Hazy water.

[RBarth]

Tank is 10 weeks into 4 month deep cycle. Do weekly water changes and all parameters in good range. Haze started a few weeks ago so started running my carbon reactor and didn't change anything. Water looks clear until the sun comes thru the blinds and it's very hazy. Is this just the bacteria battle? Thank you and sorry if this is a dumb question!

 

[Spare time]

Probably just a bacterial bloom. The easiest way to keep it down is by swapping or rinsing your filter pads daily till it does away. A quick rinse in the sink will remove the crud on it, taking away a possible food source for bacterial blooms.

 

[ZoWhat]

It's a good bacterial bloom that will clear up. It's a good thing.

 

[Spare time]

It's a good bacterial bloom that will clear up. It's a good thing.

How is it good? All it does it drain oxygen

 

[Lavey29]

What are your water parameters? Do you have to clean your glass more then once a week?

 

[Miami Reef]

Not only do bacterial blooms deplete oxygen, but I think it also produces ammonia.

Skimmers can remove extra bacteria from water column. Activated carbon can help absorb extra organics and carbon that the bacteria is feeding on.

A UV sterilizer can kill any free floating bacteria and will remove a bacteria bloom extremely quick and effectively.

Will a bacteria bloom wipe out your tank? In most cases, probably not. It doesn’t look severe right now, but you should point powerheads to the surface to increase oxygen.

 

[legionofdoon]

Honestly that doesn't look that bad for a bacterial bloom. If you start getting "snot" everywhere then it would be excessive. Like someone mentioned earlier it will eat up O2 so get as much gas exchange as you can.

 

[RBarth]

What are your water parameters? Do you have to clean your glass more then once a week?

1.026
Alk 9.8
pH 8.1
Nitrate 5.3
Phosphate .1
Ca 440
Mg 1450

I wipe my glass once per week and it's barely dirty even then.

Not sure I mentioned I'm doing no light till the 4 month mark.

I have a uv sterilizer just havnt run it cuz I was thinking this was a good thing happening???

It's been like this for about 3 weeks. Started MB7 last Friday as per the hybrid method and have seen no change either way.

 

[RBarth]

Not only do bacterial blooms deplete oxygen, but I think it also produces ammonia.

Skimmers can remove extra bacteria from water column. Activated carbon can help absorb extra organics and carbon that the bacteria is feeding on.

A UV sterilizer can kill any free floating bacteria and will remove a bacteria bloom extremely quick and effectively.

Will a bacteria bloom wipe out your tank? In most cases, probably not. It doesn’t look severe right now, but you should point powerheads to the surface to increase oxygen.

Started testing that again a few weeks ago as well cuz I had added a few more fish and still zero.

 

[RBarth]

Probably just a bacterial bloom. The easiest way to keep it down is by swapping or rinsing your filter pads daily till it does away. A quick rinse in the sink will remove the crud on it, taking away a possible food source for bacterial blooms.

I only change my FF every week when I do water changes. I just feed tdo pellets and am very stingy lol. Skimmer not pulling much color either. Tank is pretty clean...unfortunately...

That's was the problem with my coral qt tank I've been running. Too clean. Corals didn't look good at all and lost a few. Quit water changes and changing FF and its starting to come around.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Likely bacterial bloom
Also known as bacterial blossom, bacterial bloom is a condition in which a sudden increase in the number of bacterial colonies occurs, specifically bacteria that are suspended in the water column. The bacteria grows so rapidly that collectively they become visible to the naked eye, causing the water to become milky/cloudy/hazy in appearance. This condition most often is seen in a newly started aquarium, but can also occur in a tank in which there is has been an increase in the nutrients in the water, particularly nitrates and phosphates. Excessive feeding of fish without cleaning the debris can also cause a sharp increase in nutrients that results in these blooms .
There are two types of bacteria at work in aquariums:

• Autotrophic Bacteria: Bacteria capable of synthesizing its own food from inorganic substances, using light or chemical energy. The beneficial bacterias are autotrophs.
• Heterotrophic Bacteria: Bacteria that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition. The heterotrophs in the aquariums mineralize the organic waste (break down the uneaten food, fish waste, dead plant matter, etc. into ammonia).

It is more common that the heterotrophs are seen in bacterial blooms, not the trusted autotroph nitrifiers. It is the heterotrophs which are primarily responsible for creating the "bio-film" (slimy residue found on the tank walls and rocks. 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.
It is unclear whether the autotrophic nitrifiers ever bloom into the water column or if they simply multiply too slowly to cause this effect.
Water changes will play a role as well as filter maintenance.

WHAT FILTER(S) ARE YOU USING ?

 

[RBarth]

Thanks for all that! I'm using the 'in tank' FF. I do 15% water changes weekly. Like I mentioned earlier I really don't have a build up on my glass.

 

[RBarth]

Think I should just kick my uv sterilizer on?

 

[RBarth]

It's really pretty dang clear until the sun comes thru the blinds and then u can see the haze. I was only kinda concerned cuz it's been like this for weeks with no changes after the carbon reactor and skimmer were running.

 

[Lavey29]

1.026
Alk 9.8
pH 8.1
Nitrate 5.3
Phosphate .1
Ca 440
Mg 1450

I wipe my glass once per week and it's barely dirty even then.

Not sure I mentioned I'm doing no light till the 4 month mark.

I have a uv sterilizer just havnt run it cuz I was thinking this was a good thing happening???

It's been like this for about 3 weeks. Started MB7 last Friday as per the hybrid method and have seen no change either way.

I ran my tank lights off to like your doing and had a similar bloom in my tank about 3rd month. Your numbers look good. If it's not negatively affecting anything, let it run its course. You UV might help since it's in the water column. I have been adding Dr. Tim's probiotics recently which is a natural bacteria. I think this is a natural evolution for your tank cycling processes and even though you went lights out, you will still get an ugly phase albeit mine was minimal to moderate.

 

[dedragon]

I wouldnt worry unless it is getting more hazy and you dont have something like a protein skimmer to push more o2 into the water. I would get the nitrates and phosphates down by half with simple water changes just to get the fuel out for the bacteria to bloom again

 

[RBarth]

Sounds good guys! I went ahead and fired up the uv. Just did a 30% change. As I don't have corals in the DT tank yet its hard to see if there are any negative effects cuz the fish seem super happy. I got more stuff running in the back of this AIO than I did when I had a sump lol.

 

[RBarth]

I ran my tank lights off to like your doing and had a similar bloom in my tank about 3rd month. Your numbers look good. If it's not negatively affecting anything, let it run its course. You UV might help since it's in the water column. I have been adding Dr. Tim's probiotics recently which is a natural bacteria. I think this is a natural evolution for your tank cycling processes and even though you went lights out, you will still get an ugly phase albeit mine was minimal to moderate.

Thanks man!!! That's definitely what I'm aiming for!

 

[dedragon]

what protein skimmer is that? just curious

 

[RBarth]

Cad lights