Bacterial bloom after water change?

[Majority_Rules]

I have a 3.7g tank that is having issues. I did a water change and by the evening the tank was very cloudy. I waited a few days and it was still cloudy so I did another small water change which got rid of the cloudyness pretty much. The corals were still all closed up a few days after that so last night I decided to do another water change and again by the evening it was hazy. I'm adding water gently to the back chamber of the tank so I'm not stirring anything up. I've just never heard of bacterial blooms after a water change. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

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[Diana A]

Likely threw your tanking into another cycle. You should never clean that much all at once. Like for instance I never change all my filter media when I do a water change.

 

[Majority_Rules]

I didn't know there was such a thing as too many water changes. I can't see how cleaning the water causes bacteria to grow. What is there food source then?

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[Majority_Rules]

So even though my corals are closed up don't do another water change to get the bacteria out?

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[Zik]

I had cloudy water in qt for a good week or so. It finally went away on its own (were only fish in there).
I found some people have success with using uv. Mine was about to come in, but water literally cleared up 2 days before it came.

Good bacteria just wasn't keeping up! Been great since

Edit: Also after it was cloudy & I did another WC, it got more cloudy. People advised to just leave it be since the WC kept disturbing the good bacteria forming.

 

[Majority_Rules]

It's weird. You see cloudy water and instinctively you want to do a water change. I read that the bacteria can increase the ammonia so I really want to do another one. I just don't understand how taking out water causes bacteria to bloom.

 

[pga7602]

It's weird. You see cloudy water and instinctively you want to do a water change. I read that the bacteria can increase the ammonia so I really want to do another one. I just don't understand how taking out water causes bacteria to bloom.

I'm pretty sure your water would have been hazy with/out water changes. Assuming your tank is new, I would think that a weekly water change of 20 percent would be perfect until things balance out. Doing water changes over and over again would throw off the "balance" of the tank.

I'm actually speaking from experience because this last tank transfer I did, I had the same issues. Instead of fighting it with water changes, I just ran carbon and kept doing 20 percent water changes for a few months. You will be surprise how quickly carbon can clear your water and keep it clear.

Your corals closing may be an indication of too much changes. I am not ruling out ammonia, because that is a possibility too. I would check the ammonia levels if you are worried about it. API ammonia test kits can be had for 7 bucks on amazon. Or take the water to your LFS and have them check it.

 

[Zik]

It's weird. You see cloudy water and instinctively you want to do a water change. I read that the bacteria can increase the ammonia so I really want to do another one. I just don't understand how taking out water causes bacteria to bloom.

What I was told as the bacteria causing the bloom is overruling the good bacteria and every time a water change is done the bad bacteria multiplies at a much greater pace and the good bacteria therefore prolonging the bloom

what I did was kept an eye on all my levels and as long as ammonia didn't go up I just observed and waited for it to go away on its own

 

[frogiii]

it depends on the type of salt you use. The cheap instant ocean takes a long time to dissolve in the water and makes water cloudy for long time vs Coral pro mixes with almost no cloudiness instantly.

Premix your salt for few days ahead and use it in the aquarium.

Since your tank is only 3.7g tank if you do too much water change your tank will never mature but, honestly, idk how small tank can be stable to keep corals.

 

[pga7602]

it depends on the type of salt you use. The cheap instant ocean takes a long time to dissolve in the water and makes water cloudy for long time vs Coral pro mixes with almost no cloudiness instantly.

Premix your salt for few days ahead and use it in the aquarium.

Since your tank is only 3.7g tank if you do too much water change your tank will never mature but, honestly, idk how small tank can be stable to keep corals.

I totally missed the nano size of the tank. I agree with what frogiii said.

 

[dodgerblew]

Why not just get a bottle of Dr. Tims one and only nitrifying bacteria and seed the tank a bit more? Just a thought.

And as a longtime nano reefer, once the tank cycles or if it's cycled which some testing will confirm, I'd water change regularly, more than once a week. Parameters change quickly in a small nano and frequent water changes keeps the tank more stable. Additionally, if you're not skimming which I'm assuming you're not, the water changes take the place of skimming. You wouldn't get anything more then poop tea, if that, skimming lol. Good luck Joy

 

[dodgerblew]

it depends on the type of salt you use. The cheap instant ocean takes a long time to dissolve in the water and makes water cloudy for long time vs Coral pro mixes with almost no cloudiness instantly.

Premix your salt for few days ahead and use it in the aquarium.

Since your tank is only 3.7g tank if you do too much water change your tank will never mature but, honestly, idk how small tank can be stable to keep corals.

I switched from RS Coral Pro to the cheap IO with better results and less cloudiness. Red Sea recommends using their salt mixed with water within two hours or the water gets cloudy from precipitation. That's one of the reasons I switched. If you're premixing your RSCP Im not sure if that's the way to go but if you're getting the results then great for you.

 

[Majority_Rules]

I'm not sure if my tank is considered "new". I set up a tank in August and didn't put any corals in it until Reefapalooza in November. By January I found this new tank and transferred everything over except I put new sand in. Everything was going fine until recently. I have been putting the bottle of nitrifying bacteria in to see if that helps any but my tank is still cloudy today. I've been doing weekly water changes the whole time. I buy my water from Aquarium City. For some reason now when I do water changes this bacterial bloom pops up. I have no fish so I can't imagine I even have that much waste in there for the bacteria to eat. I'm very bummed at the moment.

 

[dodgerblew]

Have you tested the water from Aquarium City for tds, po4 etc? I'd test your water in your nano for cycling results. Get a cup of some live sand from a mature tank (I'm sure someone local to you has a half cup to a cup to spare) and add it to your sand.

 

[mrdss]

Put in some charcoal.

 

[Majority_Rules]

I actually haven't tested their anything in years. I'll check that out. And good suggestion with getting some sand. Thank you!
I've got some Clear FX Pro running in there. But I do have some carbon I could also put in. Can't hurt.

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[Zik]

So here was my situation. It bloomed up in QT, 3 days later I freaked out, did a 90% WC

Was good for 1 day, then bloomed up again, and 3 days later I ordered a UV
literally 2 days AFTER i placed my order, it cleared it crystal - so I sent back my UV before even opening it

I'm thinking everytime I did a WC, i irritated whatever good bacteria was doing work, and the bad just kept multiplying at a more rapid pace, so I basically hit the 'reset' button
This read helped me understand it a bit:
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/bacterial-blooms-explained.246850/

As long as ur parameters are fine, and good oxygen flow, I would think you should be okay.

The notes I got back then on my clay-boa post were:

Just an indication the bio-filter got a little overwhelmed and a non-attached bacteria bloomed in the "vacuum" created.

Looks like you have pretty good oxygenation....lack of O2 as the bloom's geometric growth rate consumes all the oxygen they need seems to be the main/only worry. Other than that, the ammonia situation is rectified. Just try to keep things on an even keel going forward and the normal bacteria will take over and the water will clear.

I like a little bit of live rock in my QT to avoid anything like this, plus any degree of naturalism is a benefit to the fish's stress situation. Some fake plants are even a great addition as far as that goes.

I also like a separate hospital tank for treatments to keep things as simple as possible. Yours is a picture-perfect hospital/treatment tank.

Have you already read this clay-boa article? It's not directly about QT, but it's pretty close.....
How behaviorally complex are marine fish?

There are definitely some tips in there for setting up a good QT system. There were some surprising facts about fish in there as well.

I've been battling cloudy water in both my QT tanks for the last two months. The water is either milkish or yellow. I bought a cheap UV and it originally worked, now its not. Yesterday I added some chemipure to one and it seems to have really helped. It's still cloudy, but not as bad. The other has a yellow tint to it and haven't decided what to do yet.

Can't you just throw a small bag of chemi-pure elite pro in the filter?