Bacterial blooms in an established system?

[cnreef]

Just curious if this is something that happens in established systems from time to time. Can't recall if I've ever had one before or how I handled it if I did. My system is a 29g that has been setup for around 3-4 years (gone through a move or two). We've been in our current place for a year now though. The rocks are getting covered in the white filmy slime and the water just started getting cloudy the past day or so. Also noticed it clogged up my filter sock pretty quickly with the slime. Wondering if it will pass naturally, or if I should start taking some action against it.

Thanks!

 

[JammyBirch]

I think bacteria blooms are naturally occuring things, I'm at the tail end of a Cyano bloom right now, i had it in the past but is seemed to come back once i messed with the sand bed...go figure.

I think cloudy water is a little alarming to be honest. What are you parameters? If everything is normal then i would do a water change and just prior to that water change i would take the circ pump or a turkey baster and blast the rocks off to get that "stuff" in the water column to be removed during the water change.

I think the priority is to figure out what may have caused this to happen. i wish i knew more about it, i haven't had cloudy water or white slime in my tank yet, ~2yr old 25g.

 

[cnreef]

Yeah, parameters seem to be fine. I'll try doing some water changes and blowing it off the rocks the best I can over the next week or so and see if it helps clear up the tank at all. Thanks.

 

[slay]

Any chance you do carbon dosing (vodka, sugar, vinegar)? Overdosing can lead to surfaces covered in white film and cloudy water.

If not, and all your parameters are good and you can't solve the problem, after giving the tank some time to try to recover I personally would try a UV sterilizer. It'll fix the symptoms, but mask the problem - but if you really can't figure out the problem and all your water parameters are healthy, it might be worth trying.

Also the main risk with a bacterial bloom is usually a reduction in available oxygen in the water, so ramp up the water flow at the water's surface if you can.

 

[snorvich]

Any chance you do carbon dosing (vodka, sugar, vinegar)? Overdosing can lead to surfaces covered in white film and cloudy water.

If not, and all your parameters are good and you can't solve the problem, after giving the tank some time to try to recover I personally would try a UV sterilizer. It'll fix the symptoms, but mask the problem - but if you really can't figure out the problem and all your water parameters are healthy, it might be worth trying.

Also the main risk with a bacterial bloom is usually a reduction in available oxygen in the water, so ramp up the water flow at the water's surface if you can.

This.

 

[cnreef]

Not dosing anything at all. I've read about that though. And I've also read about the UV sterilizers so that was going to be my last resort if the problem doesn't clear on its own within a week or two. Thanks for the help!