Bacteria bloom? Algae? Ugly phase?

[SpeedySurf]

Hey everyone, my 15 gallon cube has been cycling for about a month- no fish yet. Bacteria and ammonia went in about a month ago. The water suddenly got cloudy about a week or two ago, I was hoping it’d clear up on its own, but no luck. I did a 20% water change and swapped out the filter sock this morning and it’s still cloudy. Does this look like a bacteria bloom or algae?

Water parameters:
Ammonia- 0
Nitrate- 0
Nitrite- 0
pH- 7.8
Salinity- 1.026

 

[Tinnerito]

Hey everyone, my 15 gallon cube has been cycling for about a month- no fish yet. Bacteria and ammonia went in about a month ago. The water suddenly got cloudy about a week or two ago, I was hoping it’d clear up on its own, but no luck. I did a 20% water change and swapped out the filter sock this morning and it’s still cloudy. Does this look like a bacteria bloom or algae?

Water parameters:
Ammonia- 0
Nitrate- 0
Nitrite- 0
pH- 7.8
Salinity- 1.026

very strange... bump!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It looks like a bacterial bloom to me. If it is a bacteria bloom, waiting it out is the best option. Water changes make a bacteria bloom last longer.

On another note, if you've been cycling the tank for a month, then the ammonia nitrite nitrate should show some numbers, it shouldn't be zero after a month. This tells me the tank has not been cycling at all. IF you an share what method you used to cycle the tank folks will be able to give you pointers.

I would also suggest to add a small powerhead in the tank to help out with flow and with surface agitation.

 

[SpeedySurf]

It looks like a bacterial bloom to me. If it is a bacteria bloom, waiting it out is the best option. Water changes make a bacteria bloom last longer.

On another note, if you've been cycling the tank for a month, then the ammonia nitrite nitrate should show some numbers, it shouldn't be zero after a month. This tells me the tank has not been cycling at all. IF you an share what method you used to cycle the tank folks will be able to give you pointers.

I would also suggest to add a small powerhead in the tank to help out with flow and with surface agitation.

It was showing some numbers shortly after adding bacteria and ammonia in. I used Fritz TurboStart and Fritz Fishless Fuel.

 

[chillout-reefer-dave]

Throw a frozen shrimp in there. Increase oxygenation by a lot. Sit back and watch the cycle happen. Keep feeding it even without fish.

 

[Hammy]

Looks more like a bacterial bloom to me, especially with the tank only being about a month old. I wouldn’t keep doing water changes just to chase the cloudiness. If ammonia and nitrite are staying at zero, I’d give it some time, keep good flow/filtration going and let the tank settle. New tanks can do some weird stuff in the first few weeks.