Bacterial Bloom?

[Frank77]

She said to never have more males than females, as the males have a really high sex drive, and will chase the females to the point of exhaustion and possibly death.
 
I don't want to breed them anyway, so I will never get females.

 

[Bubble.Guppy]

She said to never have more males than females, as the males have a really high sex drive, and will chase the females to the point of exhaustion and possibly death.
 
I don't want to breed them anyway, so I will never get females.

Ya if you have more males than females the girls will get bent backs and stuff from constant pregnation. I keep my males and females in seperated tanks so they don't bone all the time, only when I selectively do so

 

[Frank77]

So...two weeks on, and it still has not cleared up.
 
I've been removing uneaten algae wafers, and shrimp pellets every day, removing about a gallon of water at a time. Also, Thursday is my water change day, so I've done a couple of those (25-30%) in the mean time.
 
The fish all seem healthy, active and feeding quite well.

 

[Byron]

I have had bacterial blooms last several weeks, into months, in one tank.  Others (new tanks) will clear overnight, or in a couple of days.  I have seven tanks running, just so you know that this can occur in one tank and not others, yet basically the same conditions.  Each aquarium can be very different biologically.  Cleaning the filter, even a water change, can trigger a mild bacterial bloom.
 
As long as there are no other sings present, thinking of the fish here, I would not worry.  Water changes sometimes help, but with common bacterial blooms may not, as there are organics in the tap water which can feed more bacteria.
 
Byron.

 

[Frank77]

OK, I wont worry for now then.
 
Thanks!

 

[Frank77]

My tank has cleared up, but now there is some small particulate in the water.
 
Some of it is floating on the surface, and gets dragged down from the outflow of the filter. Should I worry about it?
 
Now that my tank has settled I will be looking to add more fish. Any recommendations for tank mates for guppies, and a couple of Long Fin Albino Plecos? I was thinking of maybe 4-5 Neon Tetras, and some more shrimp.
 
Would a couple of Dwarf Gouramis do well with them?
 
Tank Set up:
 
20 gallon
Aqua Clear 50 filter
5 male Guppies
1 Anano Shrimp....I think...It came with the tank, and is definitely not a Ghost Shrimp. Also, I tried adding 5 Ghost shrimp a while back, but all seem to be gone, though I only ever found one body.
2 LFAPs.

 

[Frank77]

Hello? lol
 
I was hoping for some help. I'd really like to do this properly.

 

[Byron]

Some more data will likely be needed before we can comment much on the particles...any chance of photos or video?  Have you done water changes?  Is this stuff in the tap water to begin with?
 
As for additional fish, what are the water parameters (GH, KH, pH)?

 

[Frank77]

I can't get a picture of it, it's really tiny stuff. I have been doing weekly 25-30% water changes, as well as I have to change a liter or two a day to get out the old algae wafers. I tried netting them out in the beginning, but it just made a mess.
 
I don't think it's the tap water. I filled a clear glass, and left it to settle for a bit, and I did not see anything on the surface, or in the water.
 
I know you recommended the API master kit for checking the water, but, truth be known, I am on disability, and couldn't afford it. I got some API 5-in-1 test strips. I realize it's not the best, but I figured better than nothing, right?
 
As of my last test, a few days ago, as I am out of strips now.....
 
GH - 120
KH - 80
PH - 6.5... A little low right?
No2 - 0
No3 - 40

 

[Byron]

To the test numbers...
 
You should be able to confirm (or not) the GH and KH by checking your municipal water authority's website.  GH and KH are not likely to change much in an aquarium, unless they are specifically be targeted (we needn't go into that now).
 
The pH is not necessarily low.  pH is determined by several related factors, including the GH and KH.  If you find the water authority's site, see if pH is listed.  This will tell us how much it may be changing in the aquarium.  It is natural for the decomposition of organics to produce CO2 which forms carbonic acid and thus the pH lowers; this is a simplistic short explanation, but my point is that it is natural.  The GH/KH help to maintain the pH and prevent it from lowering too fast or too far, but the extent to which this occurs varies according to the source water and the tank's biology (fish load, food, water changes all factor into this).
 
By the way, the relatively low GH and pH may be the cause of the shrimp disappearing; harder water is needed for some species, as they need calcium for their exoskeletons.  I would not get any more shrimp, at least not until we have everything else sorted out.  And if my surmise is correct on the GH/KH and pH, soft water fish would be better here, like the neons.
 
NO3 (= nitrate) is high, but we are dealing with test strips which can be a bit off sometimes.  See if nitrate is mentioned on the website, dor test the tap water on its own if you still have nitrate test strips, for comparison.  Nitrate can occur in the tap water, which is one issue, or if not then it is coming from within the tank, and this we can deal with more easily.  Larger water changes (50% of the tank volume, once a week is what I tend to recommend generally) should handle this, along with not overstocking or overfeeding.  And doing a good vacuum of the substrate during the water change is important to get much of the organics out of the substrate.  And keeping the filter media rinsed.
 
The algae wafers, do you mean sinking food wafers for the plecs?  These you should be able to suck out with the substrate vacuum during the water change.  If they are still there after a day, it likely means too much food is entering the tank.
 
Byron.

 

[Frank77]

That's all some good info. Thanks!

Yes, I mean the wafers for the Plecos. I drop one in before bedtime, I used to in the morning, but I rarely seen them eating it, so I switched to night, they are nocturnal I read, so I hope they feed well over night. Also, there is some, not a lot, of algae growing in the tank now, for them to eat.

Every morning I vacuum out the left overs.

This is the best I could find for my local water parameters. I am in Dartmouth.

https/www.halifax.ca/hrwc/documents/Pockwock-LakeMajor2013-2014-FINAL-KM.pdf

Is this the info you need?
 

 

[Byron]

OK, those numbers tell us something.  First thing, the numbers are measured in mg/l which is equal to ppm (parts per million).  Your test strip numbers were probably ppm (the package should tell you this).  
 
The Alkalinity at the top is same as KH (carbonate hardness), and Dartmouth is given as 18 ppm for treated water.  [I'd be interested to know what they do to treat the water, that raises the KH from <1 to 18.  Other numbers vary between "raw" and "treated" too, so this is something to check just so you know.]  Anyway, 18 ppm is very low, so this means the pH will tend to lower naturally as I explained previously; the KH is the prime buffering aspect of water hardness.  The GH they give as 26 ppm, which is very soft.  The GH and KH are usually similar, so this is all no surprise.
 
The pH they give as 5.3 raw water (the lake source), and obviously they add something to raise it to 7.2.  This could be something like soda ash (Vancouver adds this, we have very soft and acidic source water) which is temporary, and with the low KH the pH in the fish tank can be expected to lower as you've seen.
 
All of this was to better answer your question on adding fish, so with very soft and acidic water, stay with such fish like the neon tetra.  As I surmised previously, shrimp may find this very difficult to survive in.  There are a few soft water shrimp, but I will leave that to those members with more knowledge of shrimp than I have to comment.
 
Which brings us back to the hazy water.  My first action if this were me would be to do a couple of substantial water changes, a day or two apart.  By substantial I mean 60-70% of the tank.  See what happens, if it returns, and if yes, how quickly.  At this point I am not sure if we are dealing with a bacterial bloom or particulate matter, but I am leaning toward a bacterial since we have eliminated the source water.  And the issue at the start of this thread was a bacterial bloom.  These can suddenly appear and just as suddenly disappear; most usually linked to organics.
 
Byron.

 

[Frank77]

OK, as usual you've been helpful and informative, I appreciate it.
 
Just to clarify, my bloom has cleared up, since I started this thread. From a few feet away it looks crystal clear, but if you look closely there are some small particles on the surface, and it gets dragged down into the water by the filter outflow.
 
Anyhoo....We have strayed form the original intent of this thread. I'll start another thread when I am ready to select more fish.
 
I've decided it's more important to save up and get a proper testing kit, to be sure of water quality, before adding more fish.
 
Thanks Byron.

 

[NickAu]

Do you have filter floss in your filter?

 

[Byron]

Good question from Nick.  And if this is more a floating particulate matter and not a cloudy/hazy issue...when you water change, invert the syphon while holding it under water so the open end is at or partially above the surface and you can pull in the surface "scum."