Water clarity during the uglies

[Keko21]

Is it normal that my water is starting to get cloudy now? Diatoms started showing up about 2-3 weeks ago. Parameters seem alright. Is this a bacteria bloom? Theres definitely more of a film on the glass that i cleaned yesterday and was back this morning.

Side note maybe unrelated- I havnt seen my Royal gramma in two days. He was usually pretty social. My Leopard wrasse just woke up from his week long sand nap and is now active in the tank- i figured the gramma was just hiding and getting used to the new fish in his area, but now im worried he’s rotting in a cave somewhere….

temp76*F
Nitrate 5-10
Nitrites 0
Ammonia .02 (from new bio load)
Phos .02
Alk 5
pH 8.3
Salinity 1.025
Inhabitants- 3 fire fish, royal gramma, leopard wrasse, goby, 3 shrimp, CUC

 

[TokenReefer]

Could be a bacteria bloom, sure; parameters don't immediately point to anything that'd kill a fish. I'm going to let the experts chime in.

I really just wanted to say I really like your rockscape. It looks very natural; you did a great job there!
Good luck...gonna follow..and learn

 

[Keko21]

Just refreshing to see if anyone has advice..

 

[Keko21]

Welp...gramma was dead... I found him before the CUC, but Im thinking this may have been a contributing factor to my water cloudiness...

 

[DIFish]

Have you cleaned the glass before taking the picture? The side shots almost make it look like algea buildup rather than cloudy water. If so it could be a bacteria bloom. What was your cycle and quarantine process like?

 

[Lavey29]

Welp...gramma was dead... I found him before the CUC, but Im thinking this may have been a contributing factor to my water cloudiness...

Some bacterial blooms can be toxic and remove 02 from the tank. you should not have ammonia reading in the tank but I understand you are attributing it to the dead fish. You may want to do a water change and possibly add an airstone until the bloom passes.

 

[Keko21]

Have you cleaned the glass before taking the picture? The side shots almost make it look like algea buildup rather than cloudy water. If so it could be a bacteria bloom. What was your cycle and quarantine process like?

Its a strange light in the picture but yes there is a film on the glass that is easily removed but comes back within a day- I figured it was just algae as my tank is obviously covered in diatoms at the moment.

My QT process is
-2-3 days observation
-8 day run of prazipro
-14 days copper (at tx levels) after the prazi

 

[Keko21]

Some bacterial blooms can be toxic and remove 02 from the tank. you should not have ammonia reading in the tank but I understand you are attributing it to the dead fish. You may want to do a water change and possibly add an airstone until the bloom passes.

I'll definitely get a water change going tonight. I have my skimmer running with a closed loop C02 scrubber- do I still need the air stone?

Any other advice on how to confirm or treat a bacterial bloom?

 

[Aspect]

Bacteria blooms like this deplete oxygen and will kill fish definitely. Run airstone 24/7 it's healthy for the tank and cheap.

 

[Lavey29]

I'll definitely get a water change going tonight. I have my skimmer running with a closed loop C02 scrubber- do I still need the air stone?

Any other advice on how to confirm or treat a bacterial bloom?

not sure, its mainly overnight because that is when 02 levels typically drop anyways and while you sleep the fish struggle for 02 if the bloom is affecting it. Most blooms go away on their own in a few days but it never hurts to add some good bacteria to the mix. Blooms are common new tanks though as I had one in mine also early on. I just use a little battery operated portable airstone for mine. make sure you have good surface ripple also from your wave makers.

 

[NickE]

Scrape the glass and take another picture.

 

[kevgib67]

I agree with all of the above but would also ad a UV sterilizer would help if its a bacterial bloom. If it’s not, just cloudy water run activated charcoal, it will clear it up. Good luck!

 

[Keko21]

Update: Water is definitely starting to clear up and ammonia is back to a flat 0. I held off on the water change until the end of the week when I usually do it- I figure it's better to let the system sort itself out rather than do too many changes. I did order some more carbon to help, but looks like everything is going back to normal.

I do have a theory on why my gramma died- I added the gramma and fire fish shortly after my CUC and I believe the increased bioload popped my ammonia (not necessarily the death). Because the gramma was a very little guy 1.25 inch he couldn't handle even the small ammonia swing.

 

[DIFish]

Update: Water is definitely starting to clear up and ammonia is back to a flat 0. I held off on the water change until the end of the week when I usually do it- I figure it's better to let the system sort itself out rather than do too many changes. I did order some more carbon to help, but looks like everything is going back to normal.

I do have a theory on why my gramma died- I added the gramma and fire fish shortly after my CUC and I believe the increased bioload popped my ammonia (not necessarily the death). Because the gramma was a very little guy 1.25 inch he couldn't handle even the small ammonia swing.

Sorry to hear about your gramma, and glad things are clearing up. Was your tank cycled with bottled bacteria/and or ammonia prior to adding fish? Unless the ammonia levels were very high (2ppm+) I think it is more likely that lack of O2 from a bacteria bloom or disease was likely the culprit. A few fish do not add much of a bio load to the tank, and ammonia is really only an issue if the tank was not cycled first.

If you are having issues with cloudy water that is not a bacteria bloom I very much recommend DIY Coral snow. Works great, is cheap, and does not affect any parameters.

 

[Keko21]

Sorry to hear about your gramma, and glad things are clearing up. Was your tank cycled with bottled bacteria/and or ammonia prior to adding fish? Unless the ammonia levels were very high (2ppm+) I think it is more likely that lack of O2 from a bacteria bloom or disease was likely the culprit. A few fish do not add much of a bio load to the tank, and ammonia is really only an issue if the tank was not cycled first.

If you are having issues with cloudy water that is not a bacteria bloom I very much recommend DIY Coral snow. Works great, is cheap, and does not affect any parameters.

Thanks for the tip! Yea it was cycled with Dr Tims and ammonia chloride (twice actually- i brought it back up to 2ppm and back down to zero in a few days before adding fish). After the most recent stock Ammonia popped to a .24 on hanna checker so .024 toxic level- not a whole lot.

 

[Aspect]

Thanks for the tip! Yea it was cycled with Dr Tims and ammonia chloride (twice actually- i brought it back up to 2ppm and back down to zero in a few days before adding fish). After the most recent stock Ammonia popped to a .24 on hanna checker so .024 toxic level- not a whole lot.

Any traceable ammonia is toxic.

 

[DIFish]

Any traceable ammonia is toxic.

Not to get off topic but disagree. Low levels are not very toxic to fish and Hanna/API test kits can show ammonia where none exist.
OP, if you cycled the tank like that and could process that much ammonia then you are doing fine on that front. If the most your read was .24 then I would say ammonia was not the cause and you do not need to worry with further testing. 2 fish would not cause a spike, and I would look somewhere for the problem. Was the gramma quarantined and doing fine for a while before being added? Has your cloudy tank continued to clear up?

 

[jmichaelh7]

Run uv or carbon like mentioned above
To clear up water.

or you can do your standard husbandry water changes. Sorry for your loss

 

[Keko21]

Not to get off topic but disagree. Low levels are not very toxic to fish and Hanna/API test kits can show ammonia where none exist.
OP, if you cycled the tank like that and could process that much ammonia then you are doing fine on that front. If the most your read was .24 then I would say ammonia was not the cause and you do not need to worry with further testing. 2 fish would not cause a spike, and I would look somewhere for the problem. Was the gramma quarantined and doing fine for a while before being added? Has your cloudy tank continued to clear up?

Still cloudy but definitely looking better and I have a zero read on ammonia now. Carbon coming in tomorrow from amazon and will be doing a water change 20%.

This is actually my second gramma to kick the bucket- both were qt'd coppered, prazipro'd, and were eating just fine. I've seen no bullying from my leopard wrasse, goby, or firefish. All the other fish are very happy.