Suffereding A Bacterial Bloom

[CheniseMummy]

Hi all ive had double zeros on my test results since last posting, i also stopped adding TN+ for couple of days to see if this affected my results. Yesterday i collected kids from school turned the lights out before i left everything was fine when i came back home it looks like a cloudy white milky water and white film on the glass and my flame moss looks like its covered in snow.

My fluval 3+ was running with reduced flo for couple of days. I cleaned out all the gunk into some removed tank water and now its working perfectly. I also removed all my wood pieces and riccia on wire pads and gave the gravel a good clean where i could. Ive changed 50% of the water today but the ammonia results are initialy 0 but after 2mins are 0.6 the test kit says to read immedialty so which result should i go by. The nitrites are a trace but this is what i get when adding TN+

Ive read the sticky post but wanted some more help thanks.

 

[CheniseMummy]

Ok well this mornign the tank has cleared and test results are at Ammonia 0 and nitrite trace. Ive also lost 1 Hrlequin tho now only have 5 cant see a body. Could i have sqished yesterday when i put back in the wood i was very carefull and slow surely it would have moved out the way. The shrimp or the catfish could have eaten it i suppose.

 

[Shaman]

I keep losing one of my silvertip tetras!

When it first happened, I took all the decorations and plants (all plastic at the time!) out the tank tank and still only counted 5. I then removed the filter media and had a quick look in there. Nope, no sign of it.
Checked all the decorations in case it was stuck. Nope still no sign.

Everything back in and an hour later, there it was!

Are you using paper test strips or liquid tests?

 

[OldMan47]

You are doing fine CheniseMummy.
Short lived bacterial blooms like that are really nothing at all to worry about. Such things happen from time to time and the time required for reproduction of some bacteria is very short. Many can double their number in less than an hour so huge changes can happen very quickly if the right conditions exist. These bacterial populations also die off quickly as whatever promoted their reproduction becomes exhausted. We seldom really can pinpoint what caused such a bloom but because they are so transient, we seldom care either.

 

[CheniseMummy]

Thanks well still no sign of the Harelquin. Must have been eaten thats all i can think of. i have planted tank so bit hard to see all the places and im not ripping things out. if i get dodgy ammonia ill try again.

I'm glad the bac bloom went quickly it gave me slight up reading for ammonia but all it now well.

 

[waterdrop]

Fish can flop surprisingly far away from a tank when they jump out. On the other hand, if they die within the tank their bones can be picked clean and then be sucked through the filter intake. Or the carcass can end up hidden in surprisingly small crevices in the tank.

~~waterdrop~~