VERY cloudy Water, Part 2 (The saga continues)

["stephan Mifsud" <stephanm at mail_global.net.mt>]

Kevin said:
" Algae Bloom vs. Bacterial Bloom - Since the diatom filter
did NOTHING, I
suspect it is bacterial."

Wood - I found the wood in the wild in Michigan. It could be
rotting, and
therefore, the bacterial bloom is feeding on the rotting
wood. I'm leaning
toward removing it for good. It's a shame, however, because
I really like
it. "


The fact that the bloom is white not green indicated
bacteria not algae.

The bacterial bloom is not feeding on the wood itself. The
wood is probably  seeping soluble organic compounds (sugars,
amino acids etc, which formed its living tissue)  into the
water and will do so for some time, during which you cannot
get rid of the bacterial bloom. As I've already suggested in
an earlier posting the wood will eventually run out of this
bacterial food. What are left are the insoluble "skeletal"
components (Cellulose, lignin etc). These will rot, but at a
very slow rate. The wood might take years to break down
completly; So you do not need to remove it for good. Just
leave it in a water container until the water stops turning
cloudy then place it back in your aquarium. Ideally this is
how you should have started.

Just a suggestion: It would make a nice Java or Christmas
moss substrate. Just tie some on before you place it back in
the aquarium.

regards

Stephan



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