes all coral are happy

Gotcha, okay, that is a bit more clear, thanks.

If the corals are still opening up and it doesn't look green under normal room lighting (when the tanks lights are off), I would just run carbon (I just put a big bag in the sum where it gets flow), and maybe some filter floss somewhere if you can.

Keep an eye on the corals, and report back in a day or so!