Tired of this...

Here’s the story...

About a week ago my 10g tank had a bad bacteria bloom. That day, I did a 50% water change and then went to bed. The next day, it was back!

So this bacteria bloom has been going on for over 5 days now. (Even after large daily water changes)

Last night I put some of my left over Anacharis trimmings in the 10g tank (because I was going to put them in my 5g tank tomorrow) from my 29g tank. I wake up this morning to find the water almost clear. What on earth!?


@Byron, @Colin_T, could this bacteria bloom have ended that fast, just from me putting 2 Anacharis stems in there?

I can not upload a photo, due to my bad WiFi, but I will try again later today. I can tell you that it is much more clear than how it was yesterday. This is really stumping me...

I still see what looks like green water, not a bacterial bloom, here, but I don't know if that is just the photography. But it looks more green than whitish. Either have much the same source though, organics; the green water would have more impact from light than a bacterial bloom.

So you are saying I need to dial down the lighting every day on my 10g?

I removed any uneaten food and I only feed sparely every day.

PheonixKingZ said:

So you are saying I need to dial down the lighting every day on my 10g?

I removed any uneaten food and I only feed sparely every day.

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There are several factors in either an algae (green water) or bacterial bloom. Organics is key. Organics obviously as you know occur from fish excrement (which can be controlled by feeding as you've mentioned), the number of fish, any decaying plant or animal matter. There are also organics in the source (tap) water, and depending upon the source of your tap water these can be considerable. The reason bacterial blooms occur in new tanks is because of the dissolved organics in the fresh water. And these can vary with the time of year, weather conditions (rain washing more into the water source), etc.

Diatom and organic blooms can occur sporadically, and sometimes it can be impossible to pin down the source. I had one of these in my 90g tank for over three years. More frequent filter cleanings and thorough substrate vacuuming during substantial water changes did slowly lessen it , but never completely. As to why this only occurred in one out of my eight tanks in the fish room I have no idea. I discussed this at length with Neale Monks and he said this can happen. Now, these are whitish hazes, not green. Green is definitely unicellular algae feeding on the dissolved organic matter and light is needed because algae are photosynthetic.

So what can fix this?

PheonixKingZ said:

So what can fix this?

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It seems the anacharis plant stems may have helped, which does support what I have been saying about organics being at the root of this. How long is the light on each day, and is it timed?

Byron said:

It seems the anacharis plant stems may have helped, which does support what I have been saying about organics being at the root of this. How long is the light on each day, and is it timed?

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I added more Anacharis stems, and see how it looks now:

It looks much better than from before.

(I keep my lights on for 14 hours a day, and no, it’s not timed. But I have a schedule and I usually keep it)

PheonixKingZ said:

I added more Anacharis stems, and see how it looks now:
View attachment 107332
It looks much better than from before.

(I keep my lights on for 14 hours a day, and no, it’s not timed. But I have a schedule and I usually keep it)

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That duration is likely your issue. Reduce it to 8 or 9 hours. And a timer does help plants and discourage algae.

But that is very interesting, as my 5g and 29g tank have their lights on for the same amount of time each day.

I have also never had an algae problem in that tank before.

But I will lower them to 9 hours a day. Will/could this stress my betta out?

PheonixKingZ said:

But that is very interesting, as my 5g and 29g tank have their lights on for the same amount of time each day.

I have also never had an algae problem in that tank before.

But I will lower them to 9 hours a day. Will/could this stress my betta out?

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Each aquarium is a unique biological system. I have had multiple tanks for three decades, and I see "x" in one but never the others. In the 1990's I had my tank lights on for 15 hours daily, and I did have a tad of brush algae. After I moved in 2000 I had to reduce it down to 8 hours to avoid terrible brush algae. I now have it at 7 hours and have not seen algae for 3-4 years.

I am suspecting the light here because it does look like green water (unicellular algae)--not a bloom of bacteria/diatoms/organics-- and green water always involves light. Extra organics in the tap water might have induced this, or something else.

Byron said:

Each aquarium is a unique biological system. I have had multiple tanks for three decades, and I see "x" in one but never the others. In the 1990's I had my tank lights on for 15 hours daily, and I did have a tad of brush algae. After I moved in 2000 I had to reduce it down to 8 hours to avoid terrible brush algae. I now have it at 7 hours and have not seen algae for 3-4 years.

I am suspecting the light here because it does look like green water (unicellular algae)--not a bloom of bacteria/diatoms/organics-- and green water always involves light. Extra organics in the tap water might have induced this, or something else.

Click to expand...

Makes sense.

Thank you for your help.