Tropical Aquariums - Dealing with Bacterial and Algae Blooms

Cloudiness can be caused in your aquarium by two things, excess growth of bacteria or algae. It is normal to see some cloudiness in a newly established tank and, provided you have cycled the tank properly, it will clear in a few days on its own. If the cloudiness is caused by an algae bloom it may look slightly green. Look at the filter material if you can't tell as it traps the algae and will look green. Cloudiness that is white is caused by an overgrowth of bacteria.

Bacteria bloom is usually caused by an excess of nutrients in the tank that feed the bacteria so that they grow out of control. It can have a detrimental affect on your fish as the bacteria consume oxygen that the fish need and they may suffer or even die from oxygen deprivation. Adding medications to the tank can also cause bacteria bloom.

If you have cloudiness in the tank the first thing to do is NOT to panic and clean out the tank completely or start dumping chemicals in the tank. Completely cleaning out the tank will remove ALL the bacteria which you so carefully nurtured during the initial cycling of the tank.

Remedies for Bacteria Bloom

A drastic decrease in the available nutrients is needed to treat a bacteria bloom. Stop feeding the fish for a day or two (it won't hurt them!) and clean up any sources of nutrients entering the water. Decaying plants should be removed and the gravel vacuumed thoroughly to remove any decaying fish food. Do a partial water change now and another in about a week.

Prevention of Bacteria Bloom

Prevent another occurrence by being careful not to overfeed the fish. Remember, many more fish die through overfeeding than underfeeding! Test the water regularly for ammonia which should always be zero. If you see the ammonia level increasing stop feeding the fish and do a partial water change. Do not add medications directly to the tank. Keep a small quarantine tank for sick fish and treat them there. Adding medications to your main tank disturbs the careful equilibrium you have established and stresses the fish that do not need medicating. In addition removing sick fish as soon as you see a problem can help in preventing any disease or parasite from spreading to all your fish.

Remedies for Algae Bloom

Algae in small amounts in an aquarium is fine. The fish will treat it as an extra food source. However excessive growth looks ugly and spoils the look of the tank. It can be dealt with in a number of ways including:

1.removing with a brush or magnet
2.introducing fish or other organisms to eat it
3.reducing the excessive growth by dealing with the conditions that produced it

Manually removing the algae

It takes time to remove the algae by hand and should be done very carefully. The algae needs to be completely removed not just dislodged as it will just settle itself again and continue growing. Use a magnet or scrubber and frequently rinse with water to remove the algae.

Using other fish or organisms

Snails, fish such as angels, blennies, yellow tangs, and small hermit crabs all eat algae and will help in its control.

Decrease the time you have the lights on

Algae thrive in bright lights so the best method to control the growth is to reduce the time you have the overhead lights switched on. Lights should never be left on for more than twelve hours. Even less if you have an algae problem.

Do a partial water change

Partially change the water, up to 30%, at least every two weeks and change any prefilter pads at least once a week. Always avoid adding medications and chemicals to the main tank if possible.

Avoid overfeeding

Algae are plants that need potassium and nitrogen as fertilisers so any decomposing food left in the bottom of the tank will encourage algae growth. Never give your fish more food than they can eat in about five minutes.

Seed Newsvine

Bookmark this article in your preferred program

Comments

Add Comment

Popular Articles in this cathegory

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.