[ID] potential bacteria bloom?

[bearman88]

I'm certain this is not vermetid snails. This is the 2nd time the bloom has appeared in the ~4 months it has been established. The first bloom went away after almost 2 weeks of just sucking it out and doing water changes. It's been absent for about 3 weeks, and now it's back. This stuff is all over the tank and grows back over night, remarkably fast. Doesn't seem to bother coral or fish too much.

Should I send my RO water off for lab sampling? Any ideas on curing/prevention? Thanks

 

[Diesel]

How long is this tank running?
Any livestock in there?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yup. Does look like bacteria.
Are you carbon dosing?

 

[bearman88]

The tank has been established 4 months. Red Sea reefer 250. I have not been carbon dosing. One tailspot blenny and 1 maroon clown. Then typical inverts/cuc.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

No matter what it is, I can't see a chemical test being of value. I'm not sure what is causing it.

 

[Greg Miller]

What kind of flow do you have in your tank? Low flow or dead spots sometimes contributes to Cyanobacteria blooms.

 

[bearman88]

The bloom has subsided without me changing anything. I got some advice from my LFS to 'do less' and let my tank establish itself. They also advised to only do water changes once every 2 weeks instead of weekly. Their logic was that the less you can interrupt the biological/bacteria cycle, the better. I am assuming once the tank is more established I can resume weekly water changes as needed. Anyone else believe this theory? Also - should I do 20% or 10% water now that I am changing to biweekly?

 

[XNavyDiver]

The bloom has subsided without me changing anything. I got some advice from my LFS to 'do less' and let my tank establish itself. They also advised to only do water changes once every 2 weeks instead of weekly. Their logic was that the less you can interrupt the biological/bacteria cycle, the better. I am assuming once the tank is more established I can resume weekly water changes as needed. Anyone else believe this theory? Also - should I do 20% or 10% water now that I am changing to biweekly?

The "do less" advice is probably good advice, especially with new tanks. I think we as new aquarist (I'm including myself here) tend to want to impose our will on a developing, evolving and very complex biological systems inside out tanks and sometimes our efforts, although well intentioned, become counter productive to the system striving to reach chemical and biological balance. I've seen it here on R2R a million times; patients, go slow, make small incremental adjustments (if needed), let the biology of the tank find its balance... makes sense, but implementing a hands off approach is easier said than done for some (like me). With all that said, IMHO, I think smaller, more frequent water changes is the way to go. 10% bi weekly sound like a pretty common schedule.