Phyto bloom

[travis32]

Tank suddenly became hazy after doing around 10% water change (around 30 gallons changed out - measured)

30 gallons RODI salt water at 1.028 to raise the salinity in the display some. (Only been operational about 2 months, just stabilizing the salinity parameters).

I raked the sand some to turn it over and freshen it and scraped the glass free of algae. By end of day yesterday it is extremely hazy and start to see. I ran it by other reefers and they're thinking a phyto bloom. The fish are doing fine, eating fine and swimming just fine (just 7 fish in a 340 so far).

Halting adding more until it clears up. I'm guessing just part of the algae cycle. Anything I can do to clear it up?

I've increased skimming and added some filter floss to the sump to try to reduce any debris in the display.

[Scrubber_steve]

Bacterioplankton, maybe from dredging the sand

[bertoni]

Raking the sand will kill organisms in it, and probably move nutrients from pore water into the water column, along with particulates. I suspect the bloom will go away on its own given a bit of time.

[travis32]

That's what I was thinking, just wanted to make sure it's not toxic to the fish. When I changed out the water. I used 5 gallon buckets to catch the water, so as to measure it, but it was amazing how brown / yellow discolored the water was. It almost looked like my skimmer bucket. Heh.

Skimmer is getting nice dark almost black stuff out, thick too. So, hopefully in a few days, all the mini cycles will be done and I can add a sand sifting goby to help get some of the detritus out.

[travis32]

Well, if its a bacteriabloom or phytobloom it's not getting better. And it's stinky.

I still see fish swimming in it, but, is there a danger of suffocation or too much phyto or bacteria?

I'm not sure what else to do but wait it out. Been about 4-5 days now. Since Saturday 12/1/ 2018. It's worse now than it was on Saturday.

Updated picture for comparison when I posted:

[bertoni]

I'd stop all feeding and maybe do a few water changes. Do you have a filter in which you could run a physical media? Borrowing a UV might be useful, too.

[travis32]

Yeah, I was afraid you were going to say UV. I had a feeling that would be the next step. A water change is what started it all. Not sure if there was dormant bacteria in my salt water mixing bin or what, (was the second ever water change I had done) and things clouded up within 1-2 hours of the water change (and turning the sand bed a little).

Would adding a ATS - aid in this as much as a UV. I was planning to add an ATS from Turbo Aquatics the end of December. I could reallocate the funds to UV, but prefer to use more natural forms of filtration. I want tons of pods to feed wrasses and mandarins. Just curious if an ATS would export enough to deal with this?

I've noticed a trend in the PH rising more also according to my apex. The max it got to before the bloom was 8.2 and the low was 8.1. Now it's hitting as high as 8.35. I don't know if a bloom would raise the PH? I'm not dosing anything yet with no corals.

Skimmer is pulling some really nasty crap. I saw all fish swimming last night, seemed to clear a little last night. Could see around 5-6 inches into the tank instead of 1-2 inches.

I might try another 10% water change this weekend and give it a few more days. 10 days will be around next Tuesday / Wednesday. So, if it's not better by then, then, I'll have to see about getting a UV. I've removed the auto feeder. I don't think the fish were eating the pellets anyways. I'm only feeding frozen and just a small amount once per day.

Well, this sets me back for adding corals and/or more fish. Heh.

[travis32]

I thought this interesting with my bacterial / phyto bloom. (Keep in mind I'm not dosing anything other than fresh RODI water)

PH hit an all time high since the start of the tank of 8.37 on the 4th. 2-3 days after the bloom....

See trend pic attached:

[bertoni]

Some of the bloom might be photosynthetic organisms. They will raise pH by consuming carbon dioxide from the water column.

[travis32]

Bertoni, if that's the case - If they consume CO2 would that not mean they give off O2?

So, is it possible I have ocean plankton in my tank, the oxygen engine of the world. Granted I can't see squat in my tank, but if it's oxygenating, that's kinda a good thing?

If it's bacterial they would be oxygen consuming and suffocating. I turned my lights down yesterday, but may be I want to keep them up. Heh. :)

[bertoni]

Phytoplankton will add some oxygen, but it's unlikely that the tank needs it. I measured my tanks with an oxygen kit repeatedly, and got full saturation or close to it as the result consistently. A very heavy bacterial bloom could cause problems, at least in theory, but I'm not sure I've seen that happen in a tank with a skimmer and good circulation.

[travis32]

Well, put a 25 watt UV sterilizer on, plumbed it in to my return with the output going into the overflow side of my sump (and where the skimmer is) And from Saturday afternoon to yesterday evening, about 24 hours, the tank was completely clear. I put a ball valve on the UV to control some of the flow through the UV and ran the UV the entire time (still have it running to clear up any residual algae in the water column).

So, I guess next question, how often do I run the UV. Was thinking of running it 3-4 hours a day at night. I want pods in the tank, I'm assuming the UV would destroy any pods that make it into the water column? I also want to run a scrubber. Would a UV be detrimental to a scrubber?

[bertoni]

The UV won't do much to an animal as large as an amphipod or copepod. It's probably not strong enough to kill all microorganisms. I'd just let it run all day, but putting it on a timer is fine, too.

[travis32]

Cool! :)