[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

RE: [APD] RE: Algae Bloom?? PLEASE READ! Thanks!!




I recently experienced exactly what was described... cloudy milky water that got cloudier and cloudier, and after 2 weeks turned solid green. Maybe a transition from a bacterial bloom to an algal bloom?? Water changes did nothing. Not dosing ferts did nothing. Lowering food did nothing. Ditto for the lights.Adding more nitrifying bacteria did nothing. Waited almost 4 weeks and it still did not get better, so I went out and got a UV steriliser. Within 3 days, the water was crystal clear. I left the UV run for another week to be sure, with a partial water change. Afterwards I unplugged and removed it, and the blooms have not come back since. At it's peak, I took a water sample and checked it out under a microscope... lots of small round cells which would not gram stain (or counterstain for that reason either!), so I assumed they were tiny unicellular algea. Also a fair amount of different protists, and even some worms (one looked disturbingly like a hookworm), but the vast majority were the little round cells. You could wait it out, or spend some $$ on a UV filter (or borrow one!). The other thing I would watch out for is the O2 levels if you have fish in the tank, 'cos the huge numbers of organisms in the water might suck up a lot of it.


- Seweryn


--- Vic Di Cosola <clutch24 at adelphia_net> wrote: > . . . A very nice guy here mentioned in my earlier post on cloudy > water, that this could be early bacteria/normal?? I'm not set to > panic JUST yet, but...2 days after a 50% water change, it's more > cloudy than before and seems to be getting worse.

I haven't found water changes to be particularly helpful with the
clouldiness that comes from a cycling tank. It comes right back. I've
thought that this was because it's more a matter of the good bacteria not
yet outcompeting the stuff that clouds the water. You pull out a bunch of
the bacteria with a water change and it just grows back rather quickly. If
you try to starve the bacteria, you can end up starving your plants. Hoping
I learned well from Tom, I try to be sure my plants don't go hungry. And if
I got impatient, I'd throw on a UV. If it started to turn green on me, then
I might be even more inclined to use a UV, but I've never actually had green
water, knock on wood.




_________________________________________________________________
Protect your inbox from harmful viruses with new ninemsn Premium. Click here http://ninemsn.com.au/premium/landing.asp


_______________________________________________
Aquatic-Plants mailing list
Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/aquatic-plants