Persistent Bacterial Bloom

[hannernanner]

Hello reefers,
I've had what I suspect is a bacterial bloom in my tank for almost a month now. Tank has been up for two months. Did a regular water change yesterday, and the water got even cloudier! Everything I read said to wait it out or get a UV filter. I'd really like to rebalance the tank without going the UV route, because it feels like a bandaid. I have reduced my already sparse feeding (frozen pe mysis and brine shrimp) since I only have one clown and a couple frags in my 130 gal system. I have been dosing phyto, but have reduced that dose as well. Testing has my nitrates hovering around 2ppm, and phosphates at .02-.03ppm pretty consistently. I added a small bag of carbon two weeks ago and just changed it out yesterday. I'm getting my first real algae growth too. Everything points to high nutrients, but I'm hardly adding anything to the system!

Out of curiosity I tested my freshly mixed sw for phosphates today, and it tested .03ppm. I'm lost as to how that could be. My 0 TDS water comes from a new RODI unit with in-line meter. I tested the RODI water and it tested .02ppm (I used the freshwater test that comes with the Fauna Marin phosphate test- harder to read but it definitely wasn't 0).

I don't know what to do..the bacterial bloom bums me out because it just seems to get worse no matter what I do. I cycled my tank with ammonium chloride and lights out, so I thought I'd skip the uglies phase for the most part, but right now between the cloudy water and the algae the tank is pretty

ugly...what am I doing wrong??

 

[threebuoys]

I understand your hesitancy to go the UV route, but you need to find a way to kill the bacteria and the UV is a proven way. It also kills algae in the water column (but not surface algae). I had bad luck using chemicals to attack the bacteria. I almost poisoned all of my fish to death in a freshwater tank with AlgaeFix...never again. I personally don't believe the UV route has any negatives other than cost.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Agree, UV is THE WAY to go. It works, no downsides really. I had a MASSIVE bacterial bloom, i wasnt sure at first, it was alright, then I got home from sports and the tank was WHITE! I could not see A THING. Went and bought a UV sterilizer, tank had crystal clear water in about 2 days.
best of luck, go the UV way

 

[Reef.]

Feeding is not your issue, in a 130g tank you could feed 5 times a day and not be an issue.

You will use carbon but not UV, what’s the difference? Why is one a bandaid and the other allowed?

Everything we do in a reef tank can be classed as a bandaid.

Not fixing the issue by using something you know will work is crazy, and unfair to the fish who live in the water and are being fed less because you feel UV is somehow cheating.

 

[Bradley2448]

130 gallon, 60 days old. Your going to have imbalances when adding fish and food to such a young system, I’d bet a little patience would go a long way with your problem

 

[Darren in Tacoma]

I would cease the phyto for a bit and see if that helps. How much are you adding, by the way?

 

[hannernanner]

I would cease the phyto for a bit and see if that helps. How much are you adding, by the way?

I was dosing 30ml a day based on the instructions. Knocked it back to 15ml. Might give it up for a bit, just want to make sure I’m sustaining my little pod population!

 

[hannernanner]

Feeding is not your issue, in a 130g tank you could feed 5 times a day and not be an issue.

You will use carbon but not UV, what’s the difference? Why is one a bandaid and the other allowed?

Everything we do in a reef tank can be classed as a bandaid.

Not fixing the issue by using something you know will work is crazy, and unfair to the fish who live in the water and are being fed less because you feel UV is somehow cheating.

To be fair, I never said it was cheating. I just said I’d like to find balance without it. And that’s a fair point about the carbon. I guess most of what I’ve read advises against changing a lot of things all at once. So, I added the carbon a few weeks ago and I’m being cautious with the next changes.
I can assure you my one fish is very well fed, and from what I understand bacterial blooms pose little threat to their well being aside from perhaps decreased oxygen, which I’ve tried to mitigate by upping the surface agitation while this has been going on. He’s active and seems perfectly fine.
I don’t think I agree that asking questions and trying to find the cause of something makes me crazy :/

 

[KrisReef]

You are probably correct this is bacteria, but could it be precipitation? What salt (did you mix?) and add to the tank that made the clouds worse?

Alk=?
Calc=?

If it is bacteria, the UV sol'n isn't a bad idea.

 

[hannernanner]

You are probably correct this is bacteria, but could it be precipitation? What salt (did you mix?) and add to the tank that made the clouds worse?

Alk=?
Calc=?

If it is bacteria, the UV sol'n isn't a bad idea.

Salt is Tropic Marin classic. I haven’t tested Alk and Calc since a few days ago but for the past 6 weeks or so those parameters have been stable at acceptable levels. I will check again tomorrow though. Yeah UV seems to be the consensus!

 

[Taylor810]

I have been dealing with on-and-off bacterial blooms for a year.

I was able to trace it back to hand sanitizer. Now, whenever I touch anything in or that is about to go in the tank (food included) I make sure to rinse my hands thoroughly.

If you use hand sanitizer with aloe or other scents infused, you'd be surprised how long they stay on your hands. The alcohol and the added sugars themselves can both be a carbon source.

 

[zcedric]

I would do UV, Dr. Tim Waste away, absolutely no carpon dosing like vinger, alcohol, NO3...PO4.
Water change will add new nutriens for the bactiria to grow. Change filtersocks daily and set skimmer to wet skimming and empty it daily if you don't have a hose that will put skimmer water away. Also be sure to keep up with adding salt if skimmer is on wet and refill water resevoir frequently as wet skimming takes water away quick.
I personally can almost promise that dr.tim and uv will fix it. Is it kinda white and also makes strings on everything? Be sure if you get dr. tim don't overdose and be sure you follow the instructions. Too much could take too much o2 out of the water.

Edit: also don't use any parfum, air parfume, candles. It is know that they cause bacteria bloom. Open the windows for 2 weeks or use a good air purifier. Only use natural with no added stuff soap to clean stuff and also our hands. In extrem keep strong smelling clothes and rags away from it.

 

[zcedric]

sorry for double post... delete

 

[hannernanner]

Salt is Tropic Marin classic. I haven’t tested Alk and Calc since a few days ago but for the past 6 weeks or so those parameters have been stable at acceptable levels. I will check again tomorrow though. Yeah UV seems to be the consensus!

So I just retested Ca (465) and Mg (1380). These levels seem a bit high. I'm not dosing Ca or Mg, but I have been dosing Alkalinity because I've had trouble keeping it up. Could high Ca or Mg lead to precipitation of Alk? Using a Hanna checker (not sure if I trust the current reagent, because these numbers seem real low, but new reagent gets here tomorrow) my dKh was 5.5 yesterday, then I dosed my alkalinity. Today it was 5.1! There is no reason in a tank like this that Alkalinity would be "consumed" so fast...right? Testing the fresh sw with Tropic Marin Classic read 7dKh.