bacterial bloom

[DS5000]

5 month old mixed reef tank, 50gal RS 170 - got velvet/brook a few wks ago that wiped out my fish (yes, I quarantined ), and now running fallow. My corals/inverts are doing well.
I had a bacterial bloom show up 3 days ago.
Waiting on a UV to arrive, but wanted to see what else I can do to tx current bloom, and prevent further blooms.
running carbon reactor, skimmer, floss and fuge.

alk 8.5
nitrates 0
phos 0.0
sal 35ppm
pH 8.2

nitrates/phos have been zero for a while. I am ghost feeding with pellets few times a week - should I dose some neonitrate/phos to bring it up a bit?

is the bacterial bloom caused by the imbalance between my 'good' ammonia eating bacteria, and other opportunistic 'bad' bacteria? If so, what can I do while await to add fish?

thx

 

[vetteguy53081]

Reduce white light intensity and add a pouch of chemipure blue which will polish water and absorb any bacteria or toxins. It will also keep phos and nitrate in check, which speaking of that, Zeros are very unusual. I assume you are using API test kit?
Well known for producing false readings.

 

[DS5000]

Reduce white light intensity and add a pouch of chemipure blue which will polish water and absorb any bacteria or toxins. It will also keep phos and nitrate in check, which speaking of that, Zeros are very unusual. I assume you are using API test kit?
Well known for producing false readings.

thx. I am using the hanna alk and phos checker - I even bought a nyos phos test kit and it said the same. I am unclear why i continue to run so low

 

[DS5000]

thx. I am using the hanna alk and phos checker - I even bought a nyos phos test kit and it said the same. I am unclear why i continue to run so low

should i add macrobacter - to increase nitrifying bacteria to outcompete the bloom bacteria?

 

[Quokka]

Your test kits might be reading zero because they are being sequestered by the huge baterial bloom (if this is true, I would expect the population to die off unless additional influx of nutrients sustain the growth). Have you stirred up the sandbed or iincreased nutrients in your tank recently? Microbes are opportunistic organisms and will rapidly multiply when nutrient availability is high. Your logic using Microbacter is probably correct and should help manage the nutrients and metabolites from the bacterial bloom. Ultimately, the microbes will eventually get rid of the nutrients available and die off once they are depleted. Big water changes could possibly reduce nutrients but its worth thinking about what caused it in the first place to avoid it in the future - over feeding, detritus in sandbed, carbon dosing?

 

[DS5000]

Your test kits might be reading zero because they are being sequestered by the huge baterial bloom (if this is true, I would expect the population to die off unless additional influx of nutrients sustain the growth). Have you stirred up the sandbed or iincreased nutrients in your tank recently? Microbes are opportunistic organisms and will rapidly multiply when nutrient availability is high. Your logic using Microbacter is probably correct and should help manage the nutrients and metabolites from the bacterial bloom. Ultimately, the microbes will eventually get rid of the nutrients available and die off once they are depleted. Big water changes could possibly reduce nutrients but its worth thinking about what caused it in the first place to avoid it in the future - over feeding, detritus in sandbed, carbon dosing?

thx Quokka,

No increase in feeds, could be the sandbed, as i did clean out a bunch of detrius recently. I dont carbon dose, just run carbon reactor.

 

[vetteguy53081]

should i add macrobacter - to increase nitrifying bacteria to outcompete the bloom bacteria?

would not hurt

 

[Quokka]

thx Quokka,

No increase in feeds, could be the sandbed, as i did clean out a bunch of detrius recently. I dont carbon dose, just run carbon reactor.

No problem. To add to the UV light suggestion, I am a novice in reefkeeping but have a microbiology background, I don't know how I feel about UV filters (at least run continuously). It might solve your immediate bacterial bloom issue but since our primary form of nutrient export is microbial based, I personally would be cautious not to mess with the balance too much. From what I understand, although nitrifying bacteria are sparsely present in the water column, I would assume some cells are planktonic at some point in their lifecycle. I wouldn't want to affect the microbiome equilibrium too often which could result in another minicycle when metabolites/waste (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) aren't processed at the rate their are produced. There is no "bad" bacteria, just pieces of a puzzle that needs to find a balance in microbial composition.

 

[vetteguy53081]

5 month old mixed reef tank, 50gal RS 170 - got velvet/brook a few wks ago that wiped out my fish (yes, I quarantined ), and now running fallow. My corals/inverts are doing well.
I had a bacterial bloom show up 3 days ago.
Waiting on a UV to arrive, but wanted to see what else I can do to tx current bloom, and prevent further blooms.
running carbon reactor, skimmer, floss and fuge.

alk 8.5
nitrates 0
phos 0.0
sal 35ppm
pH 8.2

nitrates/phos have been zero for a while. I am ghost feeding with pellets few times a week - should I dose some neonitrate/phos to bring it up a bit?

is the bacterial bloom caused by the imbalance between my 'good' ammonia eating bacteria, and other opportunistic 'bad' bacteria? If so, what can I do while await to add fish?

thx

Not necessarily. Most of the bacteria in the aquarium are aerobic, as it is an oxygen dominated environment and these bacteria require lots of oxygen. When the heterotrophic bacteria bloom into the water column and switch to their aerobic state, this is a big drain on the oxygen content of the water.
The main reasons: Overfeeding, dead fish or even dead plant matter will cause a rise in the reproduction of the heterotrophs in order to break down the organic waste, they reproduce too quickly to be able to attach themselves to a surface and this causes a bacterial bloom.
As the ammonia production increases due to the increased mineralization, the nitrifiers are slow to catch up and an ammonia spike occurs until the autotrophs reproduce enough to take care of it. Contrary to popular belief, bacterial blooms cause an ammonia spike, not the other way around.
Avoid stirring sand beds when doing water changes

 

[vetteguy53081]

No problem. To add to the UV light suggestion, I am a novice in reefkeeping but have a microbiology background, I don't know how I feel about UV filters (at least run continuously). It might solve your immediate bacterial bloom issue but since our primary form of nutrient export is microbial based, I personally would be cautious not to mess with the balance too much. From what I understand, although nitrifying bacteria are sparsely present in the water column, I would assume some cells are planktonic at some point in their lifecycle. I wouldn't want to affect the microbiome equilibrium too often which could result in another minicycle when metabolites/waste (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) aren't processed efficiently. There is no "bad" bacteria, just pieces of a puzzle that needs to find a balance in microbial composition.

UV more beneficial with algae blooms than bacterial. The nitrification process handles the bacteria bloom effects

 

[Quokka]

Not necessarily. Most of the bacteria in the aquarium are aerobic, as it is an oxygen dominated environment and these bacteria require lots of oxygen. When the heterotrophic bacteria bloom into the water column and switch to their aerobic state, this is a big drain on the oxygen content of the water.
The main reasons: Overfeeding, dead fish or even dead plant matter will cause a rise in the reproduction of the heterotrophs in order to break down the organic waste, they reproduce too quickly to be able to attach themselves to a surface and this causes a bacterial bloom.
As the ammonia production increases due to the increased mineralization, the nitrifiers are slow to catch up and an ammonia spike occurs until the autotrophs reproduce enough to take care of it. Contrary to popular belief, bacterial blooms cause an ammonia spike, not the other way around.
Avoid stirring sand beds when doing water changes

Great explanation, thanks! You wouldn't even consider stirring small portions of the sandbed little by little over the course of a month?

 

[Quokka]

UV more beneficial with algae blooms than bacterial. The nitrification process handles the bacteria bloom effects

UV should certainly kill any living organisms given the exposure time is adequate (I may be wrong in the instance of reefkeeping and how much flow is commonly used in UV systems) - so I would assume that it would help eliminate the bacterial bloom... and anything else. We commonly use UV light in biosafety cabinets to degrade any microbes in our labs.

 

[vetteguy53081]

UV should certainly kill any living organisms given the exposure time is adequate (I may be wrong in the instance of reefkeeping and how much flow is commonly used in UV systems) - so I would assume that it would help eliminate the bacterial bloom... and anything else. We commonly use UV light in biosafety cabinets to degrade any microbes in our labs.

Regarding bacteria, UV likely will cull back the population of free floating microorganisms that are beneficial to corals. In reefing UV lights are effective in preventing fish disease and A UV can reduce the amount of parasites in the water column, making it easier to treat an outbreak and reduce the impact. However, it won’t prevent or eliminate disease. Remember, a UV will kill free floating microorganisms and ich is not free floating in all stages of its life. Regarding blooms, UV units as you know zap undesirables in the water that pass through the unit. Undesirables include free floating algae spores, parasites and troublesome bacteria such as heterotrophic bacteria, which are considered “scavenger” bacteria and can bloom. It in reef tanks will prevent new bloom and disease from occurring, not those that are pre-existing.
Also a UV unit will not wipe out something like hair algae attached to rocks or corals. Again, it has to be free floating. I personally endorse using other means to achieve the dividends offered by a UV sterilizer. To prevent fish disease the best course of action is to quarantine all new arrivals in a separate tank. As for water clarity, I am a proponent of using lab grade carbon

to keep things crystal clear in the tank.