# bacterial bloom?



## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

I have a 2.5 gallon betta mini bow tank with 3 very small guppies in it, I know, everyone is gonna say that it's overstocked, but my question is, judging by the image, am I going through a bacterial bloom? I have a Marina i25 filter in it, the water level is low enough that the waterfall makes just the smallest splash to help oxygenate the water and I have a hydor heater and my floating thermometer is reading right in the middle of the green section. If this is a bacterial bloom, what's the best thing to do (besides eliminating one of my guppies)? I've been doing partial water changes almost every day and have my water tested at my LPS, they said that the nitrates are a bit high but that everything else was fine. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.


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## Ethan (Dec 3, 2010)

I've had that happen before iin the past......yes that is bacteria. It should smell if it is.

The only thing I can suggest is getting new gravel since it really doesn't come out, and a complete water change 

And also clean your put a new cartridge in your filter


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

why change the gravel and filter? doesn't that just remove the beneficial bacterial and start the cycle all over again?


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

I would not do a water change that will make it worse! What do you have in that tank besides the guppies? Any plants? Also how long as this tank been running like this? Is it a new tank or an established tank? Also have a read on this article Byron wrote about Bacteria Blooms in the 3rd part. http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-articles/bacteria-freshwater-aquarium-74891/


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

I've been doing partial water changes almost daily with poland spring water. My last partial water change was this morning and it got cloudy again really quick. All I have in there are my guppies, going to my LPS tomorrow with a water sample to check my levels and also get a live plant to hopefully help keep my nitrates in check since last time I had my water checked they said that they were a bit high. I'm going to leave the tank as it is now, with a bit of a splash from my filter to increase aeration and will do a partial water change with conditioned tap water next week, hopefully all works out for the best, the tank has been running like it is for 6 days, it didn't get cloudy until the 2nd or 3rd day of having fish in it


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

Has it been cycled? You say you have high nitrates what about Ammonia and nitrites? It does sound like you need to consider removing the fish as you have to many in that size tank. Which might be the cause of the bacteria bloom in the first place. 2.5 gallons is pretty small and Im not even sure I would put a Betta in there let alone 3 guppies. The high nitrates are more then likely coming from waste from the fish and is :more then the tank bacteria (if the tank is established) can handle. When you do water changes are you vacuumung the gravel?


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

The best course of action during such a bacterial bloom is to just wait it out.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

Boredomb said:


> Has it been cycled? You say you have high nitrates what about Ammonia and nitrites? It does sound like you need to consider removing the fish as you have to many in that size tank. Which might be the cause of the bacteria bloom in the first place. 2.5 gallons is pretty small and Im not even sure I would put a Betta in there let alone 3 guppies. The high nitrates are more then likely coming from waste from the fish and is :more then the tank bacteria (if the tank is established) can handle. When you do water changes are you vacuumung the gravel?


No, the tank hasn't been cycled, it ran for 5 days with nothing in it and was crystal clear and got cloudy 2 days after adding my guppies. I don't have a gravel vacuum yet, going to get one tomorrow, I've been using a clean piece of garden hose to siphon out some of the water when I do my partial water changes


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

Well at this point I would keep doing water changes since you have fish in there until the tank is cycled. The water may stay cloudy but it won't hurt the fish. When you do get the vacuum make sure to hit the gravel really well. Once your tank is cycled then do a water and clean the gravel and wait out the bacteria bloom.


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## Ethan (Dec 3, 2010)

haha I say just listen to my advice  I don't know much about guppies ,but my sister has one and it died in a week because a bacterial bloom started to develop 

And yes that would start the cycle again ,but is well worth it imo


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## Ethan (Dec 3, 2010)

It's your choice not ours though


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

You can't really cycle a tank that small, from what I've been told. I get it in my tank with Portal Prime after a day or so, but I do 100% water changes every 3 days so I don't really think it's a problem.

The tank is small enough for just a betta. 3 guppies added into that is very dangerous, since bettas are known to attack them. You would have to be doing water changes everyday because of the ammonia build up, and that alone can stress them all out


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Yes, a tank that small is a challenge to cycle. Are you trying to cycle it with the guppies?
Must have missed the part on the cycling though- during cycling yes you should be doing water changes, bloom or not, to keep toxins down.


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

Boredomb said:


> Well at this point I would keep doing water changes since you have fish in there until the tank is cycled. The water may stay cloudy but it won't hurt the fish. When you do get the vacuum make sure to hit the gravel really well. Once your tank is cycled then do a water and clean the gravel and wait out the bacteria bloom.


got me a master test kit, ammonia right now is at 0.25ppm and nitrite is at 0ppm, also got a gravel vacuum and will be cleaning my gravel tomorrow since I gotta work in 1/2hr :lol:


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

wulfie said:


> got me a master test kit, ammonia right now is at 0.25ppm and nitrite is at 0ppm, also got a gravel vacuum and will be cleaning my gravel tomorrow since I gotta work in 1/2hr :lol:


That's a good test kit to have. Ammonia at .25 isn't that high but I would still try and get it to 0. That's great that Nitrites but what about Nitrates? Those are or can be toxic at high levels. After you do a gravel vaccum I would check all the parameters again. I have never had a tank this small and it very well might be hard to get cycled as some suggest. So I think if I was you would I be checking the parameters atleast every other day until you know the tank is cycled doing water changes when every the parameters are out of range.


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

I just wanted to say a big thanks Boredomb, I got my master test kit and gravel vacuum, hit the gravel really good, ended up changing out about 25% of the water, let the filter run for a good half hour and then tested my water. As it stands right now, I have 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite and 0ppm nitrate, is there anything else I need to do? I'm gonna 'assume' that I'm good to go


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

Well you should be showing some nitrates. So thinking your tank isn't cycled. From here on out just monitor your parameters since you now have a kit and do a water change when parameters are out of range (Ammonia .25+, Nitrites should be 0 anything more then that it is toxic to fish, Nitrates I wouldn't let them get much above 30-40.) Also has your water cleared up? Remember during this time of getting your tank cycled the water may not clear up because water changes can cause bacteria blooms to be worse. Bacteria blooms won't kill your fish though so keep doing water changes and you will be good to go.


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

yeah, my water is still just a bit cloudy but not nearly as bad as it was, I'm gonna assume that this is okay and to just watch the water parameters and hopefully it'll clear up soon


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

wulfie said:


> yeah, my water is still just a bit cloudy but not nearly as bad as it was, I'm gonna assume that this is okay and to just watch the water parameters and hopefully it'll clear up soon


Yes this is fine, your water quality is more in important.


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

yeah, I went from using spring water to treated tap, actually seems to make a HUGE difference, after one partial water change my cloudiness is a LOT less than it was prior to using tap water


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## Pogthefish (Mar 24, 2012)

just siphon the gravel, and it looks more like the beginnign of greenwater to me


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

beginning of greenwater? it looks more like there are tiny bits of dust in the water, all white


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## Pogthefish (Mar 24, 2012)

thats how mine looked at first


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

considering that the cloudiness has greatly decreased, I'm leaning more towards new take and bacterial bloom


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

just checked my water again this morning and still 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and 0ppm nitrate, guess this is gonna take some time for this 2.5 gallon to cycle, at least my water is now 99% crystal clear :-D


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

Good to hear the water is clearing up. The bacteria bloom was probably caused by a combination of being a new tank, not vacuum the gravel, and being overstocked. Just make sure to keep up with the water changes and vacuum the gravel everytime and you shouldn't have problems with cloudy water again.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

should I continue to do daily partial water changes or can I get away with every other day as long as I'm monitoring my levels?


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## Pogthefish (Mar 24, 2012)

how big is the tank? every other ay is probs fine


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

wulfie said:


> should I continue to do daily partial water changes or can I get away with every other day as long as I'm monitoring my levels?


I would just watch your parameters and do water changes when needed but I would do a water change once a week regardless if the parameters are fine.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Boredomb (Feb 21, 2011)

_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

Pogthefish said:


> how big is the tank? every other ay is probs fine


2.5 gallon betta mini bow


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## Pogthefish (Mar 24, 2012)

On mine I did 3x/week, 1.5 gallon changes. That should work.


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