Milky water and slime.

[acetabular]

Hello my Dudes.
I have a little problem with my aquarium. After I’ve added 2 little fishes the water is milky and there’s a white slime on the rock. There are 4 fishes right now and some corals.
parameters are ok.
NO3-0
PO4-0,15
Please tell me what to do.
just waiting or should I do water change. Aquarium is 30 days old now. I’ve started at ATM Colony marine, live sand, and ceramic rock.

 

[SPR1968]

Looks like some type of bacterial bloom possibly

What exactly did you add (2 little fishes what?)and we can see if we can get you some help

Looks like you have an Aiptasia as well under the coral on the right (picture not that clear though)

#reefsquad

 

[Mical]

Your aquarium is way too new to be adding all those fish & corals IMO. Your fish may survive but I highly doubt your coral will. You should've cycled it for at least 30 days with no fish and corals, then test all the parameters - (SG, DKH, Cal, Mag, etc)

 

[SPR1968]

Your aquarium is way too new to be adding all those fish & corals IMO. Your fish may survive but I highly doubt your coral will. You should've cycled it for at least 30 days with no fish and corals, then test all the parameters - (SG, DKH, Cal, Mag, etc)

The OP used ATM Colony which provides an instant cycle pretty much, and you have to add fish straight away so that it works correctly.

It’s actually very good stuff and works well.

 

[kireek]

I agree with @SPR1968 . I personally would do water change.Here is some good information about the subject;

Below some info that I had saved in a file.
Hope it helps


What is a Bacterial Bloom?

There are 2 types of bacteria at work in our tanks:-

Autotrophic Bacteria - Bacteria capable of synthesizing its own food from inorganic substances, using light or chemical energy. Our beneficial filter bacteria are autotrophs.

Heterotrophic Bacteria - Bacteria that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition. The heterotrophs in our aquariums mineralise the organic waste (break down the uneaten food, fish waste, dead plant matter etc into ammonia).

Contrary to popular belief, it is commonly the heterotrophs which are seen in our bacterial blooms, not our trusted autotroph nitrifiers.

It is the heterotrophs which are primarily responsible for creating the "bio-film" (slimy residue found on the tank walls and ornaments) which builds up in our aquariums.

The heterotrophs are generally bigger than the autotrophs and therefore don't attach themselves to surfaces with the same ease. They also reproduce much more quickly. Heterotrophs can reproduce in around 15 - 20 minutes, whereas autotrophs can take up to 24 hours to reproduce.

In a newly set-up aquarium, the heterotrophs get to work quicker than the autotrophs, causing the 'cycling bloom' we so often see. Blooms are almost certainly heterotrophic if they are caused by a build up of organic waste in the substrate, which most, if not all, are.

Bacterial blooms are common in tanks with apparently no organics present (for example, where all that is in the tank is water and ammonia for a fishless cycle). This is caused by the dechlorination of the water suddenly enabling the water to support bacterial populations. The heterotrophs immediately get to work on the organics in the water itself. The severity of the bloom and even whether a bloom happens at all is dependant upon the level of organics contained in the water supply.

Our autotroph nitrifiers are strictly aerobic (require oxygen), but the heterotrophs can be facultative anaerobic (they can switch between aerobic and anaerobic function depending on their environment). Therefore the heterotrophs in the substrate will be in their anaerobic state and breaking down the organic waste into ammonia, but if they bloom up into the water column, they will switch to their aerobic form and will start to convert the ammonia back to nitrite, although very inefficiently. The heterotrophs are around 1,000,000 times less efficient at ammonia oxidisation than our beneficial autotrophs as the heterotrophs are not true nitrifiers.


The Effects of a Bacterial Bloom

Most of the bacteria in the aquarium are aerobic as it is a oxygen dominated environment, and these bacteria require lots of oxygen. When the heterotrophic bacteria bloom into the water column and switch to their aerobic state, this is a big drain on the oxygen content of the water. Oxygen depravation is the only risk to the fish which i am aware of during a bacterial bloom, as the heterotrophs themselves are harmless to fish, so good advice is to increase aeration!

To help you to understand why bacterial blooms occur, overfeeding ,dead fish or dead plant matter will cause a rise in the reproduction of the heterotrophs in order to break down the organic waste, they re-produce too quickly to be able to attach themselves to a surface and this causes a bacterial bloom. As the ammonia production increases due to the increased mineralisation, the nitrifiers are slow to catch up (as i said above) and so you see an ammonia spike until the autotrophs reproduce enough to take care of it. Contrary to popular belief, bacterial blooms cause an ammonia spike, not the other way around.

It is unclear whether the autotrophic nitrifiers ever bloom into the water column or if they simply multiply too slowly to cause this effect.


Treatment and Prevention of Bacterial Blooms

A thorough gravel vac will certainly help the situation, as will trying not to overfeed. Also, increase aeration as I noted above. Water changes will probably not clear the cloudiness as when you remove the free-floating heterotrophic bacteria, the others will reproduce more to compensate. Given the reproduction rate of the heterotrophs, it would require a 50% water change every 15 - 20 minutes just to stop the bloom getting worse, and even more if you want to make any progress towards clearing the bloom.

However, water changes won't exacerbate the situation as it will be heterotrophs (which are producing ammonia) which are removed from the water column via the water change. A water change will remove virtually no nitrifying autotrophic bacteria from the tank at all as 99% of the nitrifiers are housed in the filter, not in the water column. Water changes are not essential in clearing bacterial blooms, as left alone, they will usually dissipate within a matter of days.

Reducing the amount of organic waste in your tank is the ultimate solution to treating a bacterial bloom, and avoiding a build up of organic waste in the tank is the best way to prevent a bloom. The best way to do this is to maintain a regular aquarium husbandry routine involving water changes and substrate vaccuuming.

As I said above, blooms are common in tanks with apparently no organic waste present, most commonly when only water and ammonia are in the tank for a fishless cycle. In this case, there are few easy ways to remove the organics from the water, and so my best suggestion is to sit it out and wait. Water changes with purified water would help as it would dilute the concentration of organics in the water. Reverse Osmosis water would be ideal in this situation, however i would suggest that patience is the cheaper and more environmentally friendly option.

A bloom in an established tank indicates that there is a problem which has allowed a build-up of organic waste, usually in the substrate. This can be caused by excess dead plant matter, over-feeding which leaves food lying around the tank, or leaving dead fish in the tank. None of these are desirable in an aquarium and a bloom in your established tank will certainly indicate one or more of these causes present in the tank. If you experience a bloom in an established tank, improve your husbandry.

 

[acetabular]

Looks like some type of bacterial bloom possibly

What exactly did you add (2 little fishes what?)and we can see if we can get you some help
I have 2 clowns and dascyllus and Lori. Fishes are babies. Very little.
I’m dosing NOPOX, Coralline grow and I did 3 water changes because of phosphates. But water changes I do on Nutri sea water from Nature’s Ocean.

 

[SPR1968]

You don’t need to be using Nopox yet as you have 0 nitrate and it won’t reduce the phosphate very well if at all.

It could well be bacterial bloom caused by Nopox so I would stop using it for the moment as it’s not required until your nitrates get to around 10ppm (depending on what your aiming for)

And don’t add any other additives until you’ve tested and confirmed they are needed.

If phosphate levels are becoming an issue, and a good target is around 0.03ppm there are other and better ways to deal with that

Oh and welcome to R2R as well by the way!

 

[acetabular]

You don’t need to be using Nopox yet as you have 0 nitrate and it won’t reduce the phosphate very well if at all.

It could well be bacterial bloom caused by Nopox so I would stop using it for the moment as it’s not required until your nitrates get to around 10ppm (depending on what your aiming for)

And don’t add any other additives until you’ve tested and confirmed they are needed.

If phosphate levels are becoming an issue, and a good target is around 0.03ppm there are other and better ways to deal with that

Oh and welcome to R2R as well by the way!

But should I just wait or change the water. I am very afraid about my nano because in few hours it is worse.

 

[SPR1968]

But should I just wait or change the water. I am very afraid about my nano because in few hours it is worse.

Yes you could do a water change to help the situation. Just make sure the salinity and temperature etc matches especially if you do anything over about 20% but I wouldn’t go much above this unless you have good reason.

You could do a series of changes over the next few days to get back on track as well.

 

[acetabular]

Thank you very much!

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Is there any live rock or even cured dead rock besides the ceramic rocks? The foundation for marine filtration is in the rocks.

 

[acetabular]

No. Only ceramic. Live sand and water changes on live sea water from nature’s ocean.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Not sure how ceramic will hold up over the years it takes to mature live rock .....

 

[jurgenph]

slow down.
stop dosing nopox
start doing weekly water changes

let your tank mature and find its groove.

also, i didn't see a skimmer mentioned.
if you're carbon dosing (nopox or other) you'll need a skimmer.


J.

 

[acetabular]

I have skimmer. This is Red Sea max Nano.

 

[saltyhog]

IMO this is solely from dosing NoPox. It's not uncommon and is pretty innocuous except for the appearance and the possibility of low O2 from the bacterial bloom. Since you have a skimmer the low O2 risk is somewhat mitigated.

Why were you dosing NoPox? Don't listen to whoever gave you that advice again. Don't forget about that aiptasia @SPR1968 noted!

 

[BayouReefer]

Yes you are getting some great advice. I would like to second that you need to slow down keep a close eye on your parameters and let your tank settle in.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Nopox is some powerful stuff. It can zero out your nitrate if you’re not careful . Dino’s love and thrive in these conditions.

 

[Lorenzo Angotti]

You don’t need to be using Nopox yet as you have 0 nitrate and it won’t reduce the phosphate very well if at all.

It could well be bacterial bloom caused by Nopox so I would stop using it for the moment as it’s not required until your nitrates get to around 10ppm (depending on what your aiming for)

And don’t add any other additives until you’ve tested and confirmed they are needed.

If phosphate levels are becoming an issue, and a good target is around 0.03ppm there are other and better ways to deal with that

Oh and welcome to R2R as well by the way!

Hi, stop using the Nopox, it’s that that’s giving you the slime and the bloom, it happen to me when I accidentally overdosed Nopox into my tank in a big way where I nearly wiped out my tank, make sure you point your wave pumps upwards and agitate the surface of the water to add oxygen as Nopox reduces oxygen,do a water change as well. Hope that helps. Also if you have a skimmer run it more wet to help clear the bloom.

 

[Purplelobst92]

Hello my Dudes.
I have a little problem with my aquarium. After I’ve added 2 little fishes the water is milky and there’s a white slime on the rock. There are 4 fishes right now and some corals.
parameters are ok.
NO3-0
PO4-0,15
Please tell me what to do.
just waiting or should I do water change. Aquarium is 30 days old now. I’ve started at ATM Colony marine, live sand, and ceramic rock.

everything will be fine as long as you do some water changes, but do small ones over a period of a week like 25% every 3 days. its just some sort of bacteria siphon it out, but i would say it is blooming like mad in the open because the rock is not colonized yet everything will be fine though as long as you keep ammonia and nitrite down, i would get a piece of legit live rock to help seed the other rocks as well.