I've tried everything I can... Please help!

[Scungili]

Here is a good article on Bacterial Blooms.
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=246850


I read that an Ammonia spike is common with extended bacterial blooms. Why am I still at zero. Can anyone explain?


It sounds like the right advice for bacterial blooms is:

1) Gravel/Sand/Substrate vacuuming.
2) Cut feeding rate down
3) UV sterilizer (Not sure if this one is a myth, but it sounds plausible)
4) Wait.


A few myths, I've heard regarding bacterial blooms.

Myth #1) Good bacteria (Autotrophs) eat Bad bacteria (Hetrotrophs).

Myth #2) Carbon filtration helps

Myth #3) Water changes help

Myth #4) Darkness will kill the bloom (yes I was told this)

I just want to add something as a Forum addict for several months now. There are some very knowledgeable people here, that really give some great advice. We (newbies and novices) owe them a great debt of gratitude for their benevolence.

However, there are also a greater number of Forum enthusiasts, that are not as well informed, and yet declare information as if it were true science. (I'm sure I'm guilty of this) It's unfortunate that it takes so long to weed through the malarkey, before one gets a bit of valid info. Nothing you can do I guess, but show some restraint when urged to speak your opinion as fact. Misinformation, is a lot like Heterotrophic Bacteria. It breeds quicker, and it's annoying.

Overall, I'm very grateful to RC and other forums for the generosity particularly of those that have much to give, and little to gain. You know who you are out there.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15314595#post15314595 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Scungili
Here is a good article on Bacterial Blooms.
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=246850


I read that an Ammonia spike is common with extended bacterial blooms. Why am I still at zero. Can anyone explain?


It sounds like the right advice for bacterial blooms is:

1) Gravel/Sand/Substrate vacuuming.
2) Cut feeding rate down
3) UV sterilizer (Not sure if this one is a myth, but it sounds plausible)
4) Wait.


A few myths, I've heard regarding bacterial blooms.

Myth #1) Good bacteria (Autotrophs) eat Bad bacteria (Hetrotrophs).

Myth #2) Carbon filtration helps

Myth #3) Water changes help

Myth #4) Darkness will kill the bloom (yes I was told this)

I just want to add something as a Forum addict for several months now. There are some very knowledgeable people here, that really give some great advice. We (newbies and novices) owe them a great debt of gratitude for their benevolence.

However, there are also a greater number of Forum enthusiasts, that are not as well informed, and yet declare information as if it were true science. (I'm sure I'm guilty of this) It's unfortunate that it takes so long to weed through the malarkey, before one gets a bit of valid info. Nothing you can do I guess, but show some restraint when urged to speak your opinion as fact. Misinformation, is a lot like Heterotrophic Bacteria. It breeds quicker, and it's annoying.

Overall, I'm very grateful to RC and other forums for the generosity particularly of those that have much to give, and little to gain. You know who you are out there.

Realize that the article above was written for fresh water aquariums. The nitrogen cycle is similar but in a fresh water system nitrates are not broken down any further unlike a saltwater system where live rock and deep sand beds can-contain the second strain of anerobic bacteria that break nitrates down to nitrogen gas.
Therefor regular vacuuming of the substrate and the use of a canister filter is encouraged.
Personally I do not vacuum a sand bed in a marine tank---rather once a week take a turkey baster and lightly baste the substrate and reef rock. This gets the detrius ect back into the water column where it can filtered off.
Coupled with this is a really good flow rate in your tank--between 20-40 times the tank volume in gph--very important for marine tanks

"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. "

This statement from the above article is IMO important to both fresh water and salt water tanks.
Alot of the organic waste in our tanks is due to over feeding, heavy use of flake food, and not rinsing off frozen food before use.
this coupled with poor flow can lead to bacteria blooms

 

[ddinox64]

Less than two months. Over feeding.

 

[jvannucc]

Your LFS should have better quality salted-water than you, so if you're mixing your own, quit it and get the LFS water.

There are many mistakes to make mixing my own water, including the (last stage) resin filter being a bacteria cesspool. Replace all the filters in your RO/DI unit if you are using one, and the you should have to spend about 1 hour per 1 gallon of properly purified water.


Change water, make sure salinity is OK, then change water again.

I never change more than the sump holds so that's about 10%... just do it ever couple days until everything stabilizes.

 

[wayne in norway]

Did we ever get a number for alk here? If this is CaCO3 ppting out then your alk will be very low.

If this was a bacterial bloom I would hope your skimmer would start to pull it out.

 

[OneReef]

Is the filter sock the best place for carbon? I think carbon should not be tumbled, and does best with a slow flow rate for maximum absorption. Seems like water coming down the drain to land on the carbon tumbling in a sock wouldn't be ideal.....

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15316534#post15316534 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OneReef
Is the filter sock the best place for carbon? I think carbon should not be tumbled, and does best with a slow flow rate for maximum absorption. Seems like water coming down the drain to land on the carbon tumbling in a sock wouldn't be ideal.....

running carbon in your filter sock is going to impede its effectiveness. It will get clogged up very quickly with the detrius the sock collects.

I would suggest you buy a phosban reactor(about 30 bucks) and run the carbon in there. This makes it very effective because the water has to go through the entire media(bigger surface area of adsorption) rather then taking the easy around the outside of the media if it was in a bag.

I pack it into the phosban reactor so it can't tumble and if some does pulervise there is a filter at the end of the reactor.