Extreme Bacterial Bloom

[pjb9166]

So where to start?
We recently did a tank transfer and about a month after. we got a little outbreak of Dino's. Actually I never in 34+ years have never dealt with Dino's. We decided to take the advice off one of our trusted. How shall I put this? A video influncer's video. I am not trying to pass blame. I chose to try this. Something obviously went awry and now I sincerely need help. We wanted to go the more natural route and everything mades complete sense. I'm hoping that someone reading this will have had experience and can help me out. It is the regiment from Elegance Corals. Attached will be a screenshot. Well on day three we started getting a bloom. But you could still see in the tank. Today, today it's almost milk white. We are concerned about a Ammonia spike. Ph has dropped a little from it's normal range of 8.2-8.3. It dropped to 8.0 I decided to turn on the skimmer yesterday and I'm running the skimmer and bubble scrubbing continuously. I'm also thinking of adding Dr. Tims One and Only. But that would require me to turn the skimmer off and remove filter media. My son has been extremely involved in this tank with me and I don't want to fail him. So please if anyone has concrete advice/direction. Can you please chime in. Thank you

 

[lolmatt]

Don't add any bacteria to this. I had something similar, bad enough that it nearly killed two tangs (they stopped eating and were breathing hard for weeks). Everyone said to wait it out but what finally cleared it up for me was a cheap jebao uv sterilizer. Highly recommended if you've been dealing with this for more than a few weeks.

 

[pjb9166]

Nope just a few days. The reasoning of wanting to try One and Only is because of the insurance against Ammonia. Also it's totally different than the Bacteria from Waste Away. One and Only is denitrifiers. Not free swimming. Unfortunately I don't have a UV.

 

[lolmatt]

I'd stop the algae oust, it's probably a carbon source which feeds the bacteria. Running the skimmer is a good idea with bacterial blooms, if it fills too quickly you can even just remove the collection cup so you still get the aeration. Wait it out, I wouldn't add any bacteria or carbon sources into the water is crystal clear again.

 

[pjb9166]

I'd stop the algae oust, it's probably a carbon source which feeds the bacteria. Running the skimmer is a good idea with bacterial blooms, if it fills too quickly you can even just remove the collection cup so you still get the aeration. Wait it out, I wouldn't add any bacteria or carbon sources into the water is crystal clear again.

Oh, thank you. I did in fact stop the carbon dosing. That was one of my first thoughts. Wouldn't want to feed those little buggers any more food. I will say this. The point is to have an aggressive bacteria out compete the Dino's. Our sand bed is ghost white. No snot on our power heads. Nothing seems to be catching in our SPS. Just dealing with this little mess. Last thing I want to do is over react to the problem and cause more of one.

 

[pjb9166]

I haven't post an update. The tank is crystal clear. All Dino's seem to be eradicated. Wound up losing two small colonies of Red Dragon. Most of my SIS has lost some color. Thought I was going to lose my Durasa but it seems to be extending its mantel more and more each day. Now I have to get the diatoms on the sand bed under control. I always used crushed coral for my substrate and vacuumed religiously. This is the first time that I'm using sand. I'd like to get a live sand bed and get away from vacuuming. So just another thing to figure out.