Bacterial bloom few weeks into cycling

Brew12 · Aug 12, 2019

Chefnate said:
So would it be worth me emptying the tank and going down that route then? As I’m assuming I can’t dose atm in my current water?

You can add any bottled bacteria product at this point and it should help. There are lots of options available. You are looking for nitrifying bacteria for aquariums.

Deep dive coral · Aug 12, 2019

Chefnate said:
So would it be worth me emptying the tank and going down that route then? As I’m assuming I can’t dose atm in my current water?

You can dose it now. You can use microbacter7 as well for beneficial bacteria as well. Just need to follow what it says on the bottle. Also if you can start running activated carbon. That will help clear the water.

motortrendz · Aug 12, 2019

There's no way your tank has anywhere near 8 on amonia. Did the fish store use your test kit or their own??
Secondly, dont empty your tank and start over. You did too much too fast. Slow down. Corals are probably not gonna do well as by the look of your tank it's not done cycling yet. Let it be for a couple weeks dont add anything. Let it do its thing.

Do small water changes weekly(5-10%), make sure your salinity is stable and your keeping g up with top offs.

Chefnate · Aug 12, 2019

captrichc said:
You can dose it now. You can use microbacter7 as well for beneficial bacteria as well. Just need to follow what it says on the bottle. Also if you can start running activated carbon. That will help clear the water.

I currently have seacham purigen and chemipure blue in there.
Would that atm colony improve my tank?

Deep dive coral · Aug 12, 2019

motortrendz said:
There's no way your tank has anywhere near 8 on amonia. Did the fish store use your test kit or their own??
Secondly, dont empty your tank and start over. You did too much too fast. Slow down. Corals are probably not gonna do well as by the look of your tank it's not done cycling yet. Let it be for a couple weeks dont add anything. Let it do its thing.

Do small water changes weekly(5-10%), make sure your salinity is stable and your keeping g up with top offs.

I agree with this. But adding nitrifying bacteria is not going to hurt or change anything drastically. It can only help. Not make it worse.

Chefnate · Aug 12, 2019

motortrendz said:
There's no way your tank has anywhere near 8 on amonia. Did the fish store use your test kit or their own??
Secondly, dont empty your tank and start over. You did too much too fast. Slow down. Corals are probably not gonna do well as by the look of your tank it's not done cycling yet. Let it be for a couple weeks dont add anything. Let it do its thing.

Do small water changes weekly(5-10%), make sure your salinity is stable and your keeping g up with top offs.

Salinity is fine 1.024

They used both theirs and mine, same results on api. I told them about the salifert test and they said they don’t understand why such a big difference.
But surely it would all be dead

Deep dive coral · Aug 12, 2019

Chefnate said:
Salinity is fine 1.024

They used both theirs and mine, same results on api. I told them about the salifert test and they said they don’t understand why such a big difference.
But surely it would all be dead

In my opinion when keeping coral you wa t to be 1.026. Also what salt are you using?

Chefnate · Aug 12, 2019

captrichc said:
In my opinion when keeping coral you wa t to be 1.026. Also what salt are you using?

Oh ok, I buy ready mixed from my lfs

Chefnate · Aug 12, 2019

They tested my salinity there too and told me it was bang on

Deep dive coral · Aug 12, 2019

Chefnate said:
Oh ok, I buy ready mixed from my lfs

That can also be your problem. Do you know how old the water is each time? What kind of salt they are using? Is it mixed properly? Is it airated? You have zero control then. I highly recommend you dont do that.

Deep dive coral · Aug 12, 2019

captrichc said:
That can also be your problem. Do you know how old the water is each time? What kind of salt they are using? Is it mixed properly? Is it airated? You have zero control then. I highly recommend you dont do that.

Are they using rodi water and not tap water. Too many unknown variables.

Chefnate · Aug 12, 2019

captrichc said:
That can also be your problem. Do you know how old the water is each time? What kind of salt they are using? Is it mixed properly? Is it airated? You have zero control then. I highly recommend you dont do that.

How

captrichc said:
Are they using rodi water and not tap water. Too many unknown variables.

if I’m honest I don’t know the answer to any of that. I picked up some today that they had to mix up while I was there waiting. Salinity of it is 1.025 and tests show 0 on all

motortrendz · Aug 12, 2019

captrichc said:
I agree with this. But adding nitrifying bacteria is not going to hurt or change anything drastically. It can only help. Not make it worse.

Oh I agree on the bacteria. I just read through his thread. Seems like he added it a few times already. Which is why I said to stop adding stuff lol

Chefnate · Aug 12, 2019

I also get RO Water from there too

motortrendz · Aug 12, 2019

Best advice on here is slow down. You started the thread 2 weeks ago... then a few days ago you added a bunch of inverts and coral. "Be patient is the key". "Slow and steady". "Nothing happens in a reef tank fast(except bad stuff!!l) " these are all quotes, and good advice. Trust me. I've been there adding stuff too fast, too soon too much. It all ends badly.

Chefnate · Aug 12, 2019

motortrendz said:
Best advice on here is slow down. You started the thread 2 weeks ago... then a few days ago you added a bunch of inverts and coral. "Be patient is the key". "Slow and steady". "Nothing happens in a reef tank fast(except bad stuff!!l) " these are all quotes, and good advice. Trust me. I've been there adding stuff too fast, too soon too much. It all ends badly.

I shall leave it be and just add some good bacteria