Bacteria Bloom, what should I do?

[FatDragon]

Hello guys, so I have a 10 gallon nano aquarium and it has been cloudy for a little over a week now it has gotten worse. My tank was completely fine on Wednesday (11/22) but before going back home for thanksgiving I did a pretty big water change and cleaned up the sand bed. Over the 3 day break my heater died... when I got back on Sunday (11/26) I noticed the tank being slightly cloudy but not too bad. I was more worried about the heater but I wasn't able to get a heater until the following morning. At that time, I noticed the tank being a little cloudy and I honestly thought it was just calcium precipitation due to the temperature change (went from 67 degree fahrenheit to 78 degrees ) so on Wednesday (11/29) I did a 5 gallon water change and it kinda cleared up a bit. After doing some water test all of my parameters are normal so after doing some research it seems to be a bacteria bloom. Today I noticed it being even worse than it was before the water change and I am not sure what to do. I'm currently doing another water testing, will upload the current parameters in a couple of minutes

Parameters (11/29):
Calcium: 410ppm
Alk: 9.5dKH
Phosphate: 0.01ppm
Salinity: 35ppt
Temp: 78F
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrate: 3ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm

Parameters(work in progress):
Calcium:
Alk:
Phosphate:
Salinity:
Temp:
Ammonia:
Nitrate:
Nitrite:

Here's 3 pictures of before, during, and now.

 

[OctaviusBrine]

You could try throwing some pods in there.

 

[Shibaken3]

UV sterilizer

 

[FatDragon]

You could try throwing some pods in there.

I actually have some active Amphipods and Tigger pods in the HOB refuigium

 

[FatDragon]

UV sterilizer

Thanks, I'll take a look into those. A lot of them seem a bit pricey, do you have any recommendation under $100?

 

[Shibaken3]

You will have to do ur own research on that. Lots of cheap options on Amazon.

 

[TokenReefer]

Do a water change and you'll instantly remove some. 1-100% imo. Needs to be done asap.

Also, where did the anemone go?

 

[FatDragon]

Do a water change and you'll instantly remove some. 1-100% imo. Needs to be done asap.

Also, where did the anemone go?

Will do immediately! The anemone went up near the return Hopefully it moves back when the water clears up

 

[Bruttall]

I wanna ask about the water you are putting in the tank. Is it RO/DI 0 tds water before you add salt, or are you buying ro/di, or premix water from a LFS? I'd go out on a limb here and say your TDS is closer to 30 than 0 on your RO/DI and that is what is causing that bacteria bloom.

 

[FatDragon]

I wanna ask about the water you are putting in the tank. Is it RO/DI 0 tds water before you add salt, or are you buying ro/di, or premix water from a LFS? I'd go out on a limb here and say your TDS is closer to 30 than 0 on your RO/DI and that is what is causing that bacteria bloom.

Hmmm I will have to take a closer look into this, I have a 4 stage RODI unit hooked up to my sink and I have no clue how much TDS is in the water. Thanks for bringing this up!

 

[Mr. Met]

Water changes wont really help in the long run as the bacteria reproduce too quickly. Finding out if your water or something else is causing the bloom is the best next step, especially if you dont want to pay for a uv sterilizer. I would recommenced getting a decent one though. From experience, they really do work.

 

[RoanokeReef]

This cleared mine up (15g) in a day or two - https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...nternal-uv-sterilizer-with-power-head-1237020 . I would skip the water change personally.

 

[Bruttall]

Hmmm I will have to take a closer look into this, I have a 4 stage RODI unit hooked up to my sink and I have no clue how much TDS is in the water. Thanks for bringing this up!

I run a 5 stage system myself, from BRS, 100gpd. in 8 months I have only had to change out the filters 1 time. Membrane, sediment, 5micron carbon, 1 micron carbon, d/i resin. It has an inline TDS meter that is very accurate. Some will say you are ok to 15 or 20ppm tds, but as soon as my meter comes off 0, I replace filters.

 

[EricR]

My personal immediate thought would be to run some cheap air stones just in case the bacteria is consuming a lot of oxygen until you figure it out. (Not sure how likely depleted oxygen levels might be in this case though)

Beyond that, no idea. I had an inexplicable bloom earlier this year that just went away in a few days and never caused any issues (although wasn't as intense as yours).

Good luck...

 

[John K]

I’ll suggest that you stop doing anything and let this run it’s course.

If it’s a bacterial bloom it will run it’s course. If it’s an ongoing sand storm, it will run it’s course.

Continued water changes and other interventions are likely to perpetuate either or even both.

 

[AndyS598]

Thanks, I'll take a look into those. A lot of them seem a bit pricey, do you have any recommendation under $100?

There was one on Amazon called the green killing machine. About 70 bucks. Worked for a similar outbreak I had in a 30 gallon tank.

 

[FatDragon]

Water changes wont really help in the long run as the bacteria reproduce too quickly. Finding out if your water or something else is causing the bloom is the best next step, especially if you dont want to pay for a uv sterilizer. I would recommenced getting a decent one though. From experience, they really do work.

Yeah, another user suggested water quality so I'm waiting on my TDS meter to get delivered to see if my RODI water is the cause of the problem. I also got a UV sterilizer from BRS, just waiting for it to come in.

 

[FatDragon]

This cleared mine up (15g) in a day or two - https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...nternal-uv-sterilizer-with-power-head-1237020 . I would skip the water change personally.

Thank you!

 

[bushdoc]

So many opinions, some contradicting each other.
Her's my 2c:

• Bacterial blooms are caused by an access of decaying organic matter ( food or some dead creature)
• You cannot let it run it's own course as bacteria consume lot's of oxygen and your fish and other inhabitants may suffocate
• Run some airstone to mitigate oxygen depletion
• Water changes may help a bit, but as somebody already noticed, bacteria multiply fast, so it is unlikely it will address problem on the long run
• Your best bet is to use UV ( Green Killing Machine is OK for Nano tank) and try to find out if there is some dead critter there and remove it

 

[MrGisonni]

You will have to do ur own research on that. Lots of cheap options on Amazon.