Bacterial Blooms Explained

[Brette]

I just got a bloom after doing a water change. I stirred up the gravel, fluffed up the mossballs, etc. and I'm convinced that this disturbance triggered the bloom. How common is this?

I get this almost every time i do a water change and/or vacuum the gravel. it's completely annoying.

Is there anything else about doing a water change that could contribute to a bacterial bloom?

I don't know. I wish i did so i could stop this nonsense.

 

[Tolak]

Part of this may have to do with your water supply. Municipal water suppliers will increase chlorine, chloramine, and other additives for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is seasonal, other times weather related.

If they do this and you are unaware, you may not be adding enough dechlorinator. The leftover disinfectants could cause a bit of die back of your nitrifying bacteria, especially in a recently cycled tank, where the colony of nitrifying bacteria is not strongly established.

If you are adding enough dechlorinator to handle any increase you will have increased ammonia, due to chloramine being split into its components, chlorine & ammonia. This could cause a temporary bacterial bloom.

In the first case increasing dechlorinator should help. In the second case smaller more frequent water changes, which would reduce the amount of ammonia from disinfectants should help.

 

[backtotropical]

BTT, I have to apologize. I had some things going on when we first talked about pinning it and I never got back around to doing it but I have taken care of it now.

Thanks for pinning this RDD. No worries about the delay. I totally understand about having other things on. Work, exams, babies................

 

[waterdrop]

Congrats BTT!

Tolak had directed us over here to think about whether the info in his last post might explain Brette's problem (definately might!) and I saw that your article had been pinned!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Brette]

Congrats BTT!

Tolak had directed us over here to think about whether the info in his last post might explain Brette's problem (definately might!) and I saw that your article had been pinned!

~~waterdrop~~

Thanks Tolak, that makes a lot of sense. Going to take your advice and see how it goes!! The water from my tap often smells a bit like chlorine.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

glad to see this pinned

 

[backtotropical]

I was trying to ask how to clear a bloom where there is no organic waste in tank other than the ammonia added for cycling.

Hi Greg,

I understand that your bloom has cleared, but i'd like to answer this question anyway as it's not covered in the article.

Bacterial blooms are common in tanks with apparently no organics present (for example, where all that is in the tank is water and ammonia for a fishless cycle). This is caused by the dechlorination of the water suddenly enabling the water to support bacterial populations. The heterotrophs immediately get to work on the organics in the water itself. The severity of the bloom and even whether a bloom happens at all is dependant upon the level of organics contained in the water supply.

In this case, obviously there are few easy ways to remove the organics from the water, and so my best suggestion is to sit it out and wait. Water changes with purified water would help as it would dilute the concentration of organics in the water. Reverse Osmosis water would be ideal in this situation, however i would suggest that patience is the cheaper and more environmentally friendly option.

Thanks for alerting me to a hole in the article and I will update it accordingly.

BTT

 

[backtotropical]

Congrats BTT!

Tolak had directed us over here to think about whether the info in his last post might explain Brette's problem (definately might!) and I saw that your article had been pinned!

~~waterdrop~~

glad to see this pinned

Thanks Guys!

 

[backtotropical]

I think this should be pinned too. I'm getting bacterial blooms and I don't know why. The tank is not new, it's clean, the water readings are all 0... total mystery. Starting to wonder if it's my bogwood rotting or something. I'm ready to tear my hair out. I keep losing fish to this.

If you are losing fish to bacterial blooms, its almost certainly one of two things.

1) Ammonia produced by the bloom

2) Lack of oxygen in the water caused by the bloom

If you see another bloom, add some additional surface agitation immediately and test the water for ammonia.

BTT

 

[Declan]

Congrats on getting it pinned!

Clearly worked hard on it!

D.

 

[backtotropical]

If you are adding enough dechlorinator to handle any increase you will have increased ammonia, due to chloramine being split into its components, chlorine & ammonia. This could cause a temporary bacterial bloom.

I'm going to have to disagree, Tolak (although I do understand that disagreeing with a 'Gun Toting Lunatic' isn't the best idea i've ever had ).

I think you are saying that excess ammonia levels in the water can cause a bacterial bloom (which would be a bloom of the beneficial nitrifiers found in the filter, I assume?).

Everything I have read on the subject suggests that this doesn't happen, and as I detailed in the article, the ammonia spike often associated with bacterial blooms is a result of the bloom. The bloom is not a result of the ammonia, contrary to popular belief.

Cheers

BTT

 

[Brette]

If you are losing fish to bacterial blooms, its almost certainly one of two things.

1) Ammonia produced by the bloom

2) Lack of oxygen in the water caused by the bloom

Lack of oxygen. Amonia was 0. I removed them from the tank and they were much better immediately. Thanks for the response!

 

[GatorJ]

great read, i recently went through one and it sucks, makes you so depressed to look over and see a cloudy aquarium . I was over feeding and prehaps using the lights to much i have since went to once a day feeding with an occasional night feeding of blood worms, and changed my lights to 4 on 2 off 4-6 on seems to be working ok.

 

[Thommo]

Glad to see this pinned.

Just went through and read it all. Currently fishless cycling with plants and just gave it a HUGE clean up due to algae bloom and melted crypt leaves etc. and was wondering why my water is all cloudy. Now it is all cleared.

Thanks BTT

Job well done

 

[andywg]

Any chance of further sources? The first is selling me bacteria in a bottle while the second is 404ing.

If it is as you say, the level of organics required for any substantial bloom in an established tank would be huge. Given that around 80% of the ammonia/ammonium produced in our tank is directly excreted as part of the osmoregulatory functions of a fish (some figures cite closer to 90%), even an instant doubling in the amount of organic waste being processed would just require the AOB to increase in size by 20%.

I can't help but feel there is something further to this.

I think you are saying that excess ammonia levels in the water can cause a bacterial bloom (which would be a bloom of the beneficial nitrifiers found in the filter, I assume?).

Everything I have read on the subject suggests that this doesn't happen, and as I detailed in the article, the ammonia spike often associated with bacterial blooms is a result of the bloom. The bloom is not a result of the ammonia, contrary to popular belief.

But, as you and your source note, the Heterotrophs do have the ability to oxidise ammonia, and they have the ability to reproduce far quicker than Nitrosomonas spp. Assuming that both colonies are at a point where the controlling factor is the availability of food and there is a sudden influx of food, why wouldn't the faster growing one quickly increase in numbers to take advantage of such a thing?

Has anyone actually tested the ammonia levels through one of these blooms and plotted it against the population levels of the bacteria involved?