Cloudy water this morning...

[gummi]

This morning I woke up and my water was slightly cloudy. Can't think of a reason. The only thing that's changed is that yesterday I gave the tank a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to try the sugar trick. I'm thinking that it's possible that bacteria is either booming or (most likely) dying off. I have a good skimmer so it should filter the bacteria out.

Checked parameters yesterday and:

Amm: 0
Nit: 0
Nitrate: 5
PH: 8.3
dkh: 10
Cal: 400

 

[deeporl]

Sounds like a bloom or die off to me. I mean warm plus sugar is a great place for those microscopic friends of ours.

 

[gummi]

I consulted a good friend of mine who is very experienced and he agreed that it was a bloom. I'll wait it out and do a 5% change when I get home.

Cheers N Beers!

 

[AmosUSA]

yes it's a bloom I have seen it happen to some one else's tank no worries wait it out

 

[Gdevine]

UV sterilizer will take care of that right quick...and prevent it from happening again.

 

[WaterKeeper]

A bacteria bloom indicates excess organic material in the water. In this case sugar. Bacteria can reproduce at alarming rates when given a large food source. UV will kill the bacteria off given time but it will also release organic material back into the tank from the lysed bacteria bodies. A micron filter on a canister will remove it far, far quicker and lets you remove the bacteria rather than add their contents back into the water.

 

[gummi]

I'll wait it out. It's no bother. My skimmer will take care of it in a few days as well as a water change or two. More or less a minor experiment that I would like to see if works.

Apparently it creates O2 and a food source for a bloom of bacteria which will diminish nitrates as a result. Soon after the bacteria will die off and nitrates will be released...however if good skimming is being done the bacteria will be skimmed out along with the nitrates. I will test for the next few days to see the results.